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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 29, 2020

Registration No. 333-235352

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

Amendment No. 2

to

Form S-3

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

 

 

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

LANDMARK INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP

LANDMARK INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE CORP.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

 

 

Delaware

Delaware

 

61-1742322

47-5497210

(State or Other Jurisdiction of

Incorporation or Organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

400 Continental Blvd., Suite 500

P.O. Box 3429

El Segundo, CA 90245

(310) 598-3173

 

George P. Doyle

400 Continental Blvd., Suite 500

P.O. Box 3429

El Segundo, CA 90245

(310) 598-3173

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including
Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)
  (Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number,
Area Code, of Agent for Service)

 

 

Copy to:

John M. Greer

William J. Cernius

Latham & Watkins LLP

811 Main Street, Suite 3700

Houston, Texas 77002

(713) 546-5400

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box.  ☐

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box.  ☒

If this form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.D. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.D. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer      Accelerated filer  
Non-accelerated filer      Smaller reporting company  
     Emerging growth company  

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☒

 

 

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


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The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JANUARY 29, 2020

PROSPECTUS

 

 

LOGO

Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP

Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp.

Common Units Representing Limited Partner Interests

Preferred Units Representing Limited Partner Interests

Debt Securities

 

 

Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP (the “Partnership,” “we,” “our” or “us”) may from time to time, in one or more offerings, offer and sell common units and preferred units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership (the “Units”). We, together with Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp., may offer and sell debt securities described in this prospectus. Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. may act as co-issuer of the debt securities. We refer to the Units and the debt securities collectively as the “securities.” The aggregate initial offering price of all securities sold by us under this prospectus will not exceed $750,000,000.

We may offer and sell these securities in amounts, at prices and on terms to be determined by market conditions and other factors at the time of our offerings. We may offer and sell these securities to or through one or more underwriters, dealers or agents, or directly to purchasers, on a continuous or delayed basis. This prospectus describes only the general terms of the securities and the general manner in which we will offer the securities. The specific terms of any securities we offer will be included in a supplement to this prospectus. The prospectus supplement will describe the specific manner in which we will offer the securities and also may add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. The names of any underwriters and the specific terms of a plan of distribution will be stated in the prospectus supplement.

Our common units are traded on the NASDAQ Global Market (“NASDAQ”) under the symbol “LMRK,” our Series A Preferred Units are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol “LMRKP,” our Series B Preferred Units are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol “LMRKO” and our Series C Preferred Units are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol “LMRKN.” We will provide information in the prospectus supplement for the trading market, if any, for any debt securities we may offer.

 

 

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Limited partnerships are inherently different from corporations. You should review carefully the risk factors identified in the documents incorporated by reference herein for a discussion of important risks you should consider before you make an investment in our securities.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

The date of this prospectus is                     , 2020.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

     ii  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

     iii  

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     v  

LANDMARK INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP

     1  

RISK FACTORS

     2  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     3  

DESCRIPTION OF OUR COMMON UNITS

     4  

DESCRIPTION OF OUR PREFERRED UNITS

     6  

DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES

     7  

PROVISIONS OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT RELATING TO CASH DISTRIBUTIONS

     15  

OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

     25  

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

     37  

INVESTMENT IN LANDMARK INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP BY EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

     63  

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

     66  

VALIDITY OF THE SECURITIES

     68  

EXPERTS

     68  

 

 

In making your investment decision, you should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus and in any prospectus supplement. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with any other information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it.

You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front cover of those documents. You should not assume that the information contained in the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the respective dates of those documents. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates. We will disclose any material changes in our affairs in an amendment to this prospectus, a prospectus supplement or a future filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) incorporated by reference in this prospectus.

 

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we have filed with the SEC using a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may over time, in one or more offerings, offer and sell any combination of the securities described in this prospectus.

This prospectus provides you with a general description of Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP and the securities that are registered hereunder. Each time we sell any securities offered by this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering and the securities being offered. Any prospectus supplement may also add to, update or change information contained in this prospectus. To the extent information in this prospectus is inconsistent with the information contained in a prospectus supplement, you should rely on the information in the prospectus supplement.

Additional information, including our financial statements and the notes thereto, is incorporated in this prospectus by reference to our reports filed with the SEC. Before you invest in our securities, you should carefully read this prospectus, including the information provided under the heading “Risk Factors,” any prospectus supplement, the information incorporated by reference in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement (including the documents described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information” in both this prospectus and any prospectus supplement), and any additional information you may need to make your investment decision.

 

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We file annual, quarterly, current and other reports with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) (File No. 001-36735). Our SEC filings are available to the public through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Our internet address is www.landmarkmlp.com. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the SEC are available, free of charge, through our website, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports or filings are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and you should not consider information contained on our website as part of this prospectus.

We “incorporate by reference” information into this prospectus, which means that we disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus, except for any information superseded by information contained expressly in this prospectus. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is current as of the date other than the date on the cover page of this prospectus.

We incorporate by reference in this prospectus the documents listed below and any subsequent filings we make with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (excluding information deemed to be furnished and not filed with the SEC) until all offerings under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part are completed or terminated:

 

   

our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as filed with the SEC on February 20, 2019;

 

   

our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, as filed with the SEC on May 1, 2019;

 

   

our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, as filed with the SEC on August 7, 2019;

 

   

our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, as filed with the SEC on November 6, 2019;

 

   

our Current Reports on Form  8-K, as filed with the SEC on February  1, 2019; May  3, 2019; July 5, 2019; and January 21, 2020;

 

   

the description of our common units contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36735), as filed with the SEC on November 7, 2014;

 

   

the description of our 8.00% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36735), as filed with the SEC on April 29, 2016;

 

   

the description of our 7.90% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36735), as filed with the SEC on August 26, 2016; and

 

   

the description of our Series C Floating-to-Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Redeemable Convertible Preferred Units contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-36735), as filed with the SEC on April 10, 2018.

We are also incorporating by reference all additional documents we may file with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date hereof and prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

 

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You may request a copy of any document incorporated by reference in this prospectus and any exhibit specifically incorporated by reference in those documents, at no cost, by writing or telephoning us at the following address or phone number:

Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP

400 Continental Blvd., Suite 500

P.O. Box 3429

El Segundo, CA 90245

Attention: George P. Doyle

Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Telephone: (310) 598-3173

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Investors are cautioned that certain statements contained in this prospectus are “forward-looking” statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may project, indicate or imply future results, events, performance or achievements, and may contain the words “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions, or future conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” and “could.” In addition, any statement concerning future financial performance (including future revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, and possible actions taken by us or our subsidiaries, are also forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve external risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” included or incorporated by reference herein.

Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of our management team. All forward-looking statements in this prospectus and subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us, or to persons acting on our behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph. These risks and uncertainties include, among others:

 

   

the number of real property interests that we are able to acquire, and whether we are able to complete such acquisitions on favorable terms, which could be adversely affected by, among other things, general economic conditions, operating difficulties, and competition;

 

   

the number of completed infrastructure developments;

 

   

the return on infrastructure developments;

 

   

the prices we pay for our acquisitions of real property;

 

   

our management’s and our general partner’s conflicts of interest;

 

   

the rent increases we are able to negotiate with our tenants, and the possibility of further consolidation among a relatively small number of significant tenants in the wireless communication and outdoor advertising industries;

 

   

changes in the price and availability of real property interests;

 

   

changes in prevailing economic conditions;

 

   

unanticipated cancellations of tenant leases;

 

   

a decrease in our tenants’ demand for real property interests due to, among other things, technological advances or industry consolidation;

 

   

inclement or hazardous weather conditions, including flooding, and the physical impacts of climate change, unanticipated ground, grade or water conditions, and other environmental hazards;

 

   

inability to acquire or maintain necessary permits;

 

   

changes in laws and regulations (or the interpretation thereof), including zoning regulations;

 

   

difficulty collecting receivables and the potential for tenant bankruptcy;

 

   

additional expenses associated with being a publicly traded partnership;

 

   

our ability to borrow funds and access capital markets, and the effects of the fluctuating interest rate on our existing and future borrowings;

 

   

restrictions in our revolving credit facility on our ability to issue additional debt or equity or pay distributions;

 

   

mergers or consolidation among wireless carriers;

 

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performance of our joint ventures;

 

   

fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; and

 

   

certain factors discussed elsewhere in this prospectus.

Developments in any of these areas could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or projected.

The foregoing list of risks and uncertainties may not contain all of the risks and uncertainties that could affect us. In addition, in light of these risks and uncertainties, the matters referred to in the forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus may not in fact occur. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

 

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LANDMARK INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to the “Partnership,” “we,” “our,” “us” or like terms, refer to Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP and its subsidiaries. “Finance Corp.” refers to Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Partnership that may act as co-issuer of any debt securities offered by this prospectus. Our “general partner” refers to Landmark Infrastructure Partners GP LLC. References to “Landmark” refer collectively to Landmark Dividend LLC and its subsidiaries, other than us, our subsidiaries and our general partner.

We are a growth-oriented master limited partnership formed by Landmark to acquire, develop, own and manage a portfolio of real property interests and infrastructure assets that are leased to companies in the wireless communication, outdoor advertising and renewable power generation industries. We hold substantially all of our assets in a consolidated subsidiary, Landmark Infrastructure Inc. (“REIT Subsidiary”), which elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. We intend to continue to own and operate substantially all of our assets through the REIT Subsidiary. Our legal structure substantially eliminates unrelated business taxable income allocated by us to tax-exempt investors, and we do not intend to generate state source income.

Our real property interests underlie our tenants’ infrastructure assets, which include freestanding cellular towers and rooftop wireless sites, billboards, wind turbines and solar arrays. These assets are essential to the operations and profitability of our tenants. We seek to acquire real property interests subject to triple net or effectively triple net lease arrangements containing contractual rent increase clauses, or “rent escalators,” which we believe provide us with stable, predictable and growing cash flow.

Finance Corp. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on October 30, 2015, is wholly owned by the Partnership, and has no material assets or any liabilities other than as a co-issuer of debt securities. Its activities are limited to co-issuing debt securities and engaging in other activities incidental thereto.

Our executive offices are located at 400 Continental Blvd., Suite 500, El Segundo, CA 90245 and our telephone number at this address is (310) 598-3173.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Limited partner interests are inherently different from capital stock of a corporation, although many of the business risks to which we are subject are similar to those that would be faced by a corporation engaged in similar businesses. We urge you to carefully consider the risk factors included below and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, which are incorporated by reference into this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement and the documents we incorporate by reference, in evaluating an investment in our securities. If any of the risks discussed below and in the foregoing documents were to materialize, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially adversely affected and you could lose all or part of your investment. Please also read “Forward-Looking Statements.”

Our partnership agreement includes exclusive forum, venue and jurisdiction provisions and a waiver of the right to a jury trial. By purchasing a common or preferred unit, a limited partner is irrevocably consenting to these provisions regarding claims, suits, actions or proceedings, submitting to the exclusive jurisdiction of Delaware courts and waiving a right to a jury trial. Our partnership agreement also provides that any unitholder bringing an unsuccessful action will be obligated to reimburse us for any costs we have incurred in connection with such unsuccessful action

Our partnership agreement is governed by Delaware law. Our partnership agreement includes exclusive forum, venue and jurisdiction provisions designating Delaware courts as the exclusive venue for most claims, suits, actions and proceedings involving us or our officers, directors and employees. However, the exclusive forum provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. In addition, if any person brings any of the aforementioned claims, suits, actions or proceedings and such person does not obtain a judgment on the merits that substantially achieves, in substance and amount, the full remedy sought, then such person shall be obligated to reimburse us and our affiliates for all fees, costs and expenses of every kind and description, including but not limited to all reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation expenses, that the parties may incur in connection with such claim, suit, action or proceeding. Our partnership agreement also includes an irrevocable waiver of the right to trial by jury in all such claims, suits, actions and proceedings. By purchasing a common or preferred unit, a limited partner is irrevocably consenting to these limitations and provisions regarding claims, suits, actions or proceedings and submitting to the exclusive jurisdiction of Delaware courts. If a dispute were to arise between a limited partner and us or our officers, directors or employees, the limited partner may be required to pursue its legal remedies in Delaware which may be an inconvenient or distant location and which is considered to be a more corporate-friendly environment. These provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against us and our general partner’s directors and officers

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

The actual application of proceeds to us from the sale of any particular offering of securities using this prospectus will be determined at the time of the offering and will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to such offering. The precise amount and timing of the application of these proceeds will depend upon, among other factors, our funding requirements and the availability and cost of other funds.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF OUR COMMON UNITS

The Common Units

The common units represent limited partner interests in us. The holders of common units are entitled to participate in partnership distributions and are entitled to exercise the rights and privileges available to limited partners under our partnership agreement. For a description of the relative rights and preferences of holders of common units in and to partnership distributions, please read this section and “Provisions of Our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions.” For a description of the rights and privileges of limited partners under our partnership agreement, including voting rights, please read “Our Partnership Agreement.”

Our outstanding common units are listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “LMRK,” and any additional common units we issue will also be listed on the NASDAQ Global Market. As of January 28, 2020, there were 25,470,232 common units outstanding. On January 28, 2020, the last reported sales price of our common units on the NASDAQ Global Market was $17.05 per common unit.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

Duties

Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (“Computershare”) serves as the transfer agent and registrar for the common units. We will pay all fees charged by the transfer agent for transfers of common units except the following that must be paid by unitholders:

 

   

surety bond premiums to replace lost or stolen certificates, taxes and other governmental charges in connection therewith;

 

   

special charges for services requested by a common unitholder; and

 

   

other similar fees or charges.

Unless our general partner determines otherwise in respect of some or all of any classes of our partner interests, our partner interests will be evidenced by book entry notation on our partnership register and not by physical certificates.

There will be no charge to unitholders for disbursements of our cash distributions. We will indemnify Computershare, its agents and each of their respective stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.

Resignation or Removal

The transfer agent may resign, by notice to us, or be removed by us. The resignation or removal of the transfer agent will become effective upon our appointment of a successor transfer agent and registrar and its acceptance of the appointment. If no successor has been appointed and has accepted the appointment within 30 days after notice of the resignation or removal, our general partner may act as the transfer agent and registrar until a successor is appointed.

Transfer of Common Units

By transfer of common units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission are reflected in our books and records.

 

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Each transferee:

 

   

automatically agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of, and is deemed to have executed, our partnership agreement;

 

   

represents and warrants that the transferee has the right, power, authority and capacity to enter into our partnership agreement; and

 

   

gives the consents, waivers and approvals contained in our partnership agreement.

Our general partner will cause any transfers to be recorded on our books and records no less frequently than quarterly.

We may, at our discretion, treat the nominee holder of a common unit as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holder’s rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.

Common units are securities and any transfers are subject to the laws governing the transfer of securities. In addition to other rights acquired upon transfer, the transferor gives the transferee the right to become a substituted limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units.

Until a common unit has been transferred on our books, we and the transfer agent may treat the record holder of the common unit as the absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF OUR PREFERRED UNITS

Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional limited partner interests and other equity securities for the consideration and with the designations, preferences, rights, powers and duties established by our general partner without the approval of any of our limited partners. In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may issue additional partnership interests that, as determined by our general partner, have special voting rights to which our common units are not entitled.

