Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
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Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
Our Relationship with Targa Resources Partners LP and its General Partner
Our only cash generating assets consist of our interests in the Partnership, which consist of (i) a 2.0% general partner interest in the Partnership and (ii) all of the outstanding common units of the Partnership.
Reimbursement of Operating and General and Administrative Expense
Under the terms of the Partnership Agreement, the Partnership reimburses us for all direct and indirect expenses, as well as expenses otherwise allocable to the Partnership in connection with the operation of the Partnership’s business, incurred on the Partnership’s behalf, which includes operating and direct expenses, including compensation and benefits of operating personnel, and for the provision of various general and administrative services for the Partnership’s benefit. We perform centralized corporate functions for the Partnership, such as legal, accounting, treasury, insurance, risk management, health, safety and environmental, information technology, human resources, credit, payroll, internal audit, taxes, engineering and marketing. The Partnership reimburses us for the direct expenses to provide these services as well as other direct expenses we incur on the Partnership’s behalf, such as compensation of operational personnel performing services for the Partnership’s benefit and the cost of their employee benefits, including 401(k), pension and health insurance benefits. The general partner determines the amount of general and administrative expenses to be allocated to the Partnership in accordance with the Partnership Agreement. Other than our direct costs of being a reporting company, so long as our only cash-generating asset consists of our interests in the Partnership, substantially all of our general and administrative costs have been and will continue to be allocated to the Partnership.
Competition
We are not restricted, under the Partnership’s partnership agreement, from competing with the Partnership. We may acquire, construct or dispose of additional midstream energy or other assets in the future without any obligation to offer the Partnership the opportunity to purchase or construct those assets.
Contracts with Affiliates
Indemnification Agreements with Directors and Officers
The Partnership and the general partner have entered into indemnification agreements with each individual who was an independent director of the general partner prior to the TRC/TRP Merger. Each indemnification agreement provides that each of the Partnership and the general partner will indemnify and hold harmless each indemnitee against Expenses (as defined in the indemnification agreement) to the fullest extent permitted or authorized by law, including the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act and
the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act in effect on the date of the agreement or as such laws may be amended to provide more advantageous rights to the indemnitee. If such indemnification is unavailable as a result of a court decision and if the Partnership or the general partner is jointly liable in the proceeding with the indemnitee, the Partnership and the general partner will contribute funds to the indemnitee for his Expenses (as defined in the in the Indemnification Agreement) in proportion to relative benefit and fault of the Partnership or the general partner on the one hand and indemnitee on the other in the transaction giving rise to the proceeding.
Each indemnification agreement also provides that the Partnership and the general partner will indemnify and hold harmless the indemnitee against Expenses incurred for actions taken as a director or officer of the Partnership or the general partner or for serving at the request of the Partnership or the general partner as a director or officer or another position at another corporation or enterprise, as the case may be, but only if no final and non-appealable judgment has been entered by a court determining that, in respect of the matter for which the indemnitee is seeking indemnification, the indemnitee acted in bad faith or engaged in fraud or willful misconduct or, in the case of a criminal proceeding, the indemnitee acted with knowledge that the indemnitee’s conduct was unlawful. The indemnification agreement also provides that the Partnership and the general partner must advance payment of certain Expenses to the indemnitee, including fees of counsel, subject to receipt of an undertaking from the indemnitee to return such advance if it is ultimately determined that the Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification.
We have entered into parent indemnification agreements with each of our directors and officers, including directors and officers who serve or served as directors and/or officers of the general partner. Each parent indemnification agreement provides that we will indemnify and hold harmless each indemnitee for Expenses (as defined in the parent indemnification agreement) to the fullest extent permitted or authorized by law, including the Delaware General Corporation Law, in effect on the date of the agreement or as it may be amended to provide more advantageous rights to the indemnitee. If such indemnification is unavailable as a result of a court decision and if we and the indemnitee are jointly liable in the proceeding, we will contribute funds to the indemnitee for his Expenses in proportion to relative benefit and fault of us and indemnitee in the transaction giving rise to the proceeding.