Should we offer preferred units under this prospectus, a prospectus supplement relating to the particular series of preferred units offered will include the specific terms of those preferred units, including, among other things, the following:

 

   

the designation, stated value and liquidation preference of the preferred units and the number of preferred units offered;

 

   

the initial public offering price at which the preferred units will be issued;

 

   

the conversion or exchange provisions of the preferred units;

 

   

any redemption or sinking fund provisions of the preferred units;

 

   

the distribution rights of the preferred units, if any;

 

   

a discussion of any additional material federal income tax considerations regarding the preferred units; and

 

   

any additional rights, preferences, privileges, limitations, and restrictions of the preferred units.

The transfer agent and registrar for any preferred units will be designated in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES

The following description, together with the additional information we include in any applicable prospectus supplement, summarizes certain general terms and provisions of the debt securities that we may offer under this prospectus. When we offer to sell a particular series of debt securities, we will describe the specific terms of the series in a supplement to this prospectus. We will also indicate in the supplement to what extent the general terms and provisions described in this prospectus apply to a particular series of debt securities.

As used in this section only, (i) the term “Partnership” refers to Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP and not to any of its subsidiaries, (ii) the term “Finance Corp.” refers to Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp., and (iii) the terms “we,” “our,” “us” or “Issuers” refer to the Partnership and Finance Corp., unless expressly stated or the context otherwise requires.

We may issue debt securities either separately, or together with, or upon the conversion or exercise of or in exchange for, other securities described in this prospectus. Debt securities may be our senior, senior subordinated or subordinated obligations and, unless otherwise specified in a supplement to this prospectus, the debt securities will be our direct, unsecured obligations and may be issued in one or more series.

The debt securities will be issued under an indenture between us and UMB Bank, National Association, as trustee. We have summarized select portions of the indenture below. The summary is not complete. The form of the indenture has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement and you should read the indenture for provisions that may be important to you. In the summary below, we have included references to the section numbers of the indenture so that you can easily locate these provisions. Capitalized terms used in the summary and not defined herein have the meanings specified in the indenture.

General

The terms of each series of debt securities will be established by or pursuant to a resolution of the board of directors of our general partner and set forth or determined in the manner provided in a resolution of the board of directors of our general partner, in an officer’s certificate or by a supplemental indenture. (Section 2.2) The particular terms of each series of debt securities will be described in a prospectus supplement relating to such series (including any pricing supplement or term sheet).

We can issue an unlimited amount of debt securities under the indenture that may be in one or more series with the same or various maturities, at par, at a premium, or at a discount. (Section 2.1) We will set forth in a prospectus supplement (including any pricing supplement or term sheet) relating to any series of debt securities being offered, the aggregate principal amount and the following terms of the debt securities, if applicable:

 

   

the title and ranking of the debt securities (including the terms of any subordination provisions);

 

   

the price or prices (expressed as a percentage of the principal amount) at which we will sell the debt securities;

 

   

any limit on the aggregate principal amount of the debt securities;

 

   

the date or dates on which the principal of the securities of the series is payable;

 

   

the rate or rates (which may be fixed or variable) per annum or the method used to determine the rate or rates (including any commodity, commodity index, stock exchange index or financial index) at which the debt securities will bear interest, the date or dates from which interest will accrue, the date or dates on which interest will commence and be payable and any regular record date for the interest payable on any interest payment date;

 

   

the place or places where principal of, and interest, if any, on the debt securities will be payable (and the method of such payment), where the securities of such series may be surrendered for registration of transfer or exchange, and where notices and demands to us in respect of the debt securities may be delivered;

 

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the period or periods within which, the price or prices at which and the terms and conditions upon which we may redeem the debt securities;

 

   

any obligation we have to redeem or purchase the debt securities pursuant to any sinking fund or analogous provisions or at the option of a holder of debt securities and the period or periods within which, the price or prices at which and in the terms and conditions upon which securities of the series shall be redeemed or purchased, in whole or in part, pursuant to such obligation;

 

   

the dates on which and the price or prices at which we will repurchase debt securities at the option of the holders of debt securities and other detailed terms and provisions of these repurchase obligations;

 

   

the denominations in which the debt securities will be issued, if other than denominations of $1,000, and any integral multiple thereof;

 

   

whether the debt securities will be issued in the form of certificated debt securities or global debt securities;

 

   

the portion of principal amount of the debt securities payable upon declaration of acceleration of the maturity date, if other than the principal amount;

 

   

the currency of denomination of the debt securities, which may be U.S. Dollars or any foreign currency, and if such currency of denomination is a composite currency, the agency or organization, if any, responsible for overseeing such composite currency;

 

   

the designation of the currency, currencies or currency units in which payment of principal of, premium and interest on the debt securities will be made;

 

   

if payments of principal of, premium or interest on the debt securities will be made in one or more currencies or currency units other than that or those in which the debt securities are denominated, the manner in which the exchange rate with respect to these payments will be determined;

 

   

the manner in which the amounts of payment of principal of, premium, if any, or interest on the debt securities will be determined, if these amounts may be determined by reference to an index based on a currency or currencies other than that in which the debt securities are denominated or designated to be payable or by reference to a commodity, commodity index, stock exchange index or financial index;

 

   

any provisions relating to any security provided for the debt securities;

 

   

any addition to, deletion of or change in the Events of Default described in this prospectus or in the indenture with respect to the debt securities and any change in the acceleration provisions described in this prospectus or in the indenture with respect to the debt securities;

 

   

any addition to, deletion of or change in the covenants described in this prospectus or in the indenture with respect to the debt securities;

 

   

any depositaries, interest rate calculation agents, exchange rate calculation agents or other agents with respect to the debt securities;

 

   

the provisions, if any, relating to conversion or exchange of any debt securities of such series, including if applicable, the conversion or exchange price and period, provisions as to whether conversion or exchange will be mandatory, the events requiring an adjustment of the conversion or exchange price and provisions affecting conversion or exchange;

 

   

any other terms of the debt securities, which may supplement, modify or delete any provision of the indenture as it applies to that series, including any terms that may be required under applicable law or regulations or advisable in connection with the marketing of the securities; and

 

   

whether any of our direct or indirect subsidiaries will guarantee the debt securities of that series, including the terms of subordination, if any, of such guarantees. (Section 2.2)

 

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We may issue debt securities that provide for an amount less than their stated principal amount to be due and payable upon declaration of acceleration of their maturity pursuant to the terms of the indenture. We will provide you with information on the federal income tax considerations and other special considerations applicable to any of these debt securities in the applicable prospectus supplement.

If we denominate the purchase price of any of the debt securities in a foreign currency or currencies or a foreign currency unit or units, or if the principal of and any premium and interest on any series of debt securities is payable in a foreign currency or currencies or a foreign currency unit or units, we will provide you with information on the restrictions, elections, general tax considerations, specific terms and other information with respect to that issue of debt securities and such foreign currency or currencies or foreign currency unit or units in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Transfer and Exchange

Each debt security will be represented by either one or more global securities registered in the name of The Depository Trust Company (the “Depositary”), or a nominee of the Depositary (we will refer to any debt security represented by a global debt security as a “book-entry debt security”), or a certificate issued in definitive registered form (we will refer to any debt security represented by a certificated security as a “certificated debt security”) as set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement. Except as set forth under the heading “Global Debt Securities and Book-Entry System” below, book-entry debt securities will not be issuable in certificated form.

Certificated Debt Securities

You may transfer or exchange certificated debt securities at any office we maintain in accordance with the terms of the indenture. (Section 2.4) No service charge will be made for any transfer or exchange of certificated debt securities, but we may require payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge payable in connection with a transfer or exchange. (Section 2.7)

You may effect the transfer of certificated debt securities and the right to receive the principal of, premium and interest on certificated debt securities only by surrendering the certificate representing those certificated debt securities and either reissuance by us or the trustee of the certificate to the new holder or the issuance by us or the trustee of a new certificate to the new holder.

Global Debt Securities and Book-Entry System

Each global debt security representing book-entry debt securities will be deposited with, or on behalf of, the Depositary, and registered in the name of the Depositary or a nominee of the Depositary.

Covenants

We will set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement any restrictive covenants applicable to any issue of debt securities. (Article IV)

No Protection in the Event of a Change of Control

Unless we state otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement, the debt securities will not contain any provisions which may afford holders of the debt securities protection in the event we have a change in control or in the event of a highly leveraged transaction (whether or not such transaction results in a change in control) which could adversely affect holders of debt securities.

 

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Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets

The Partnership may not consolidate with or merge with or into, or convey, transfer or lease all or substantially all of our properties and assets to any person (a “successor person”) unless:

 

   

we are the surviving entity or the successor person (if other than the Partnership) is an entity organized and validly existing under the laws of any U.S. domestic jurisdiction and expressly assumes our obligations on the debt securities and under the indenture; and

 

   

immediately after giving effect to the transaction, no Default (as defined in the indenture) or Event of Default, shall have occurred and be continuing.

Notwithstanding the above, any of our subsidiaries may consolidate with, merge into or transfer all or part of its properties to us. (Section 5.1)

Events of Default

“Event of Default” means with respect to any series of debt securities, any of the following:

 

   

default in the payment of any interest upon any debt security of that series when it becomes due and payable, and continuance of such default for a period of 30 days (unless the entire amount of the payment is deposited by us with the trustee or with a paying agent prior to the expiration of the 30-day period);

 

   

default in the payment of principal of any debt security of that series at its maturity;

 

   

default in the performance or breach of any other covenant or warranty by us in the indenture (other than a covenant or warranty that has been included in the indenture solely for the benefit of a series of debt securities other than that series), which default continues uncured for a period of 60 days after (i) we receive written notice from the trustee or (ii) the Issuers and the trustee receive written notice from the holders of not less than 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series as provided in the indenture;

 

   

certain voluntary or involuntary events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization of the Issuers; and

 

   

any other Event of Default provided with respect to debt securities of that series that is described in the applicable prospectus supplement. (Section 6.1).

No Event of Default with respect to a particular series of debt securities (except as to certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization) necessarily constitutes an Event of Default with respect to any other series of debt securities. (Section 6.1) The occurrence of certain Events of Default or an acceleration under the indenture may constitute an event of default under certain indebtedness of ours or our subsidiaries outstanding from time to time.

We will provide the trustee written notice of any Default or Event of Default within 30 days of becoming aware of the occurrence of such Default or Event of Default, which notice will describe in reasonable detail the status of such Default or Event of Default and what action we are taking or propose to take in respect thereof. (Section 6.1)

If an Event of Default with respect to debt securities of any series at the time outstanding occurs and is continuing, then the trustee or the holders of not less than 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series may, by a notice in writing to us (and to the trustee if given by the holders), declare to be due and payable immediately the principal of (or, if the debt securities of that series are discount securities, that portion of the principal amount as may be specified in the terms of that series) and accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on all debt securities of that series. In the case of an Event of Default resulting from certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization, the principal (or such specified amount) of and accrued and unpaid

 

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interest, if any, on all outstanding debt securities will become and be immediately due and payable without any declaration or other act on the part of the trustee or any holder of outstanding debt securities. At any time after a declaration of acceleration with respect to debt securities of any series has been made, but before a judgment or decree for payment of the money due has been obtained by the trustee, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series may rescind and annul the acceleration if all Events of Default, other than the non-payment of accelerated principal and interest, if any, with respect to debt securities of that series, have been cured or waived as provided in the indenture. (Section 6.2) We refer you to the prospectus supplement relating to any series of debt securities that are discount securities for the particular provisions relating to acceleration of a portion of the principal amount of such discount securities upon the occurrence of an Event of Default.

The indenture provides that the trustee will be under no obligation to exercise any of its rights or powers under the indenture unless the trustee receives indemnity satisfactory to it against any cost, liability or expense which might be incurred by it in exercising such right or power. (Section 7.1(e)) Subject to certain rights of the trustee, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series will have the right to direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the trustee or exercising any trust or power conferred on the trustee with respect to the debt securities of that series. (Section 6.12)

No holder of any debt security of any series will have any right to institute any proceeding, judicial or otherwise, with respect to the indenture or for the appointment of a receiver or trustee, or for any remedy under the indenture, unless:

 

   

that holder has previously given to the trustee written notice of a continuing Event of Default with respect to debt securities of that series; and

 

   

the holders of not less than 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series have made written request, and offered reasonable indemnity or security, to the trustee to institute the proceeding as trustee, and the trustee has not received from the holders of not less than a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series a direction inconsistent with that request and has failed to institute the proceeding within 60 days. (Section 6.7)

Notwithstanding any other provision in the indenture, the holder of any debt security will have an absolute and unconditional right to receive payment of the principal of, premium and any interest on that debt security on or after the due dates expressed in that debt security and to institute suit for the enforcement of payment. (Section 6.8)

The indenture requires us, within 120 days after the end of our fiscal year, to furnish to the trustee a statement as to compliance with the indenture. (Section 4.3) If a Default or Event of Default occurs and is continuing with respect to the securities of any series and if it is known to a responsible officer of the trustee, the trustee shall mail to each securityholder of the debt securities of that series notice of a Default or Event of Default within 90 days after it occurs. The indenture provides that the trustee may withhold notice to the holders of debt securities of any series of any Default or Event of Default (except in payment on any debt securities of that series) with respect to debt securities of that series if the trustee determines in good faith that withholding notice is in the interest of the holders of those debt securities. (Section 7.5)

Modification and Waiver

We and the trustee may modify and amend the indenture or the debt securities of any series without the consent of any holder of any debt security:

 

   

to cure any ambiguity, defect or inconsistency;

 

   

to comply with covenants in the indenture described above under the heading “Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets”;

 

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to provide for uncertificated debt securities in addition to or in place of certificated debt securities;

 

   

to add or remove guarantees with respect to debt securities of any series or secure debt securities of any series;

 

   

to surrender any of our rights or powers under the indenture;

 

   

to add covenants or events of default for the benefit of the holders of debt securities of any series;

 

   

to comply with the applicable procedures of the applicable depositary;

 

   

to make any change that does not adversely affect the rights of any holder of debt securities;

 

   

to provide for the issuance of and establish the form and terms and conditions of debt securities of any series as permitted by the indenture;

 

   

to effect the appointment of a successor trustee with respect to the debt securities of any series and to add to or change any of the provisions of the indenture to provide for or facilitate administration by more than one trustee; or

 

   

to comply with requirements of the SEC in order to effect or maintain the qualification of the indenture under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939. (Section 9.1)

We may also modify and amend the indenture with the consent of the holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of each series affected by the modifications or amendments. We may not make any modification or amendment without the consent of the holders of each affected debt security then outstanding if that amendment will:

 

   

reduce the amount of debt securities whose holders must consent to an amendment, supplement or waiver;

 

   

reduce the rate of or extend the time for payment of interest (including default interest) on any debt security;

 

   

reduce the principal of or premium on or change the fixed maturity of any debt security or reduce the amount of, or postpone the date fixed for, the payment of any sinking fund or analogous obligation with respect to any series of debt securities;

 

   

reduce the principal amount of discount securities payable upon acceleration of maturity;

 

   

waive a default in the payment of the principal, premium or interest on any debt security (except a rescission of acceleration of the debt securities of any series by the holders of at least a majority in aggregate principal amount of the then outstanding debt securities of that series and a waiver of the payment default that resulted from such acceleration);

 

   

make the principal of or premium or interest on any debt security payable in currency other than that stated in the debt security;

 

   

make any change to certain provisions of the indenture relating to, among other things, the right of holders of debt securities to receive payment of the principal of, premium and interest on those debt securities and to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment and to waivers or amendments; or

 

   

waive a redemption payment with respect to any debt security. (Section 9.3)

Except for certain specified provisions, the holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series may on behalf of the holders of all debt securities of that series waive our compliance with provisions of the indenture. (Section 9.2) The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series may on behalf of the holders of all the debt securities of such series waive any past default under the indenture with respect to that series and its consequences, except a default in the

 

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payment of the principal of, premium or any interest on any debt security of that series; provided, however, that the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series may rescind an acceleration and its consequences, including any related payment default that resulted from the acceleration. (Section 6.13)

Guarantees

The indenture provides that our subsidiaries may be designated as guarantors of the debt securities of any series that we issue to the extent any such subsidiary executes a notation of guarantee in accordance with the terms of the indenture. Subject to the exceptions and limitations explicitly set forth in the indenture, the guarantors of our debt securities will, among other things, (i) jointly and severally, fully, unconditionally and absolutely guarantee to the holders and to the trustee of the applicable series of debt securities the due and punctual payment of principal and interest and all other amounts due and payable under the indenture and the applicable debt securities, when and as such principal and interest shall become due and payable and (ii) become obligated to pay any amount due immediately upon our failure to pay the same. (Section 10.1).

Defeasance of Debt Securities and Certain Covenants in Certain Circumstances

Legal Defeasance

The indenture provides that, unless otherwise provided by the terms of the applicable series of debt securities, we may be discharged from any and all obligations in respect of the debt securities of any series (subject to certain exceptions). We will be so discharged upon the deposit with the trustee, in trust, of money and/or U.S. government obligations or, in the case of debt securities denominated in a single currency other than U.S. Dollars, government obligations of the government that issued or caused to be issued such currency, that, through the payment of interest and principal in accordance with their terms, will provide money or U.S. government obligations in an amount sufficient in the opinion of a nationally recognized firm of independent public accountants or investment bank to pay and discharge each installment of principal, premium and interest on and any mandatory sinking fund payments in respect of the debt securities of that series on the stated maturity of those payments in accordance with the terms of the indenture and those debt securities.

This discharge may occur only if, among other things, we have delivered to the trustee an opinion of counsel stating that we have received from, or there has been published by, the IRS a ruling or, since the date of execution of the indenture, there has been a change in the applicable United States federal income tax law, in either case to the effect that, and based thereon such opinion shall confirm that, the holders of the debt securities of that series will not recognize income, gain or loss for United States federal income tax purposes as a result of the deposit, defeasance and discharge and will be subject to United States federal income tax on the same amounts and in the same manner and at the same times as would have been the case if the deposit, defeasance and discharge had not occurred. (Section 8.3)

Defeasance of Certain Covenants

The indenture provides that, unless otherwise provided by the terms of the applicable series of debt securities, upon compliance with certain conditions:

 

   

we may omit to comply with the covenant described under the heading “Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets” and certain other covenants set forth in the indenture, as well as any additional covenants which may be set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement; and

 

   

any omission to comply with those covenants will not constitute a Default or an Event of Default with respect to the debt securities of that series (“covenant defeasance”).

The conditions include:

 

   

depositing with the trustee money and/or U.S. government obligations or, in the case of debt securities denominated in a single currency other than U.S. Dollars, government obligations of the government

 

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that issued or caused to be issued such currency, that, through the payment of interest and principal in accordance with their terms, will provide money in an amount sufficient in the opinion of a nationally recognized firm of independent public accountants or investment bank to pay and discharge each installment of principal of, premium and interest on and any mandatory sinking fund payments in respect of the debt securities of that series on the stated maturity of those payments in accordance with the terms of the indenture and those debt securities; and

 

   

delivering to the trustee an opinion of counsel to the effect that the holders of the debt securities of that series will not recognize income, gain or loss for United States federal income tax purposes as a result of the deposit and related covenant defeasance and will be subject to United States federal income tax on the same amounts and in the same manner and at the same times as would have been the case if the deposit and related covenant defeasance had not occurred. (Section 8.4)

Covenant Defeasance and Events of Default

In the event we exercise our option to effect covenant defeasance with respect to any series of debt securities and the debt securities of that series are declared due and payable because of the occurrence of any Event of Default, the amount of money and/or U.S. government obligations or foreign government obligations on deposit with the trustee will be sufficient to pay amounts due on the debt securities of that series at the time of their stated maturity but may not be sufficient to pay amounts due on the debt securities of that series at the time of the acceleration resulting from the Event of Default. However, we shall remain liable for those payments. (Section 8.4)

No Personal Liability of Directors, Officers, Employees or Unitholders

None of our past, present or future directors, officers, employees or unitholders, as such, will have any liability for any of our obligations under the debt securities or the indenture or for any claim based on, or in respect or by reason of, such obligations or their creation. By accepting a debt security, each holder waives and releases all such liability. This waiver and release is part of the consideration for the issue of the debt securities. However, this waiver and release may not be effective to waive liabilities under U.S. federal securities laws, and it is the view of the SEC that such a waiver is against public policy.

Governing Law

The indenture and the debt securities, including any claim or controversy arising out of or relating to the indenture or the debt securities, will be governed by the laws of the State of New York (without regard to the conflicts of laws provisions thereof other than Section 5-1401 of the General Obligations Law). (Section 12.10)

 

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PROVISIONS OF OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT RELATING TO CASH DISTRIBUTIONS

Set forth below is a summary of the significant provisions of our partnership agreement that relate to cash distributions.

Distributions of Available Cash

General

Our partnership agreement requires that, within 45 days after the end of each quarter, we distribute all of our available cash to unitholders of record on the applicable record date.

Definition of Available Cash

Available cash generally means, for any quarter, all cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of that quarter:

 

   

less, the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner to:

 

   

provide for the proper conduct of our business (including reserves for our future capital expenditures and anticipated future debt service requirements);

 

   

comply with applicable law, any of our or our subsidiaries’ debt instruments or other agreements;

 

   

provide funds for distributions and redemption payments with respect to our 8.00% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units (“Series A Preferred Units”), our 7.90% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units (“Series B Preferred Units”) and our Series C Floating-to-Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Redeemable Convertible Preferred Units (“Series C Preferred Units”);

 

   

provide funds for distributions to our unitholders and to our general partner for any one or more of the next four quarters (provided that our general partner may not establish cash reserves for distributions if the effect of the establishment of such reserves will prevent us from distributing the minimum quarterly distribution on all common units for the current quarter); or

 

   

plus, if our general partner so determines, all or any portion of the cash on hand on the date of determination of available cash for the quarter resulting from working capital borrowings made subsequent to the end of such quarter.

The purpose and effect of the last bullet point above is to allow our general partner, if it so decides, to use cash from working capital borrowings made after the end of the quarter but on or before the date of determination of available cash for that quarter to pay distributions to unitholders. Under our partnership agreement, working capital borrowings are generally borrowings that are made under a credit facility, commercial paper facility or similar financing arrangement, and in all cases are used solely for working capital purposes or to pay distributions to partners and with the intent of the borrower to repay such borrowings within twelve months with funds other than from additional working capital borrowings.

Intent to Distribute the Minimum Quarterly Distribution

Under our current cash distribution policy, we intend to pay a minimum quarterly distribution to the holders of our common units of $0.2875 per unit, or $1.15 per unit on an annualized basis, to the extent we have sufficient available cash after the establishment of cash reserves and the payment of costs and expenses, including reimbursements of expenses to our general partner. Our most recent quarterly distribution was $0.37 per unit, or $1.47 annualized. However, there is no guarantee that we will pay the minimum quarterly distribution on our units in any quarter. The amount of distributions paid under our cash distribution policy and the decision to pay any distribution will be determined by our general partner, taking into consideration the terms of our partnership agreement.

 

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General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights

Our general partner owns a non-economic general partner interest in us, which does not entitle it to receive cash distributions. However, our general partner may in the future own common units or other equity interests in us and will be entitled to receive distributions on any such interests.

Our general partner also holds incentive distribution rights that will entitle it to receive increasing percentages, up to a maximum of 50%, of the available cash we distribute from operating surplus (as defined below) in excess of $0.330625 per unit per quarter. The maximum distribution of 50% does not include any distributions that our general partner or its affiliates may receive on common units that they own. Please read “Our Partnership Agreement” for additional information.

Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus

General

All cash distributed to unitholders will be characterized as either being paid from “operating surplus” or “capital surplus.” We treat distributions of available cash from operating surplus differently than distributions of available cash from capital surplus.

Operating Surplus

We define operating surplus as:

 

   

$10.0 million (as described below); plus

 

   

all of our cash receipts after the closing of our initial public offering, excluding cash from interim capital transactions (as defined below), provided that cash receipts from the termination of an interest rate hedge prior to its specified termination date shall be included in operating surplus in equal quarterly installments over the remaining scheduled life of such interest rate hedge; plus

 

   

working capital borrowings made after the end of a quarter but on or before the date of determination of operating surplus for that quarter; plus

 

   

cash distributions (including incremental distributions on incentive distribution rights) paid in respect of equity issued to finance all or a portion of expansion capital expenditures in respect of the period from such financing until the earlier to occur of the date the capital asset commences commercial service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed of; less

 

   

all of our operating expenditures (as defined below) after the closing of our initial public offering; less

 

   

the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner to provide funds for future operating expenditures; less

 

   

all working capital borrowings not repaid within twelve months after having been incurred, or repaid within such 12-month period with the proceeds of additional working capital borrowings.

As described above, operating surplus does not reflect actual cash on hand that is available for distribution to our unitholders and is not limited to cash generated by operations. For example, it includes a provision that will enable us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus up to $10.0 million of cash we receive in the future from non-operating sources such as asset sales, issuances of securities and long-term borrowings that would otherwise be distributed as capital surplus. In addition, the effect of including, as described above, certain cash distributions on equity interests in operating surplus will be to increase operating surplus by the amount of any such cash distributions. As a result, we may also distribute as operating surplus up to the amount of any such cash that we receive from non-operating sources.

 

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The proceeds of working capital borrowings increase operating surplus and repayments of working capital borrowings are generally operating expenditures (as described below) and thus reduce operating surplus when repayments are made. However, if working capital borrowings, which increase operating surplus, are not repaid during the twelve-month period following the borrowing, they will be deemed repaid at the end of such period, thus decreasing operating surplus at such time. When such working capital borrowings are in fact repaid, they will not be treated as a further reduction in operating surplus because operating surplus will have been previously reduced by the deemed repayment.

We define interim capital transactions as (1) borrowings, refinancings or refundings of indebtedness (other than working capital borrowings and items purchased on open account or for a deferred purchase price in the ordinary course of business) and sales of debt securities, (2) sales of equity securities, (3) sales or other dispositions of assets, other than sales or other dispositions of inventory, accounts receivable and other assets in the ordinary course of business and sales or other dispositions of assets as part of normal asset retirements or replacements and (4) capital contributions received by us.

We define operating expenditures as all of our cash expenditures, including taxes, reimbursements of expenses of our general partner and its affiliates, officer, director and employee compensation, cash interest expense, payments made in the ordinary course of business under interest rate hedge contracts (provided that payments made in connection with the termination of any interest rate hedge contract prior to the expiration of its settlement or termination date specified therein will be included in operating expenditures in equal quarterly installments over the remaining scheduled life of such interest rate hedge contract and amounts paid in connection with the initial purchase of an interest rate hedge contract will be amortized over the life of such interest rate hedge contract), maintenance capital expenditures (as discussed in further detail below), and repayment of working capital borrowings; provided, however, that operating expenditures will not include:

 

   

repayments of working capital borrowings where such borrowings have previously been deemed to have been repaid (as described above);

 

   

payments (including prepayments and prepayment penalties) of principal of and premium on indebtedness other than working capital borrowings;

 

   

expansion capital expenditures;

 

   

payment of transaction expenses (including taxes) relating to interim capital transactions;

 

   

redemption payments with respect to Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units;

 

   

payments made to holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units or Series C Preferred Units to purchase or otherwise acquire such preferred units;

 

   

distributions to our partners; or

 

   

repurchases of partner interests (excluding repurchases we make to satisfy obligations under employee benefit plans).

Capital Surplus

Capital surplus is defined in our partnership agreement as any distribution of available cash in excess of our cumulative operating surplus. Accordingly, except as described above, capital surplus would generally be generated by:

 

   

borrowings other than working capital borrowings;

 

   

sales of our equity and debt securities;

 

   

sales or other dispositions of assets, other than inventory, accounts receivable and other assets sold in the ordinary course of business or as part of ordinary course retirement or replacement of assets; and

 

   

capital contributions received.

 

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Characterization of Cash Distributions

All available cash distributed by us on any date from any source will be treated as distributed from operating surplus until the sum of all available cash distributed by us since the closing of our initial public offering equals the operating surplus from the closing of our initial public offering through the end of the quarter immediately preceding that distribution. We anticipate that distributions from operating surplus will generally not represent a return of capital. However, operating surplus, as defined in our partnership agreement, includes certain components, including a $10.0 million cash basket, that represent non-operating sources of cash. Consequently, it is possible that all or a portion of specific distributions from operating surplus may represent a return of capital. Any available cash distributed by us in excess of our cumulative operating surplus will be deemed to be capital surplus under our partnership agreement. Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the unit price from our initial public offering and as a return of capital. We do not anticipate that we will pay any distributions from capital surplus.

Capital Expenditures

Maintenance capital expenditures are cash expenditures (including expenditures for the construction or development of new capital assets or the replacement, improvement or expansion of existing capital assets) made to maintain, over the long term, our operating capacity or operating income.

Unlike a number of other master limited partnerships, we currently do not expect to retain cash from our operations for maintenance capital expenditures, primarily due to the long-lived nature of our real property interests and the effectively triple net nature of our tenant lease arrangements. For the year ended December 31, 2018, we incurred no maintenance capital expenditures. In addition to not bearing responsibility for maintenance capital expenditures, we expect our revenue from existing assets to increase over time through contractual rent escalators, tenant revenue sharing arrangements and lease amendments, none of which require capital investment to achieve. In the future, the board of directors of our general partner may decide to retain cash for maintenance capital expenditures, which may have an adverse impact on our distributable cash flow.

Expansion capital expenditures are cash expenditures incurred for acquisitions or capital improvements that we expect will increase our operating capacity or operating income over the long term. Examples of expansion capital expenditures include the acquisition of additional real property interests to the extent such acquisitions are expected to expand our long-term operating capacity or operating income. Expansion capital expenditures include interest payments (and related fees) on debt incurred to finance all or a portion of expansion capital expenditures in respect of the period from the date that we enter into a binding obligation to commence the construction, development, replacement, improvement or expansion of a capital asset and ending on the earlier to occur of the date that such capital improvement commences commercial service and the date that such capital improvement is abandoned or disposed of.