Each parent indemnification agreement also provides that we will indemnify the indemnitee for monetary damages for actions taken as our director or officer or for serving at our request as a director or officer or another position at another corporation or enterprise, as the case may be but only if (i) the indemnitee acted in good faith and, in the case of conduct in his official capacity, in a manner he reasonably believed to be in our best interests and, in all other cases, not opposed to our best interests and (ii) in the case of a criminal proceeding, the indemnitee must have had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful. The parent indemnification agreement also provides that we must advance payment of certain Expenses to the indemnitee, including fees of counsel, subject to receipt of an undertaking from the indemnitee to return such advance if it is ultimately determined that the indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification.
Transactions with Related Persons
Relationship with Sajet Resources LLC
In December 2010 prior to our IPO, Sajet Resources LLC (“Sajet”), was spun-off from Targa. Rene Joyce and James Whalen, directors of Targa, are also directors of Sajet. Joe Bob Perkins, James Whalen, Michael Heim, Jeffrey McParland, Paul Chung, and Matthew Meloy, executive officers of Targa, are also executive officers of Sajet. Sajet owns certain technology rights, real property and ownership interests in Allied CNG Ventures LLC. We provide general and administrative services to Sajet and are reimbursed for these amounts at our actual cost. Services provided to Sajet totaled $0.5 million in 2016.
Relationship with Tesla Resources LLC
In September 2012, Tesla Resources LLC (“Tesla”) was spun-off from Sajet. Tesla has ownership interests in Floridian Natural Gas Storage Company LLC (“Floridian”). Rene Joyce and James Whalen, directors of Targa, are also directors of Tesla and managers of Floridian. Joe Bob Perkins, James Whalen, Michael Heim, Jeffrey McParland, Paul Chung, and Matthew Meloy, executive officers of Targa, are also executive officers of Tesla. We provide general and administrative services to Tesla and Floridian and are reimbursed for these amounts at our actual cost. Services provided to Tesla and Floridian totaled $0.1 million in 2016.
Relationship with Newark E&P Operating, LLC
Waters Davis IV, one of the directors of Targa and of the Partnership’s general partner, was a director of Newark E&P Operating, LLC (“Newark E&P”) until October 1, 2016. During 2016, Targa purchased $8.6 million of natural gas from Newark E&P.
Relationship with Total Safety US Inc.
Joe Bob Perkins, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Targa and of the Partnership’s general partner, is also a member of the Board of Managers of W3 Holdings, LLC, parent company of Total Safety US Inc. (“Total Safety”) which provides us safety services and equipment, including detection and monitoring systems. During 2016, we made payments of $0.1 million to Total Safety.
Relationship with Magellan Asset Services LP
Barry Pearl, one of our former directors of the Partnership’s general partner, is also a director of Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P., parent company of Magellan Asset Services LP (“Magellan”). During 2016, we transacted sales of $29.1 million with Magellan.
Relationship with Kansas Gas Service
Robert Evans, a director of Targa and of the Partnership’s general partner, is also a director of ONE Gas, Inc. (“ONE”). We have commercial arrangements with Kansas Gas Service (“Kansas Gas”), a division of ONE. During 2016, we transacted sales of $18.0 million with Kansas Gas.
Relationships with Sequent Energy Management, LP, EOG Resources Inc., NICOR Energy and IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.
Charles R. Crisp, a director of the Company and of the Partnership’s general partner, is a director of Southern Gas Company, a subsidiary of The Southern Company, parent company of Sequent Energy Management, LP (“Sequent”) and Northern Illinois Gas Company d/b/a NICOR Energy (“NICOR”). We purchase and sell natural gas and NGL products from and to Sequent and sell natural gas products to NICOR. Mr. Crisp also serves as a director of EOG Resources Inc. (“EOG”) from whom we purchase natural gas and NGL products. We billed EOG Resources Marketing Inc. (“EOG Marketing”), a subsidiary of EOG, for certain well connections to our gathering systems and associated equipment. Mr. Crisp is also a director of IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc., parent company of ICE US OTC Commodity Markets LLC (“ICE”) from whom we purchase brokerage services. The following table shows our transactions with each of these entities during 2016.
| Entity | Sales | Purchases | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||
| EOG | $ | 11.9 | $ | 2.4 | ||||
| ICE | 0.1 | 0.7 | ||||||
| NICOR | 19.1 | - | ||||||
| Sequent | 108.7 | 12.3 |
These transactions were at market prices consistent with similar transactions with other nonaffiliated entities.