Capital expenditures that are made in part for maintenance capital purposes and in part for expansion capital purposes will be allocated as maintenance capital expenditures or expansion capital expenditures by our general partner.

Distributions of Available Cash from Operating Surplus

Subject to distributions to Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred units and Series C Preferred unit described below, we will pay distributions of available cash from operating surplus in the following manner:

 

   

first, to all unitholders, pro rata, until we distribute for each outstanding unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter; and

 

   

thereafter, in the manner described in “—General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights” below.

 

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The preceding discussion is based on the assumption that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

General Partner Interest and Incentive Distribution Rights

Our partnership agreement provides that our general partner owns a non-economic general partner interest and therefore is not entitled to distributions that we make prior to our liquidation, other than through common interests that it subsequently acquires or through our incentive distribution rights.

Incentive distribution rights represent the right to receive an increasing percentage (15%, 25% and 50%) of quarterly distributions of available cash from operating surplus after the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels have been achieved for certain specified time periods. Our general partner currently holds our incentive distribution rights, but may transfer these rights separately from its general partner interest.

The following discussion assumes that our general partner continues to own our incentive distribution rights. If for any quarter:

 

   

we have distributed available cash from operating surplus to the common unitholders in an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution;

then, we will distribute any additional available cash from operating surplus for that quarter among the unitholders and our general partner in the following manner:

 

   

first, to all unitholders, pro rata, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.330625 per unit for that quarter (the “first target distribution”);

 

   

second, 85% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.359375 per unit for that quarter (the “second target distribution”);

 

   

third, 75% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.431250 per unit for that quarter (the “third target distribution”); and

 

   

thereafter, 50% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to our general partner.

Distributions to Series A Preferred Units

On April 4, 2016, we issued 800,000 Series A Preferred Units. As of January 28, 2020, we had 1,745,328 Series A Preferred Units outstanding. The Series A Preferred Units do not have a percentage interest and holders are not entitled to receive distributions of available cash from operating surplus or capital surplus; however, prior to making any distribution of available cash to any class of our units other than the Series B Preferred Units and the Series C Preferred Units, the Series A Preferred Units are entitled to cash distributions equal to 8.00% per annum of the Series A liquidation preference ($25.00).

Distributions to Series B Preferred Units

On August 8, 2016, we issued 1,840,000 Series B Preferred Units. As of January 28, 2020, we had 2,628,932 Series B Preferred Units outstanding. The Series B Preferred Units do not have a percentage interest and holders are not entitled to receive distributions of available cash from operating surplus or capital surplus; however, prior to making any distribution of available cash to any class of our units other than the Series A Preferred Units and the Series C Preferred Units, the Series B Preferred Units are entitled to cash distributions equal to 7.90% per annum of the Series B liquidation preference ($25.00).

Distributions to Series C Preferred Units

On April 2, 2018, we issued 2,000,000 Series C Preferred Units. As of January 28, 2020, we had 1,988,700 Series C Preferred Units outstanding. The Series C Preferred Units do not have a percentage interest

 

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and holders are not entitled to receive distributions of available cash from operating surplus or capital surplus; however, prior to making any distribution of available cash to any class of our units other than the Series A Preferred Units and the Series B Preferred Units, the Series C Preferred Units are entitled to cash distributions equal to the greater of (i) 7.00% per annum and (ii) an annual floating rate of the three-month LIBOR plus a spread of 4.698% per annum of the Series C liquidation preference ($25.00).

Percentage Allocations of Available Cash from Operating Surplus

The following table illustrates the percentage allocations of available cash from operating surplus between the unitholders and our general partner based on the specified target distribution levels. The amounts set forth under “Marginal percentage interest in distributions” are the percentage interests of our general partner and the unitholders in any available cash from operating surplus we distribute up to and including the corresponding amount in the column “Total quarterly distribution per unit target amount.” The percentage interests shown for our unitholders and our general partner for the minimum quarterly distribution are also applicable to quarterly distribution amounts that are less than the minimum quarterly distribution. The percentage interests set forth below for our general partner assume that our general partner has not transferred its incentive distribution rights.

 

     Total quarterly distribution per unit target
amount
     Marginal percentage
interest in distributions
 
     Unitholders     General
Partner
 

Minimum Quarterly Distribution

      $ 0.287500              100     0

First Target Distribution

     above      $ 0.287500        up to      $ 0.330625        100     0

Second Target Distribution

     above      $ 0.330625        up to      $ 0.359375        85     15

Third Target Distribution

     above      $ 0.359375        up to      $ 0.431250        75     25

Thereafter

     above      $ 0.431250              50     50

Right to Reset Incentive Distribution Levels

Our general partner, as the holder of our incentive distribution rights, has the right under our partnership agreement, subject to certain conditions, to elect to relinquish the right to receive incentive distribution payments based on the target distribution levels and to reset, at higher levels, the minimum quarterly distribution amount and target distribution levels upon which the incentive distribution payments to our general partner would be set. If our general partner transfers all or a portion of our incentive distribution rights in the future, then the holder or holders of a majority of our incentive distribution rights will be entitled to exercise this right. The following discussion assumes that our general partner holds all of our incentive distribution rights at the time that a reset election is made. The right of the holder of our incentive distribution rights to reset the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels upon which the incentive distributions payable to the holder of our incentive distribution rights are based may be exercised, without approval of our unitholders or the conflicts committee, at any time when we have made cash distributions to the holders of our incentive distribution rights at the highest level of incentive distributions for each of the four consecutive fiscal quarters immediately preceding such time and the amount of each such distribution did not exceed adjusted operating surplus for such quarter. If our general partner and its affiliates are not the holders of a majority of our incentive distribution rights at the time an election is made to reset the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels, then the proposed reset will be subject to the prior written concurrence of the general partner that the conditions described above have been satisfied. The reset minimum quarterly distribution amount and target distribution levels will be higher than the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels prior to the reset such that the holder of our incentive distribution rights will not receive any incentive distributions under the reset target distribution levels until cash distributions per unit following this event increase as described below. We anticipate that our general partner would exercise this reset right in order to facilitate acquisitions or internal growth projects that would otherwise not be sufficiently accretive to cash distributions per common unit, taking into account the existing levels of incentive distribution payments being made to our general partner.

 

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In connection with the resetting of the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels and the corresponding relinquishment by our general partner of incentive distribution payments based on the target distributions prior to the reset, our general partner will be entitled to receive a number of newly issued common units based on a predetermined formula described below that takes into account the “cash parity” value of the average cash distributions related to our incentive distribution rights received by our general partner for the two quarters immediately preceding the reset event as compared to the average cash distributions per common unit during that two-quarter period.

The number of common units that our general partner (or the then-holder of our incentive distribution rights, if other than our general partner) would be entitled to receive from us in connection with a resetting of the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels then in effect would be equal to the quotient determined by dividing (x) the average aggregate amount of cash distributions received by our general partner in respect of its incentive distribution rights during the two consecutive fiscal quarters ended immediately prior to the date of such reset election by (y) the average of the aggregate amount of cash distributed per common unit during each of these two quarters.

Following a reset election, the minimum quarterly distribution amount will be reset to an amount equal to the average cash distribution amount per common unit for the two fiscal quarters immediately preceding the reset election (which amount we refer to as the “reset minimum quarterly distribution”) and the target distribution levels will be reset to be correspondingly higher such that we would distribute all of our available cash from operating surplus for each quarter thereafter as follows:

 

   

first, to all unitholders, pro rata, until each unitholder receives an amount equal to 115% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter;

 

   

second, 85% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives an amount per unit equal to 125% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter;

 

   

third, 75% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner, until each unitholder receives an amount per unit equal to 150% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter; and

 

   

thereafter, 50% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to our general partner.

Distributions from Capital Surplus

How Distributions from Capital Surplus will be made

Subject to distributions to Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units described above, we will pay distributions of available cash from capital surplus, if any, in the following manner:

 

   

first, to all common unitholders, pro rata, until the minimum quarterly distribution is reduced to zero, as described below; and

 

   

thereafter, as if they were from operating surplus.

The preceding discussion is based on the assumption that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

Effect of a Distribution from Capital Surplus

Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the unit price from our initial public offering, which is a return of capital. Each time a distribution of capital surplus is made, the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels will be reduced in the same proportion as the corresponding reduction in the unrecovered initial unit price. Because distributions of capital surplus will reduce the minimum quarterly distribution after any of these distributions are made, the effects of distributions of capital

 

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surplus may make it easier for our general partner to receive incentive distributions. However, any distribution of capital surplus before the unrecovered initial unit price is reduced to zero cannot be applied to the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution.

If we reduce the minimum quarterly distribution to zero, our partnership agreement specifies that we then make all future distributions from operating surplus, with 50.0% being paid to the holders of units and 50.0% to our general partner. The percentage interests shown for our general partner include its non-economic general partner interest and assume our general partner has not transferred our incentive distribution rights.

Adjustment of the Minimum Quarterly Distribution and Target Distribution Levels

In addition to adjusting the minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels to reflect a distribution of capital surplus, if we combine our units into fewer units (commonly referred to as a “reverse split”) or subdivide our units into a greater number of units (commonly referred to as a “split”), we will proportionately adjust:

 

   

the minimum quarterly distribution;

 

   

the target distribution levels; and

 

   

the unrecovered initial unit price.

For example, if a two-for-one split of the common units should occur, the minimum quarterly distribution, the target distribution levels and the unrecovered initial unit price would each be reduced to 50% of its initial level. We will not make any adjustment by reason of the issuance of additional units for cash or property (including additional common units issued under any compensation or benefit plans).

In addition, if legislation is enacted or if the official interpretation of existing law is modified by a governmental authority, so that we become taxable as a corporation or otherwise subject to taxation as an entity for federal, state or local income tax purposes, our partnership agreement specifies that the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels for each quarter may be reduced by multiplying each distribution level by a fraction, the numerator of which is available cash for that quarter (reduced by the amount of the estimated tax liability for such quarter payable by reason of such legislation or interpretation) and the denominator of which is the sum of available cash for that quarter (reduced by the amount of the estimated tax liability for such quarter payable by reason of such legislation or interpretation) plus our general partner’s estimate of our aggregate liability for the quarter for such income taxes payable by reason of such legislation or interpretation. To the extent that the actual tax liability differs from the estimated tax liability for any quarter, the difference may be accounted for in subsequent quarters.

Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation

General

If we dissolve in accordance with our partnership agreement, we will sell or otherwise dispose of our assets in a process called liquidation. We will first apply the proceeds of liquidation to the payment of our creditors. We will distribute any remaining proceeds to the unitholders and our general partner, in accordance with their capital account balances, as adjusted to reflect any gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of our assets in liquidation (as described below); provided that any accumulated and unpaid distributions in connection with Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units shall be paid prior to making any such distributions.

Manner of Adjustments for Gain

The manner of the adjustment for gain is set forth in our partnership agreement. We will allocate any gain to our partners in the following manner:

 

   

first, to our general partner to the extent of any negative balance in its capital account;

 

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second, to the common unitholders, pro rata, until the capital account for each common unit is equal to the sum of:

 

  (1)

the unrecovered initial unit price; and

 

  (2)

the amount of the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which our liquidation occurs;

 

   

third, to all unitholders (other than to the holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units in respect of their preferred units), pro rata, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to:

 

  (1)

the sum of the excess of the first target distribution per unit over the minimum quarterly distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less

 

  (2)

the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the minimum quarterly distribution per unit that we distributed to the unitholders, pro rata, for each quarter of our existence;

 

   

fourth, 85% to all unitholders (other than to the holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units in respect of their preferred units), pro rata, and 15% to our general partner, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to:

 

  (1)

the sum of the excess of the second target distribution per unit over the first target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less

 

  (2)

the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the first target distribution per unit that we distributed 85% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to our general partner for each quarter of our existence;

 

   

fifth, 75% to all unitholders (other than to the holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units in respect of their preferred units), pro rata, and 25% to our general partner, until we allocate under this paragraph an amount per unit equal to:

 

  (1)

the sum of the excess of the third target distribution per unit over the second target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less

 

  (2)

the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions of available cash from operating surplus in excess of the second target distribution per unit that we distributed 75% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to our general partner for each quarter of our existence; and

 

   

thereafter, 50% to all unitholders (other than to the holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units in respect of their preferred units), pro rata, and 50% to our general partner.

The percentages set forth above are based on the assumptions that our general partner has not transferred its incentive distribution rights and that we do not issue additional classes of equity securities.

Manner of Adjustments for Losses

After making allocations of loss to the unitholders in a manner intended to offset in reverse order the allocations of gains that have previously been allocated, we will generally allocate any loss to our unitholders in the following manner:

 

   

first, to the holders of common units, pro rata in accordance with their percentage interest in us, until the adjusted capital account in respect of each common unit has been reduced to zero; and

 

   

second, to the holders of Series A Preferred Units, Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units, pro rata, until the adjusted capital account in respect of each preferred unit then outstanding has been reduced to zero.

 

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Adjustments to Capital Accounts

Our partnership agreement requires that we make adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units. In this regard, our partnership agreement specifies that we allocate any unrealized and, for tax purposes, unrecognized gain resulting from the adjustments to the unitholders and the general partner in the same manner as we allocate gain upon liquidation. In the event that we make positive adjustments to the capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units, our partnership agreement requires that we generally allocate any later negative adjustments to the capital accounts resulting from the issuance of additional units or upon our liquidation in a manner that results, to the extent possible, in the partners’ capital account balances equaling the amount that they would have been if no earlier positive adjustments to the capital accounts had been made. In contrast to the allocations of gain, and except as provided above, we generally will allocate any unrealized and unrecognized loss resulting from the adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units to the unitholders based on their percentage ownership of us. If we make negative adjustments to the capital accounts as a result of such loss, future positive adjustments resulting from the issuance of additional units will be allocated in a manner designed to reverse the prior negative adjustments, and special allocations will be made upon liquidation in a manner that results, to the extent possible, in our unitholders’ capital account balances equaling the amounts they would have been if no earlier adjustments for loss had been made.

 

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OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

The following is a summary of the material provisions of our partnership agreement. We will provide prospective investors with a copy of our partnership agreement upon request at no charge. We summarize the following provisions of our partnership agreement elsewhere in this prospectus:

 

   

with regard to distributions of available cash, please read “Provisions of Our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions”;

 

   

with regard to the transfer of common units, please read “Description of the Common Units—Transfer of Common Units”; and

 

   

with regard to allocations of taxable income and taxable loss, please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences.”

Organization and Duration

Our partnership was organized on July 28, 2014, and will have a perpetual existence unless terminated pursuant to the terms of our partnership agreement.

Purpose

Our purpose under the partnership agreement is limited to any business activity that is approved by our general partner and that lawfully may be conducted by a limited partnership organized under Delaware law; provided that our general partner shall not cause us to engage, directly or indirectly, in any business activity that our general partner determines would be reasonably likely to cause us to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes.

Although our general partner has the ability to cause us and our subsidiaries to engage in activities other than the business of acquiring real property interests, our general partner has no current plans to do so and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of our partnership or our limited partners. Our general partner is authorized in general to perform all acts it determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.

Cash Distributions

Our partnership agreement specifies the manner in which we will make cash distributions to holders of our common units and other partnership interests as well as to our general partner in respect of its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights. For a description of these cash distribution provisions, please read “Provisions of Our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions.”

Capital Contributions

Unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under “—Limited Liability.”

Voting Rights

The following is a summary of the unitholder vote required for the matters specified below. Matters that require the approval of a “unit majority” require the approval of a majority of the outstanding common units.

 

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In voting their common units, our general partner and its affiliates will have no duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or the limited partners.

 

Issuance of additional units    No approval rights.
Amendment of our partnership agreement    Certain amendments may be made by the general partner without the approval of the unitholders. Other amendments generally require the approval of a unit majority. Please read “Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement.”
Merger of our partnership or the sale of all or substantially all of our assets    Unit majority. Please read “Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets.”
Dissolution of our partnership    Unit majority. Please read “Termination and Dissolution.”
Continuation of our business upon dissolution    Unit majority. Please read “Termination and Dissolution.”
Withdrawal of the general partner    Under most circumstances, the approval of unitholders holding at least a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding common units held by our general partner and its affiliates, is required for the withdrawal of the general partner prior to December 31, 2024, in a manner which would cause a dissolution of our partnership. Please read “Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.”
Removal of the general partner    Not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding units, voting as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates. Please read “Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.”
Transfer of the general partner interest    Our general partner may transfer all, but not less than all, of its non-economic general partner interest in us without a vote of our unitholders to an affiliate or another person in connection with its merger or consolidation with or into, or sale of all or substantially all of its assets to, such person. The approval of a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding common units held by our general partner and its affiliates, is required in other circumstances for a transfer of the general partner interest to a third party prior to December 31, 2024. Please read “Transfer of General Partner Interest.”
Transfer of incentive distribution rights    Our general partner may transfer any or all of our incentive distribution rights to an affiliate or another person without a vote of our unitholders. Please read “Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights.”
Reset of incentive distribution levels    No approval right.
Transfer of ownership interests in our general partner    No approval right. Please read “Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner.”

Limited Liability

Assuming that a limited partner does not participate in the control of our business within the meaning of the Delaware Act and that it otherwise acts in conformity with the provisions of our partnership agreement, its

 

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liability under the Delaware Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital it is obligated to contribute to us for its common units plus its share of any undistributed profits and assets. If it were determined, however, that the right, or exercise of the right of, by the limited partners as a group:

 

   

to remove or replace our general partner;

 

   

to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement; or

 

   

to take other action under our partnership agreement;

constituted “participation in the control” of our business for the purposes of the Delaware Act, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the laws of Delaware, to the same extent as our general partner. This liability would extend to persons who transact business with us who reasonably believe that a limited partner is a general partner. Neither our partnership agreement nor the Delaware Act specifically provides for legal recourse against our general partner if a limited partner were to lose limited liability through any fault of our general partner. While this does not mean that a limited partner could not seek legal recourse, we know of no precedent for this type of a claim in Delaware case law.

Under the Delaware Act, a limited partnership may not pay a distribution to a partner if, after the distribution, all liabilities of the limited partnership, other than liabilities to partners on account of their limited partner interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the partnership, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the limited partnership, except that the fair value of property that is subject to a liability for which the recourse of creditors is limited is included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds that liability. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a limited partnership, the Delaware Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds the nonrecourse liability. The Delaware Act provides that a limited partner who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Delaware Act shall be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution for three years. Under the Delaware Act, a substituted limited partner of a limited partnership is liable for the obligations of its assignor to make contributions to the partnership, except that such person is not obligated for liabilities unknown to it at the time it became a limited partner and that could not be ascertained from the partnership agreement.

Our subsidiaries conduct business in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Australia, and we may have subsidiaries that conduct business in other countries in the future. Maintenance of our limited liability as a member of our operating company may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which our operating company conducts business, including qualifying our subsidiaries to do business there.

Limitations on the liability of members or limited partners for the obligations of a limited liability company or limited partnership have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our ownership interests in our operating subsidiaries or otherwise, it were determined that we were conducting business in any state without compliance with the applicable limited partnership or limited liability company statute, or that the right or exercise of the right by the limited partners as a group to remove or replace our general partner, to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement, or to take other action under our partnership agreement constituted “participation in the control” of our business for purposes of the statutes of any relevant jurisdiction, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the law of that jurisdiction to the same extent as our general partner under the circumstances. We operate in a manner that our general partner considers reasonable and necessary or appropriate to preserve the limited liability of the limited partners.

Issuance of Additional Securities

Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional partner interests for the consideration and on the terms and conditions determined by our general partner without the approval of the unitholders.

 

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It is possible that we will fund acquisitions through the issuance of additional common units or other partner interests. Holders of any additional common units we issue will be entitled to share equally with the then-existing holders of common units in our distributions of available cash. In addition, the issuance of additional common units or other partner interests may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing holders of common units in our net assets.

In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may also issue additional partner interests that, as determined by our general partner, may have special voting rights to which the common units are not entitled. In addition, our partnership agreement does not prohibit the issuance by our subsidiaries of equity interests, which may effectively rank senior to the common units.

Amendment of Our Partnership Agreement

General

Amendments to our partnership agreement may be proposed only by our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to propose any amendment and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or our limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or the limited partners. In order to adopt a proposed amendment, other than the amendments discussed below, our general partner is required to seek written approval of the holders of the number of units required to approve the amendment or call a meeting of the limited partners to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. Except as described below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority.

Prohibited Amendments

No amendment may be made that would, among other actions:

 

   

enlarge the obligations of any limited partner without its consent, unless such is deemed to have occurred as a result of an amendment approved by at least a majority of the type or class of limited partner interests so affected; or

 

   

enlarge the obligations of, restrict in any way any action by or rights of, or reduce in any way the amounts distributable, reimbursable or otherwise payable by us to our general partner or any of its affiliates without its consent, which consent may be given or withheld at its option.

The provisions of our partnership agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in any of the clauses above can be amended upon the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units voting together as a single class (including units owned by our general partner and its affiliates).

No Unitholder Approval

Our general partner may generally make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner to reflect:

 

   

a change in our name, the location of our principal office, our registered agent or our registered office;

 

   

the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with our partnership agreement;

 

   

a change that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to qualify or continue our qualification as a limited partnership or a partnership in which the limited partners have limited liability under the laws of any state or to ensure that neither we nor any of our subsidiaries will be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes;

 

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an amendment that is necessary, in the opinion of our counsel, to prevent us or our general partner or its directors, officers, agents or trustees, from in any manner, being subjected to the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, or “plan asset” regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), each as amended, whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor;

 

   

an amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate in connection with the authorization or issuance of additional partner interests;

 

   

any amendment expressly permitted in our partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone;

 

   

an amendment effected, necessitated or contemplated by a merger agreement or plan of conversion that has been approved under the terms of our partnership agreement;

 

   

any amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to reflect and account for the formation by us of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership or other entity, in connection with our conduct of activities permitted by our partnership agreement;

 

   

a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and any other changes that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate as a result of such change;

 

   

mergers with, conveyances to or conversions into another limited liability entity that is newly formed and has no assets, liabilities or operations at the time of the merger, conveyance or conversion other than those it receives by way of the merger, conveyance or conversion; or

 

   

any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described in the clauses above.

In addition, our general partner may make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner if our general partner determines that those amendments:

 

   

do not adversely affect in any material respect the limited partners considered as a whole or any particular class of partner interests as compared to other classes of partner interests;

 

   

are necessary or appropriate to satisfy any requirements, conditions or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation of any federal or state agency or judicial authority or contained in any federal or state statute;

 

   

are necessary or appropriate to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are or will be listed or admitted to trading;

 

   

are necessary or appropriate for any action taken by our general partner relating to splits or combinations of units under the provisions of our partnership agreement; or

 

   

are required to effect the intent expressed in this prospectus or the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement.

Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval

For amendments of the type not requiring unitholder approval, our general partner will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that an amendment will not affect the limited liability of any limited partner under Delaware law. No other amendments to our partnership agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units voting as a single class unless we first obtain such an opinion of counsel.

In addition to the above restrictions, any amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any type or class of partner interests in relation to other classes of partner interests will require

 

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the approval of at least a majority of the type or class of partner interests so affected. Any amendment that would reduce the percentage of units required to take any action, other than to remove our general partner or call a meeting of unitholders, must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the percentage sought to be reduced. Any amendment that would increase the percentage of units required to remove our general partner must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than 90% of outstanding units. Any amendment that would increase the percentage of units required to call a meeting of unitholders must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute at least a majority of the outstanding units.

Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets

A merger, consolidation or conversion of our partnership requires the prior consent of our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to consent to any merger, consolidation or conversion and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interest of us or the limited partners.

In addition, our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner, without the prior approval of the holders of a unit majority, from causing us to, among other things, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets in a single transaction or a series of related transactions. Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without that approval. Our general partner may also sell any or all of our assets under a foreclosure or other realization upon those encumbrances without that approval. Finally, our general partner may consummate any merger with another limited liability entity without the prior approval of our unitholders if we are the surviving entity in the transaction, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters, the transaction would not result in an amendment to our partnership agreement requiring unitholder approval, each of our units will be an identical unit of our partnership following the transaction and the partner interests to be issued by us in such merger do not exceed 20% of our outstanding partner interests immediately prior to the transaction.

If the conditions specified in our partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may convert us or any of our subsidiaries into a new limited liability entity or merge us or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey all of our assets to, a newly formed entity if the sole purpose of that conversion, merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in our legal form into another limited liability entity, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters, and our general partner determines that the governing instruments of the new entity provide the limited partners and our general partner with the same rights and obligations as contained in our partnership agreement. The unitholders are not entitled to dissenters’ rights of appraisal under our partnership agreement or applicable Delaware law in the event of a conversion, merger or consolidation, a sale of substantially all of our assets or any other similar transaction or event.

Termination and Dissolution

We will continue as a limited partnership until dissolved and terminated under our partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:

 

   

the withdrawal or removal of our general partner or any other event that results in its ceasing to be our general partner other than by reason of a transfer of its general partner interest in accordance

 

   

with our partnership agreement or withdrawal or removal followed by approval and admission of a successor;

 

   

the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority;

 

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the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of our partnership; or

 

   

there being no limited partners, unless we are continued without dissolution in accordance with the Delaware Act.

Upon a dissolution under the first clause above, the holders of a unit majority may also elect, within specific time limitations, to continue our business on the same terms and conditions described in our partnership agreement by appointing as a successor general partner an entity approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority, subject to our receipt of an opinion of counsel to the effect that:

 

   

the action would not result in the loss of limited liability of any limited partner; and

 

   

neither our partnership nor any of our subsidiaries would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise be taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes upon the exercise of that right to continue.

Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds

Upon our dissolution, unless we are continued as a new limited partnership, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our general partner that are necessary or appropriate to, liquidate our assets and apply the proceeds of the liquidation as described in “Provisions of Our Partnership Agreement Relating to Cash Distributions—Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation.” The liquidator may defer liquidation or distribution of our assets for a reasonable period of time or distribute assets to partners in kind if it determines that a sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to our partners.

Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner

Except as described below, our general partner has agreed not to withdraw voluntarily as our general partner prior to December 31, 2024, without obtaining the approval of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding common units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and furnishing an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. On or after December 31, 2024, our general partner may withdraw as general partner without first obtaining approval of any unitholder by giving 90 days’ written notice, and that withdrawal will not constitute a violation of our partnership agreement. Notwithstanding the information above, our general partner may withdraw without unitholder approval upon 90 days’ written notice to the limited partners if at least 50% of the outstanding units are held or controlled by one person and its affiliates other than our general partner and its affiliates. In addition, our partnership agreement permits our general partner in some instances to sell or otherwise transfer all of its general partner interest in us without the approval of the unitholders. Please read “—Transfer of General Partner Interest” and “—Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights.”

Upon voluntary withdrawal of our general partner by giving notice to the other partners, the holders of a unit majority may select a successor to that withdrawing general partner. If a successor is not elected, or is elected but an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters cannot be obtained, we will be dissolved, wound up and liquidated, unless within a specified period after that withdrawal, the holders of a unit majority agree to continue our business by appointing a successor general partner. Please read “—Termination and Dissolution.”

Our general partner may not be removed unless that removal is approved by the vote of the holders of not less than 66 2/3% of our outstanding units, voting together as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and we receive an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. Any removal of our general partner is also subject to the approval of a successor general partner by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units, voting as a separate class. The ownership of more than 33 1/3% of the outstanding units by our general partner and its affiliates would give them the practical ability to prevent our general partner’s removal.

 

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Our partnership agreement also provides that if our general partner is removed as our general partner under circumstances where cause does not exist and units held by our general partner and its affiliates are not voted in favor of that removal, our general partner will have the right to convert its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights into common units or to receive cash in exchange for those interests based on the fair market value of those interests as of the effective date of its removal.

In the event of removal of our general partner under circumstances where cause exists or withdrawal of our general partner where that withdrawal violates our partnership agreement, a successor general partner will have the option to purchase the general partner interest and incentive distribution rights of the departing general partner for a cash payment equal to the fair market value of those interests. Under all other circumstances where our general partner withdraws or is removed by the limited partners, the departing general partner will have the option to require the successor general partner to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and its incentive distribution rights for fair market value. In each case, this fair market value will be determined by agreement between the departing general partner and the successor general partner. If no agreement is reached, an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the departing general partner and the successor general partner will determine the fair market value. Or, if the departing general partner and the successor general partner cannot agree upon an expert, then an expert chosen by agreement of the experts selected by each of them will determine the fair market value.

If the option described above is not exercised by either the departing general partner or the successor general partner, the departing general partner will become a limited partner and its general partner interest and its incentive distribution rights will automatically convert into common units pursuant to a valuation of those interests as determined by an investment banking firm or other independent expert selected in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.

In addition, we will be required to reimburse the departing general partner for all amounts due the departing general partner, including, without limitation, all employee-related liabilities, including severance liabilities, incurred for the termination of any employees employed by the departing general partner or its affiliates for our benefit.

Transfer of General Partner Interest

Except for transfer by our general partner of all, but not less than all, of its non-economic general partner interest to (1) an affiliate of our general partner (other than an individual), or (2) another entity as part of the merger or consolidation of our general partner with or into such entity or the transfer by our general partner of all or substantially all of its assets to such entity, our general partner may not transfer all or any part of its general partner interest to another person prior to December 31, 2024, without the approval of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding common units held by our general partner and its affiliates. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must assume, among other things, the rights and duties of our general partner, agree to be bound by the provisions of our partnership agreement, and furnish an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters.

Our general partner and its affiliates, including Landmark Dividend LLC, may at any time transfer units to one or more persons, without unitholder approval.