Relationships with Martin Gas Sales and Southwest Energy LP
Ershel C. Redd, one of the directors of Targa and of the Partnership’s general partner, has an immediate family member who is an officer of Martin Gas Sales, which is a subsidiary of Martin Midstream Partners LP (“Martin”) and an immediate family member who is an officer and part owner of Southwest Energy LP (“Southwest Energy”) from and to whom we purchase and sell natural gas and NGL products. The following table shows our transactions with each of these entities during 2016.
| Entity | Sales | Purchases | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||
| Martin Gas | $ | 2.8 | $ | - | ||||
| Southwest Energy | 3.0 | 1.8 |
Conflicts of Interest
Conflicts of interest exist and may arise in the future as a result of the relationships between the general partner and its affiliates (including us), on the one hand, and the Partnership and its other limited partners, on the other hand. The directors and officers of the general partner have fiduciary duties to manage the general partner and us, if applicable, in a manner beneficial to our owners. At the same time, the general partner has a fiduciary duty to manage the Partnership in a manner beneficial to it and its unitholders. Please see “—Review, Approval or Ratification of Transactions with Related Persons” below for additional detail of how these conflicts of interest will be resolved.
Review, Approval or Ratification of Transactions with Related Persons
Our policies and procedures for approval or ratification of transactions with “related persons” are not contained in a single policy or procedure. Instead, they are reflected in the general operation of our board of directors, consistent with past practice. We distribute and review a questionnaire to our executive officers and directors requesting information regarding, among other things, certain transactions with us in which they or their family members have an interest. Pursuant to our Code of Conduct, our officers and directors are required to abandon or forfeit any activity or interest that creates a conflict of interest between them and us or any of our subsidiaries, unless the conflict is pre-approved by our board of directors.
Whenever a conflict arises between the general partner or its affiliates, on the one hand, and the Partnership or any other partner, on the other hand, the general partner will resolve that conflict. The Partnership’s partnership agreement contains provisions that modify and limit the general partner’s fiduciary duties to the Partnership’s unitholders. The partnership agreement also restricts the remedies available to unitholders for actions taken that, without those limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty.
The general partner will not be in breach of its obligations under the partnership agreement or its duties to the Partnership or its unitholders if the resolution of the conflict is:
| • | approved by the general partner’s conflicts committee, although the general partner is not obligated to seek such approval; |
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| • | approved by the vote of a majority of the Partnership’s outstanding common units, excluding any common units owned by the general partner or any of its affiliates; |
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| • | on terms no less favorable to the Partnership than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties; or |
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| • | fair and reasonable to the Partnership, taking into account the totality of the relationships among the parties involved, including other transactions that may be particularly favorable or advantageous to the Partnership. |
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The general partner may, but is not required to, seek the approval of such resolution from the conflicts committee of its board of directors. If the general partner does not seek approval from the conflicts committee and its board of directors determines that the resolution or course of action taken with respect to the conflict of interest satisfies either of the standards set forth in the third or fourth bullet points above, then it will be presumed that, in making its decision, the board of directors acted in good faith and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner of the Partnership, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption. Unless the resolution of a conflict is specifically provided for in the partnership agreement, the general partner or its conflicts committee may consider any factors they determine in good faith to consider when resolving a conflict. When the partnership agreement provides that someone act in good faith, it requires that person to believe he is acting in the best interests of the Partnership.
Director Independence
Messrs. Crisp, Redd, Tong, Evans, and Davis and Ms. Fulton are our independent directors under the NYSE’s listing standards. Please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.” Our board of directors examined the commercial relationships between us and companies for whom our independent directors serve as directors or with whom family members of our independent directors have an employment relationship. The commercial relationships reviewed consisted of product and services purchases and product sales at market prices consistent with similar arrangements with unrelated entities.
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