Transfer of Ownership Interests in Our General Partner

At any time, Landmark Dividend LLC and its affiliates may sell or transfer all or part of their membership interest in our general partner, to an affiliate or third party without the approval of our unitholders.

Transfer of Incentive Distribution Rights

At any time, our general partner may sell or transfer our incentive distribution rights to an affiliate or third party without the approval of the unitholders.

 

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Change of Management Provisions

Our partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Landmark Infrastructure Partners GP LLC as our general partner or otherwise change our management. If any person or group other than our general partner and its affiliates acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply to any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates and any transferees of that person or group who are notified by our general partner that they will not lose their voting rights or to any person or group who acquires the units with the prior approval of the board of directors of our general partner. Please read “—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner.”

Limited Call Right

If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 80% of the then-issued and outstanding limited partner interests of any class, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the limited partner interests of such class held by unaffiliated persons as of a record date to be selected by our general partner, on at least 10, but not more than 60, days’ written notice.

The purchase price in the event of this purchase is the greater of:

 

   

the highest cash price paid by either our general partner or any of its affiliates for any limited partner interests of the class purchased within the 90 days preceding the date on which our general partner first mails notice of its election to purchase those limited partner interests; and

 

   

the current market price calculated in accordance with our partnership agreement as of the date three business days before the date the notice is mailed.

As a result of our general partner’s right to purchase outstanding limited partner interests, a holder of limited partner interests may have his limited partner interests purchased at a price that may be lower than market prices at various times prior to such purchase or lower than a unitholder may anticipate the market price to be in the future. The tax consequences to a unitholder of the exercise of this call right are the same as a sale by that unitholder of his common units in the market. Please read “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences— Disposition of Units.”

Non-Citizen Assignees; Redemption

If our general partner, with the advice of counsel, determines we are subject to federal, state or local laws or regulations that, in the reasonable determination of our general partner, create a substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property that we have an interest in because of the nationality, citizenship or other related status of any limited partner (or its owners, to the extent relevant), then our general partner may adopt such amendments to our partnership agreement as it determines necessary or advisable to:

 

   

obtain proof of the nationality, citizenship or other related status of our limited partners (or their owners, to the extent relevant); and

 

   

permit us to redeem the units held by any person whose nationality, citizenship or other related status creates substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property or who fails to comply with the procedures instituted by the general partner to obtain proof of the nationality, citizenship or other related status. The redemption price in the case of such a redemption will be the average of the daily closing prices per unit for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately prior to the date set for redemption.

 

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Meetings; Voting

Except as described below regarding a person or group owning 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, record holders of units on the record date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, meetings of our limited partners and to act upon matters for which approvals may be solicited.

Our general partner does not anticipate that any meeting of unitholders will be called in the foreseeable future. Any action that is required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders may be taken either at a meeting of the unitholders or, if authorized by our general partner, without a meeting if consents in writing describing the action so taken are signed by holders of the number of units that would be necessary to authorize or take that action at a meeting where all limited partners were present and voted. Meetings of the unitholders may be called by our general partner or by unitholders owning at least 20% of the outstanding units of the class for which a meeting is proposed. Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called, represented in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum will be the greater percentage.

Each record holder of a unit has a vote according to its percentage interest in us, although additional limited partner interests having special voting rights could be issued. Please read “—Issuance of Additional Securities.” However, if at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, a direct transferee of our general partner and its affiliates or a transferee of such direct transferee who is notified by our general partner that it will not lose its voting rights, acquires, in the aggregate, beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its units and the units may not be voted on any matter and will not be considered to be outstanding when sending notices of a meeting of unitholders, calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum, or for other similar purposes. Common units held in nominee or street name account will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and its nominee provides otherwise.

Any notice, demand, request, report or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record holders of common units under our partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent.

Status as Limited Partner

By transfer of common units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission is reflected in our register. Except as described under “—Limited Liability,” the common units will be fully paid, and unitholders will not be required to make additional contributions.

Indemnification

Under our partnership agreement, in most circumstances, we will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events:

 

   

our general partner;

 

   

any departing general partner;

 

   

any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner or any departing general partner;

 

   

any person who is or was a director, officer, managing member, manager, general partner, fiduciary or trustee of us or our subsidiaries, an affiliate of us or our subsidiaries or any entity set forth in the preceding three bullet points;

 

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any person who is or was serving as director, officer, managing member, manager, general partner, fiduciary or trustee of another person owing a fiduciary duty to us or any of our subsidiaries at the request of our general partner or any departing general partner or any of their affiliates, excluding any such person providing, on a fee-for-service basis, trustee, fiduciary of custodial services; and

 

   

any person designated by our general partner because such person’s status, service or relationship expose such person to potential claims or suits relating to our or our subsidiaries’ business and affairs.

Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless it otherwise agrees, our general partner will not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or lend funds or assets to us to enable us to effectuate, indemnification. We will purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against such liabilities under our partnership agreement.

Reimbursement of Expenses

Our partnership agreement requires us to reimburse our general partner for all direct and indirect expenses it incurs or payments it makes on our behalf and all other expenses allocable to us or otherwise incurred by our general partner in connection with operating our business. These expenses include salary, bonus, incentive compensation and other amounts paid to persons who perform services for us or on our behalf and expenses allocated to our general partner by its affiliates. Our general partner is entitled to determine in good faith the expenses that are allocable to us. Some of the expenses for which we are required to reimburse our general partner are not subject to any caps or other limits.

Books and Reports

Our general partner is required to keep appropriate books of our business at our principal offices. The books are maintained for financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. For fiscal and tax reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.

We will mail or make available to record holders of common units, within 105 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited financial statements and a report on those financial statements by our independent public accountants. Except for our fourth quarter, we will also mail or make available summary financial information within 50 days after the close of each quarter.

We will furnish each record holder of a unit with information reasonably required for tax reporting purposes within 90 days after the close of each calendar year. This information is expected to be furnished in summary form so that some complex calculations normally required of partners can be avoided. Our ability to furnish this summary information to unitholders will depend on the cooperation of unitholders in supplying us with specific information. Every unitholder will receive information to assist him in determining its federal and state tax liability and filing its federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether he supplies us with information.

Right to Inspect Our Books and Records

Our partnership agreement provides that a limited partner can, for a purpose reasonably related to its interest as a limited partner, upon reasonable written demand stating the purpose of such demand and at its own expense, have furnished to him:

 

   

a current list of the name and last known address of each record holder;

 

   

copies of our partnership agreement and our certificate of limited partnership and all amendments thereto; and

 

   

certain information regarding the status of our business and financial condition.

 

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Our general partner may, and intends to, keep confidential from the limited partners trade secrets or other information the disclosure of which our general partner determines is not in our best interests or that we are required by law or by agreements with third parties to keep confidential. Our partnership agreement limits the right to information that a limited partner would otherwise have under Delaware law.

Registration Rights

Under our partnership agreement, we have agreed to register for resale under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws any common units or other partnership interests proposed to be sold by our general partner or any of its affiliates (other than individuals) or their assignees if an exemption from the registration requirements is not otherwise available. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions.

Exclusive Forum

Our partnership agreement provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the exclusive forum for any claims, suits, actions or proceedings (1) arising out of or relating in any way to our partnership agreement (including any claims, suits or actions to interpret, apply or enforce the provisions of our partnership agreement or the duties, obligations or liabilities among our partners, or obligations or liabilities of our partners to us, or the rights or powers of, or restrictions on, our partners or us), (2) brought in a derivative manner on our behalf, (3) asserting a claim of breach of a duty owed by any of our, or our general partner’s, directors, officers, or other employees, or owed by our general partner, to us or our partners, (4) asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware Act or (5) asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine. However, the exclusive forum provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation or similar governing documents have been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any action, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our partnership agreement to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.

If any person brings any of the aforementioned claims, suits, actions or proceedings and such person does not obtain a judgment on the merits that substantially achieves, in substance and amount, the full remedy sought, then such person shall be obligated to reimburse us and our affiliates for all fees, costs and expenses of every kind and description, including but not limited to all reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation expenses, that the parties may incur in connection with such claim, suit, action or proceeding.

Additionally, any person who brings any of the aforementioned claims, suits, actions or proceedings irrevocably waives a right to trial by jury.

By purchasing a common unit, a limited partner is irrevocably consenting to these limitations and provisions regarding claims, suits, actions or proceedings and submitting to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or such other court) in connection with any such claims, suits, actions or proceedings.

 

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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

This section is a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to common unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and, unless otherwise noted in the following discussion, is the opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP, counsel to our general partner and us, insofar as it relates to legal conclusions with respect to matters of U.S. federal income tax law. A description of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of preferred units and debt securities will be set forth in a prospectus supplement relating to the offering of such units or securities. This section is based upon current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), existing and proposed Treasury regulations promulgated under the Internal Revenue Code (the “Treasury Regulations”) and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Later changes in these authorities may cause the tax consequences to vary substantially from the consequences described below. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to “us” or “we” are references to Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP and our operating subsidiaries.

The following discussion does not comment on all U.S. federal income tax matters affecting us or our unitholders and does not describe the application of the alternative minimum tax that may be applicable to certain unitholders. Moreover, the discussion focuses on unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and has only limited application to corporations, estates, entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, trusts, nonresident aliens, U.S. expatriates and former citizens or long-term residents of the United States or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, tax-exempt institutions, foreign persons (including, without limitation, controlled foreign corporations, passive foreign investment companies and foreign persons eligible for the benefits of an applicable income tax treaty with the United States), individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) or mutual funds, dealers in securities or currencies, traders in securities, U.S. persons whose “functional currency” is not the U.S. dollar, persons holding their units as part of a “straddle,” “hedge,” “conversion transaction” or other risk reduction transaction, persons subject to special tax accounting rules as a result of any item of gross income with respect to our units being taken into account in an applicable financial statement and persons deemed to sell their units under the constructive sale provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, the discussion only comments, to a limited extent, on state, local and foreign tax consequences. Accordingly, we encourage each unitholder to consult his own tax advisor in analyzing the state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to him of the ownership or disposition of units and potential changes in applicable laws.

No ruling has been requested from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) regarding our characterization as a partnership for tax purposes or the consequences of owning our units. Instead, we will rely on opinions of Latham & Watkins LLP. Unlike a ruling, an opinion of counsel represents only that counsel’s best legal judgment and does not bind the IRS or the courts. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Any contest of this sort with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for our units, including the prices at which our units trade. In addition, the costs of any contest with the IRS, principally legal, accounting and related fees, will result in a reduction in cash available for distribution to our unitholders and for incentive distributions to our general partner and thus will be borne indirectly by our unitholders and our general partner. Furthermore, the tax treatment of us, or of an investment in our units, may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions. Any modifications may or may not be retroactively applied.

All statements as to matters of U.S. federal income tax law and legal conclusions with respect thereto, but not as to factual matters, contained in this section, unless otherwise noted, are the opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP and are based on the accuracy of the representations made by us and our general partner.

Notwithstanding the above, and for the reasons described below, Latham & Watkins LLP has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following specific U.S. federal income tax issues: (i) the treatment of a unitholder

 

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whose units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of units (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of short sales”); (ii) whether all aspects of our method for allocating taxable income and losses is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “—Disposition of Units—Allocations between transferors and transferees”) (iii) whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 election” and “—Uniformity of Units”); (iv) whether our use of simplifying conventions in connection with the revaluation of our assets and allocation of book items is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of income, gain, loss and deduction” and “—Uniformity of Units”); and (v) whether the REIT Subsidiary (as defined below) has been organized and operated, and will continue to be organized and operate, in a manner so as to qualify and remain qualified as a REIT (please read “—Tax Treatment of Our REIT Subsidiary”).

Partnership Status

A partnership is not a taxable entity and incurs no U.S. federal income tax liability. Instead, each partner of a partnership is required to take into account his share of items of income, gain, loss and deduction of the partnership in computing his U.S. federal income tax liability, regardless of whether cash distributions are made to him by the partnership. Distributions by a partnership to a partner are generally not taxable to the partnership or the partner unless the amount of cash distributed to him is in excess of the partner’s adjusted basis in his partnership interest.

Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that publicly traded partnerships will, as a general rule, be taxed as corporations. However, an exception, referred to as the “Qualifying Income Exception,” exists with respect to publicly traded partnerships of which 90% or more of the gross income for every taxable year consists of “qualifying income.” Qualifying income includes dividends, interest (other than from a financial business), real property rents, gains from the sale of real property and gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. We estimate that less than 2% of our current gross income is not qualifying income; however, this estimate could change from time to time. Based upon and subject to this estimate, the factual representations made by us and our general partner and a review of the applicable legal authorities, Latham & Watkins LLP is of the opinion that at least 90% of our current-year gross income constitutes qualifying income. The portion of our income that is qualifying income may change from time to time.

The IRS has made no determination as to our status or the status of our operating subsidiaries for U.S. federal income tax purposes or whether our operations generate “qualifying income” under Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code. Instead, we will rely on the opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP on such matters. It is the opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP that, based upon the Internal Revenue Code, its regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and the representations described below that we will be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

In rendering its opinion, Latham & Watkins LLP has relied on factual representations made by us and our general partner. The representations made by us and our general partner upon which Latham & Watkins LLP has relied include:

 

   

We have not elected to be, will not elect to be and are not otherwise treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes; and

 

   

For each taxable year, more than 90% of our gross income has been and will be income of the type that Latham & Watkins LLP has opined or will opine is “qualifying income” within the meaning of Section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code.

We believe that these representations have been true in the past, are true as of the date hereof and expect that these representations will continue to be true in the future.

 

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If we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery (in which case the IRS may also require us to make adjustments with respect to our unitholders or pay other amounts), we will be treated as if we had transferred all of our assets, subject to liabilities, to a newly formed corporation, on the first day of the year in which we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, in return for stock in that corporation, and then distributed that stock to the unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should be tax-free to unitholders and us so long as we, at that time, do not have liabilities in excess of the tax basis of our assets. Thereafter, we would be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

If we were treated as an association taxable as a corporation in any taxable year, either as a result of a failure to meet the Qualifying Income Exception or otherwise, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be reflected only on our tax return rather than being passed through to our unitholders, and our net income would be taxed to us at corporate rates. In addition, any distribution made to a unitholder would be treated as taxable dividend income, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, or, in the absence of earnings and profits, a nontaxable return of capital, to the extent of the unitholder’s tax basis in his units, or taxable capital gain, after the unitholder’s tax basis in his units is reduced to zero. Accordingly, taxation as a corporation would result in a material reduction in a unitholder’s cash flow and after-tax return and thus would likely result in a substantial reduction of the value of our units.

The discussion below is based on Latham & Watkins LLP’s opinion that we will be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Tax Treatment of Our REIT Subsidiary

General

We currently conduct substantially all of our operations in a corporate subsidiary, Landmark Infrastructure Inc. (“REIT Subsidiary”), and we anticipate that substantially all of our income will consist of distributions paid to us by the REIT Subsidiary. The REIT Subsidiary elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal Revenue Code beginning with its taxable year ended December 31, 2017, and we believe the REIT Subsidiary has been, and will continue to be, organized and operated in a manner to allow it to qualify as such for each subsequent taxable year. REIT Subsidiary’s qualification and taxation as a REIT depends upon its ability to meet on a continuing basis, through actual annual operating results, asset composition, distribution levels and diversity of stock ownership, the various qualification tests and organizational requirements imposed under the Internal Revenue Code, as discussed below. No ruling or opinion of counsel has been received regarding the qualification of the REIT Subsidiary as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. No assurances can be provided that the REIT Subsidiary has operated or will operate in a manner so as to qualify or remain qualified as a REIT.

Provided that the REIT Subsidiary qualifies for taxation as a REIT, it generally will not be subject to U.S. federal corporate income taxes on net income that it currently distributes to its stockholders. Notwithstanding its election, however, the REIT Subsidiary will be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax in certain circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

 

   

The REIT Subsidiary will be required to pay regular U.S. federal corporate income tax on any undistributed taxable income, including undistributed capital gain.

 

   

If the REIT Subsidiary has (i) net income from the sale or other disposition of “foreclosure property” held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business or (ii) other nonqualifying income from foreclosure property, it will be required to pay tax at the regular U.S. federal corporate income tax rate on this income. To the extent that income from foreclosure property is otherwise qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test, this tax is not applicable. Subject to certain other requirements, foreclosure property generally is defined as property acquired through foreclosure or after a default on a loan secured by the property or a lease of the property.

 

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If the REIT Subsidiary has net income from prohibited transactions (which are, in general, certain sales or other dispositions of property (other than foreclosure property) held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business), such income will be subject to a 100% tax.

 

   

If the REIT Subsidiary should fail to satisfy the 75% gross income test or the 95% gross income test (as discussed below), and yet has maintained its qualification as a REIT because certain other requirements have been met, it will be subject to a 100% tax on the net income attributable to (i) the greater of (a) the amount by which it fails the 75% income test or (b) the amount by which it fails the 95% income test, multiplied by (ii) a fraction intended to reflect the REIT Subsidiary’s profitability.

 

   

If the REIT Subsidiary should fail to satisfy any of the asset tests (other than a de minimis failure of the 5% or 10% asset test), as described below, due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, and nonetheless maintains its REIT qualification because of specified cure provisions, it will be required to pay a tax equal to the greater of $50,000 or the regular U.S. federal corporate income tax rate multiplied by the net income generated by the nonqualifying assets that caused it to fail such test.

 

   

If the REIT Subsidiary should fail to satisfy any provision of the Internal Revenue Code that would result in its failure to qualify as a REIT (other than a violation of the gross income tests or certain violations of the asset tests, as described below) and the violation is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, it may retain its REIT qualification but will be required to pay a penalty of $50,000 for each such failure.

 

   

If the REIT Subsidiary should fail to distribute during each calendar year at least the sum of (i) 85% of its ordinary income for such year, (ii) 95% of its capital gain net income for such year, and (iii) any undistributed ordinary income and capital gain net income from prior years, it would be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the excess of such required distribution over the amounts actually distributed.

 

   

If the REIT Subsidiary acquires any asset from a corporation that is or has been a C corporation in a transaction in which the REIT Subsidiary’s basis in the asset is less than the fair market value of the asset, in each case determined as of the date on which the REIT Subsidiary acquired the asset, and the REIT Subsidiary subsequently recognizes gain on the disposition of the asset during the five-year period beginning on the date on which it acquired the asset, then it generally will be required to pay tax at the regular U.S. federal corporate income tax rate on this gain to the extent of the excess of (i) the fair market value of the asset over (ii) the REIT Subsidiary’s adjusted basis in the asset, in each case determined as of the date on which the REIT Subsidiary acquired the asset. The results described in this paragraph with respect to the recognition of gain assume that the C corporation will refrain from making an election to receive different treatment under applicable Treasury regulations on its tax return for the year in which the REIT Subsidiary acquires the asset from the C corporation. Under applicable Treasury regulations, any gain from the sale of property acquired by the REIT Subsidiary in an exchange under Section 1031 (a like-kind exchange) or 1033 (an involuntary conversion) of the Internal Revenue Code generally are excluded from the application of this built-in gains tax.

 

   

Any subsidiaries of the REIT Subsidiary that are C corporations, or are treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes, including “taxable REIT subsidiaries” (“TRSs”) described below, generally will be required to pay U.S. federal corporate income tax on their earnings.

 

   

The REIT Subsidiary will be subject to a tax equal to 100% of the amount of redetermined rents, redetermined deductions, excess interest and redetermined TRS service income. Redetermined rents are rents the amount of which would otherwise be reduced on distribution, apportionment or allocation to clearly reflect income as a result of services furnished to a tenant of the REIT Subsidiary by a TRS. Redetermined deductions are deductions (other than redetermined rents) the amount of which would otherwise be decreased on distribution, apportionment or allocation to clearly reflect income between the REIT Subsidiary and a TRS of the REIT Subsidiary. Excess interest means any deductions for interest payments made by a TRS to the REIT Subsidiary to the extent that the interest payments

 

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exceed a commercially reasonable rate. Redetermined TRS service income generally represents income of a TRS that is understated as a result of services provided to the REIT Subsidiary or on its behalf.

 

   

If the REIT Subsidiary elects to retain and pay income tax on its net capital gain, a stockholder of the REIT Subsidiary would include its proportionate share of the REIT Subsidiary’s undistributed capital gain (to the extent the REIT Subsidiary makes a timely designation of such gain to the stockholder) in its income, would be deemed to have paid the tax that the REIT Subsidiary paid on such gain, and would be allowed a credit for its proportionate share of the tax deemed to have been paid, and an adjustment would be made to increase the tax basis of the stockholder in the REIT Subsidiary’s stock.

 

   

If the REIT Subsidiary should fail to comply with the requirement to send annual letters to stockholders holding at least a certain percentage of its stock, as determined by Treasury Regulations, requesting information regarding the actual ownership of its stock, and the failure is not due to reasonable cause or due to willful neglect, it will be subject to a $25,000 penalty, or if the failure is intentional, a $50,000 penalty.

The REIT Subsidiary may also be subject to a variety of taxes other than U.S. federal income tax, including payroll taxes and state, local and non-United States income, property and other taxes on its assets and operations.

Requirements for qualification as a REIT

The Internal Revenue Code defines a REIT as a domestic corporation, trust or association that is neither a financial institution nor an insurance company (as defined by the Internal Revenue Code) that is managed by one or more trustees or directors whose shares are evidenced by transferable shares or by transferable certificates of beneficial interest. In addition, commencing with a REIT’s second taxable year, (i) the beneficial ownership of the REIT must be held by 100 or more persons, and (ii) during the last half of each taxable year not more than 50% in value of the REIT’s outstanding stock can be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as specially defined in the Internal Revenue Code to include certain entities). For its taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, the REIT Subsidiary will be treated as having met condition (ii) if it has complied with certain Treasury Regulations for ascertaining the ownership of its shares for such year and if it did not know (or after the exercise of reasonable due diligence would not have known) that its shares were sufficiently closely held during such year to cause it to fail condition (ii). We believe that the REIT Subsidiary has been organized and operated in a manner that has allowed it, and will continue to allow it, to satisfy these requirements during the relevant time periods.

In addition, the REIT Subsidiary may not maintain its status as a REIT unless its taxable year is the calendar year. The REIT Subsidiary has a calendar taxable year.

Income tests

In order to maintain its qualification as a REIT, the REIT Subsidiary must annually satisfy two gross income requirements:

 

   

At least 75% of the REIT Subsidiary’s gross income (excluding gross income from prohibited transactions, certain hedging transactions and certain foreign currency gains) for each taxable year must be derived directly or indirectly from investments relating to real property or mortgages on real property, including “rents from real property,” dividends from other REITs and, in certain circumstances, interest, or from certain types of temporary investments; and

 

   

At least 95% of the REIT Subsidiary’s gross income (excluding gross income from prohibited transactions, certain hedging transactions and certain foreign currency gains) for each taxable year must be derived from such real property investments described above, and from dividends, interest and gain from the sale or disposition of stock or securities, or from any combination of the foregoing.

 

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For these purposes, the term “interest” generally does not include any amount received or accrued, directly or indirectly, if the determination of all or some of the amount depends in any way on the income or profits of any person. However, an amount received or accrued generally will not be excluded from the term “interest” solely by reason of being based on a fixed percentage or percentages of receipts or sales.

Rents the REIT Subsidiary receives from a tenant will qualify as “rents from real property” for the purpose of satisfying the gross income requirements for a REIT described above only if all of the following conditions are met:

 

   

The amount of rent is not based in whole or in part on the income or profits of any person. However, an amount the REIT Subsidiary receives or accrues generally will not be excluded from the term “rents from real property” solely because it is based on a fixed percentage or percentages of receipts or sales or if it is based on the net income of a tenant which derived substantially all of its income with respect to such property from subleasing of substantially all of such property, to the extent that the rents paid by the subtenants would qualify as rents from real property if we earned such amounts directly.

 

   

Neither the REIT Subsidiary nor an actual or constructive owner of 10% or more of the REIT Subsidiary’s capital stock actually or constructively owns 10% or more of the interests in the assets or net profits of a non-corporate tenant, or, if the tenant is a corporation, 10% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to vote or 10% or more of the total value of all classes of stock of the tenant. Rents the REIT Subsidiary receives from such a tenant that is a TRS, however, will not be excluded from the definition of “rents from real property” as a result of this condition if at least 90% of the space at the property to which the rents relate is leased to third parties, and the rents paid by the TRS are substantially comparable to rents paid by the REIT Subsidiary’s other tenants for comparable space.

 

   

Rent attributable to personal property, leased in connection with a lease of real property, is not greater than 15% of the total rent received under the lease. If this condition is not met, then the portion of the rent attributable to personal property will not qualify as “rents from real property.” To the extent that rent attributable to personal property, leased in connection with a lease of real property, exceeds 15% of the total rent received under the lease, the REIT Subsidiary may transfer a portion of such personal property to a TRS.

 

   

The REIT Subsidiary generally may not operate or manage the property or furnish or render services to its tenants, subject to a 1% de minimis exception and except as provided below. The REIT Subsidiary may, however, perform services that are “usually or customarily rendered” in connection with the rental of space for occupancy only and are not otherwise considered “rendered to the occupant” of the property. Examples of these services include the provision of light, heat, or other utilities, trash removal and general maintenance of common areas. In addition, the REIT Subsidiary may employ an independent contractor from whom it derives no revenue to provide customary services to its tenants, or a TRS (which may be wholly or partially owned by the REIT Subsidiary) to provide both customary and non-customary services to its tenants without causing the rent the REIT Subsidiary receives from those tenants to fail to qualify as “rents from real property.”

From time to time, the REIT Subsidiary may enter into hedging transactions with respect to one or more of its assets or liabilities. These hedging activities may include entering into interest rate swaps, caps and floors, options to purchase these items and futures and forward contracts. Income from a hedging transaction, including gain from the sale or disposition of such a transaction, that is clearly identified as a hedging transaction as specified in the Code will not constitute gross income under, and thus will be exempt from, the 75% and 95% gross income tests. The term “hedging transaction,” as used above, generally means (A) any transaction the REIT Subsidiary enters into in the normal course of its business primarily to manage risk of (i) interest rate changes or fluctuations with respect to borrowings made or to be made by the REIT Subsidiary to acquire or carry real estate assets, or (ii) currency fluctuations with respect to an item of qualifying income under the 75% or 95% gross income test or any property that generates such income and (B) new transactions entered into to hedge the

 

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income or loss from prior hedging transactions, where the property or indebtedness that was the subject of the prior hedging transaction was extinguished or disposed of. To the extent that the REIT Subsidiary does not properly identify such transactions as hedges or it hedges with other types of financial instruments, the income from those transactions is not likely to be treated as qualifying income for purposes of the gross income tests. We intend for the REIT Subsidiary to structure any hedging transactions in a manner that does not jeopardize its status as a REIT.

To the extent the REIT Subsidiary’s TRSs pay dividends or interest, the REIT Subsidiary’s allocable share of such dividend or interest income will qualify under the 95%, but not the 75%, gross income test (except that its allocable share of such interest would also qualify under the 75% gross income test to the extent the interest is paid on a loan that is adequately secured by real property).

We will monitor the amount of the REIT Subsidiary’s dividend and other income from its TRSs and will take actions intended to keep this income, and any other nonqualifying income, within the limitations of the gross income tests. Although we expect these actions will be sufficient to prevent a violation of the gross income tests, we cannot guarantee that such actions will in all cases prevent such a violation.

If the REIT Subsidiary fails to satisfy one or both of the 75% or 95% gross income tests for any taxable year, it may nevertheless qualify as a REIT for such year if it is entitled to relief under certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. These relief provisions generally will be available if:

 

   

following its identification of the failure to meet the 75% or 95% gross income tests for any taxable year, the REIT Subsidiary files a schedule with the IRS setting forth each item of its gross income for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income tests for such taxable year in accordance with Treasury Regulations to be issued; and

 

   

the failure to meet these tests was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.

It is not possible, however, to state whether in all circumstances the REIT Subsidiary would be entitled to the benefit of these relief provisions. For example, if it fails to satisfy the gross income tests because non-qualifying income that it intentionally accrues or receives exceeds the limits on non-qualifying income, the IRS could conclude that its failure to satisfy the tests was not due to reasonable cause. If these relief provisions do not apply to a particular set of circumstances, the REIT Subsidiary will not qualify as a REIT. Even if these relief provisions apply, and it retains its status as a REIT, a tax would be imposed with respect to the REIT Subsidiary’s non-qualifying income.

Prohibited transaction income

Any gain that the REIT Subsidiary realizes on the sale of property (other than any foreclosure property) held as inventory or otherwise held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business will be treated as income from a prohibited transaction that is subject to a 100% penalty tax, unless certain safe harbor exceptions apply. This prohibited transaction income may also adversely affect the REIT Subsidiary’s ability to satisfy the gross income tests for qualification as a REIT. Under existing law, whether property is held as inventory or primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business is a question of fact that depends on all the facts and circumstances surrounding the particular transaction. The REIT Subsidiary intends to hold its properties for investment with a view to long-term appreciation, to engage in the business of acquiring, developing and owning its properties and to make occasional sales of the properties as are consistent with its investment objectives. However, the IRS may successfully contend that some or all of the sales made by the REIT Subsidiary are prohibited transactions. The REIT Subsidiary would be required to pay the 100% penalty tax on the gains resulting from any such sales. The 100% penalty tax will not apply to gains from the sale of assets that are held through a TRS, but such income will be subject to regular U.S. federal corporate income tax.

 

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Asset tests

At the close of each calendar quarter of its taxable year, the REIT Subsidiary must also satisfy a number of tests relating to the nature of its assets. First, at least 75% of the value of the REIT Subsidiary’s total assets must be represented by real estate assets, cash, cash items and certain government securities. For purposes of this test, the term “real estate assets” generally means real property (including interests in real property and interests in mortgages on real property or on both real property and, to a limited extent, personal property), shares (or transferable certificates of beneficial interest) in other REITs, any stock or debt instrument attributable to the investment of the proceeds of a stock offering or a public offering of debt with a term of at least five years (but only for the one-year period beginning on the date the REIT Subsidiary receives such proceeds), debt instruments of publicly offered REITs, and personal property leased in connection with a lease of real property for which the rent attributable to personal property is not greater than 15% of the total rent received under the lease.

Second, not more than 25% of the REIT Subsidiary’s total assets may be represented by securities other than those in the 75% asset class.

Third, of the investments included in the 25% asset class, and except for investments in other REITs, any qualified REIT subsidiaries and TRSs, the value of any one issuer’s securities may not exceed 5% of the value of the REIT Subsidiary’s total assets, and the REIT Subsidiary may not own more than 10% of the total vote or value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. Solely for purposes of the 10% value test, however, certain securities including, but not limited to “straight debt” securities having specified characteristics, securities issued by a partnership that itself would satisfy the 75% income test if it were a REIT, loans to an individual or an estate, obligations to pay rents from real property and securities issued by a REIT, are disregarded as securities. In addition, solely for purposes of the 10% value test, the determination of the REIT Subsidiary’s interest in the assets of a partnership or limited liability company in which it owns an interest will be based on the REIT Subsidiary’s proportionate interest in any securities issued by the partnership or limited liability company, excluding for this purpose certain securities described in the Internal Revenue Code.

Fourth, not more than 20% (25% for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2018) of the aggregate value of the REIT Subsidiary’s gross assets may be represented by the securities of one or more TRSs.

Fifth, not more than 25% of the value of the REIT Subsidiary’s total assets may be represented by debt instruments of publicly offered REITs to the extent those debt instruments would not be real estate assets but for the inclusion of debt instruments of publicly offered REITs in the meaning of real estate assets, as described above (e.g. a debt instrument issued by a publicly offered REIT that is not secured by a mortgage on real property).

The foregoing 5% and 10% limitations do not apply to the securities of a TRS or qualified REIT subsidiary.

The asset tests described above must be satisfied at the close of each calendar quarter of the REIT Subsidiary’s taxable year. After initially meeting the asset tests at the close of any quarter, the REIT Subsidiary will not lose its status as a REIT for failure to satisfy the asset tests at the end of a later quarter solely by reason of changes in asset values unless the REIT Subsidiary acquires securities in the applicable issuer, increases its ownership of securities of such issuer (including as a result of increasing its interest in other partnerships and limited liability companies which own such securities), or acquires other assets. If the REIT Subsidiary fails to satisfy an asset test because it acquires securities or other property during a quarter, including as a result of an increase in its interest in a subsidiary partnership, the REIT Subsidiary may cure this failure by disposing of sufficient non-qualifying assets within 30 days after the close of that quarter.

Certain relief provisions may be available if the REIT Subsidiary discovers a failure to satisfy the asset tests described above after the 30 day cure period. Under these provisions, the REIT Subsidiary will be deemed to have met the 5% and 10% asset tests if the value of its non-qualifying assets (i) does not exceed the lesser of (a)

 

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1% of the total value of its assets at the end of the applicable quarter or (b) $10,000,000, and (ii) the REIT Subsidiary disposes of the non-qualifying assets or otherwise satisfies such asset tests within (a) six months after the last day of the quarter in which the failure to satisfy the asset tests is discovered or (b) the period of time prescribed by Treasury Regulations to be issued. For violations of any of the asset tests due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect and that are, in the case of the 5% and 10% asset tests, in excess of the de minimis exception described above, the REIT Subsidiary may avoid disqualification as a REIT after the 30 day cure period by taking steps including (i) the disposition of sufficient non-qualifying assets, or the taking of other actions, which allow the REIT Subsidiary to meet the asset tests within (a) six months after the last day of the quarter in which the failure to satisfy the asset tests is discovered or (b) the period of time prescribed by Treasury Regulations to be issued and (ii) disclosing certain information to the IRS. In such case, the REIT Subsidiary will be required to pay a tax equal to the greater of (a) $50,000 or (b) the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate multiplied by the net income generated by the non-qualifying assets.

Taxable REIT subsidiaries

The REIT Subsidiary may directly or indirectly own stock in one or more TRSs. A TRS may be any corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) in which the REIT Subsidiary directly or indirectly owns stock and where the REIT Subsidiary and the corporation make a joint election to treat the corporation as a TRS. A TRS is subject to U.S. federal income tax as a regular C corporation. The REIT Subsidiary’s ownership of stock of a TRS is not subject to the 10% or 5% asset tests. However, as discussed above, the value of all TRS securities owned by the REIT Subsidiary cannot exceed 20% (25% for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2018) of the value of such REIT’s assets. Additionally, the value of all TRS securities owned by the REIT Subsidiary together with other non-real estate assets owned by the REIT Subsidiary may not exceed 25% of the value of the REIT Subsidiary’s total assets. Taxpayers are subject to a limitation on their ability to deduct net business interest generally equal to 30% of adjusted taxable income, subject to certain exceptions. See “—Annual distribution requirements.” This provision may limit the ability of the REIT Subsidiary’s TRSs to deduct interest, which could increase their taxable income.

Qualified REIT subsidiaries

A REIT may own certain wholly owned subsidiaries that are intended to be treated as qualified REIT subsidiaries under the Internal Revenue Code. A corporation will qualify as a qualified REIT subsidiary if the REIT owns 100% of the corporation’s outstanding stock and it does not elect with the corporation to treat it as a TRS, as described above. A qualified REIT subsidiary is not treated as a separate corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and all assets, liabilities and items of income, gain, loss, deduction and credit of a qualified REIT subsidiary are treated as assets, liabilities and items of income, gain, loss, deduction and credit (as the case may be) of the parent REIT for all purposes under the Internal Revenue Code, including the REIT qualification tests. Thus, in applying the U.S. federal income tax requirements described in this summary, any corporation in which the REIT Subsidiary owns a 100% interest (other than a TRS) is ignored, and all assets, liabilities, and items of income, gain, loss, deduction and credit of such corporation are treated as the assets, liabilities and items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit of the REIT Subsidiary. A qualified REIT subsidiary is not required to pay U.S. federal income tax, and a REIT’s ownership of the stock of a qualified REIT subsidiary will not violate the restrictions on ownership of securities described above under “Asset tests.”

Annual distribution requirements

In order to qualify as a REIT, the REIT Subsidiary is required to distribute dividends (other than capital gain dividends) to its stockholders in an amount at least equal to the sum of:

 

   

90% of its REIT taxable income; and

 

   

90% of its after-tax net income, if any, from foreclosure property; minus

 

   

the excess of the sum of certain items of non-cash income over 5% of its REIT taxable income.

 

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For these purposes, the REIT Subsidiary’s REIT taxable income is computed without regard to the dividends paid deduction and its net capital gain. In addition, for purposes of this test, non-cash income generally means income attributable to leveled stepped rents, original issue discount, cancellation of indebtedness, or a like-kind exchange that is later determined to be taxable.

In addition, the REIT Subsidiary’s REIT taxable income will be reduced by any taxes it is required to pay on any gain it recognizes from the disposition of any asset it acquired from a corporation that is or has been a C corporation in a transaction in which the REIT Subsidiary’s tax basis in the asset is less than the fair market value of the asset, in each case determined as of the date on which it acquired the asset, within the five-year period following its acquisition of such asset, as described above under “—General.”

For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, and except as provided below, a taxpayer’s deduction for net business interest expense will generally be limited to 30% of its taxable income, as adjusted for certain items of income, gain, deduction or loss. Any business interest deduction that is disallowed due to this limitation may be carried forward to future taxable years. If the REIT Subsidiary or any of its subsidiary partnerships are subject to this interest expense limitation, the REIT Subsidiary’s REIT taxable income for a taxable year may be increased. Taxpayers that conduct certain real estate businesses may elect not to have this interest expense limitation apply to them, provided that they use an alternative depreciation system to depreciate certain property. If such election is made, although we or such subsidiary partnership, as applicable, would not be subject to the interest expense limitation described above, depreciation deductions may be reduced and, as a result, our REIT taxable income for a taxable year may be increased.

The REIT Subsidiary generally must pay, or be treated as paying, the distributions described above in the taxable year to which they relate. At the REIT Subsidiary’s election, a distribution will be treated as paid in a taxable year if it is declared before the REIT Subsidiary timely files its tax return for such year and paid on or before the first regular dividend payment after such declaration, provided such payment is made during the 12-month period following the close of such year. These distributions are treated as received by the REIT Subsidiary’s stockholders in the year in which they are paid. This is so even though these distributions relate to the prior year for purposes of the 90% distribution requirement. To the extent that the REIT Subsidiary does not distribute all of its net capital gain, or distribute at least 90%, but less than 100%, of its REIT taxable income, as adjusted, it will be required to pay regular U.S. federal corporate income tax on the undistributed amount. We believe that the REIT Subsidiary has made, and we intend that it will continue to make, timely distributions sufficient to satisfy these annual distribution requirements and to minimize its corporate tax obligations.

We expect that the REIT Subsidiary’s REIT taxable income will be less than its cash flow because of depreciation and other non-cash charges included in computing REIT taxable income. Accordingly, we anticipate that it generally will have sufficient cash or liquid assets to enable it to satisfy the distribution requirements described above. However, from time to time, it may not have sufficient cash or other liquid assets to meet these distribution requirements due to timing differences between the actual receipt of income and actual payment of deductible expenses, and the inclusion of income and deduction of expenses in determining its taxable income. In addition, the REIT Subsidiary may retain its cash, rather than distribute it, in order to repay debt or for other reasons. If these timing differences occur, the REIT Subsidiary may borrow funds to pay dividends or pay dividends in the form of taxable stock distributions in order to meet the distribution requirements, while preserving its cash.

Under some circumstances, the REIT Subsidiary may be able to rectify an inadvertent failure to meet the 90% distribution requirement for a year by paying “deficiency dividends” to its stockholders in a later year, which may be included in its deduction for dividends paid for the earlier year. In that case, it may be able to avoid being taxed on amounts distributed as deficiency dividends, subject to the 4% excise tax described below. However, the REIT Subsidiary will be required to pay interest to the IRS based upon the amount of any deduction claimed for deficiency dividends. While the payment of a deficiency dividend will apply to a prior year for purposes of its REIT distribution requirements, it will be treated as an additional distribution to its stockholders in the year such dividend is paid.

 

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Furthermore, the REIT Subsidiary will be required to pay a 4% excise tax to the extent it fails to distribute during each calendar year at least the sum of 85% of its ordinary income for such year, 95% of its capital gain net income for the year and any undistributed taxable income from prior periods. Any ordinary income and net capital gain on which corporate income tax is imposed for any year is treated as an amount distributed during that year for purposes of calculating this excise tax.

For purposes of the 90% distribution requirement and excise tax described above, dividends declared during the last three months of the taxable year, payable to stockholders of record on a specified date during such period and paid during January of the following year, will be treated as paid by the REIT Subsidiary and received by its stockholders on December 31 of the year in which they are declared.

Failure to qualify

If the REIT Subsidiary fails to qualify for taxation as a REIT in any taxable year and no relief provisions apply, it will be subject to regular U.S. federal corporate income tax on its taxable income. Distributions to stockholders in any year in which it fails to qualify will not be deductible, nor will they be required to be made (unless required by the terms of the REIT Subsidiary’s governing documents). In such event, to the extent of current and accumulated earnings and profits, all distributions to stockholders will be treated as regular corporate dividends. In such event, corporate stockholders may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction. In addition, non-corporate stockholders, including individuals, may be eligible for the preferential tax rates on qualified dividend income. Unless entitled to relief under specific statutory provisions, the REIT Subsidiary also would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which qualification was lost. Determination as to whether the REIT Subsidiary would be entitled to such statutory relief is based on all facts and circumstances.

Distributions received from the REIT subsidiary

As long as the REIT Subsidiary qualifies as a REIT, distributions made to us out of current or accumulated earnings and profits (and not designated as capital gain dividends) generally will be taken into account by us as regular corporate dividends, and corporate unitholders will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction as to their distributive shares of such amounts. Dividends will not generally be eligible to be taxed at the preferential dividend income rates applicable to “qualified dividend income.” An exception applies, however, and individual unitholders are taxed at reduced rates on their distributive shares of dividends designated by and received by us from the REIT Subsidiary, to the extent that the dividends are attributable to (i) income that the REIT Subsidiary previously retained in the prior years, and on which it was subject to corporate level tax, (ii) dividends received by the REIT Subsidiary from taxable corporations, or (iii) income from sales of appreciated property acquired from C corporations with a carryover basis. In addition, non-corporate U.S. stockholders of a REIT, including individuals, generally may deduct up to 20% of dividends from a REIT, other than capital gain dividends and dividends treated as qualified dividend income, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026. Prospective non-corporate U.S. investors in our units should consult their tax advisors regarding the applicability of this provision to their investment in us and their allocable share of dividends received from the REIT Subsidiary.

Distributions that are designated as capital gain dividends will be treated as long-term capital gains (to the extent they do not exceed the REIT Subsidiary’s actual net capital gain for the taxable year and may not exceed the REIT Subsidiary’s dividends paid for the taxable year, including dividends paid the following year that are treated as paid in the current year). However, corporate unitholders may be required to treat up to 20% of their distributive share of certain capital gain dividends as ordinary income. Distributions in excess of the REIT Subsidiary’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will not constitute taxable income to us to the extent that they do not exceed our adjusted basis in our shares of the REIT Subsidiary, but rather will reduce our adjusted basis in such shares. To the extent that such distributions exceed our adjusted basis in such shares, they will be treated as gain from the sale of the shares (which gain will be capital gain, assuming the shares are a capital asset and will be long-term or short-term capital gain depending on how long we have held the shares).

 

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Any dividend declared by the REIT Subsidiary in October, November or December of any year will be treated as both paid by the REIT Subsidiary and received by us on December 31 of such year, provided that the dividend is actually paid by the REIT Subsidiary during January of the following calendar year.

Net operating losses and capital losses of the REIT Subsidiary will not flow through to unitholders.

The REIT Subsidiary may elect to retain and pay income tax on net long-term capital gains it received during the tax year, in which case (i) we must include in income (as long-term capital gains) our proportionate share of the undistributed long-term capital gains of the REIT Subsidiary, (ii) our basis in our shares of the REIT Subsidiary is increased by the included amount of the undistributed gains, and (iii) we will be deemed to have paid, and will receive a credit for, our proportionate share of the tax paid by the REIT Subsidiary on the undistributed gains.

Limited Partner Status

In general, our unitholders will be treated as partners of Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Also, unitholders whose units are held in street name or by a nominee and who have the right to direct the nominee in the exercise of all substantive rights attendant to the ownership of their units will generally be treated as partners of Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

A beneficial owner of units whose units have been transferred to a short seller to complete a short sale would appear to lose his status as a partner with respect to those units for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of short sales.”

Income, gains, losses or deductions would not appear to be reportable by a unitholder who is not a partner for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and any cash distributions received by a unitholder who is not a partner for U.S. federal income tax purposes would therefore appear to be fully taxable as ordinary income. These holders are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences to them of holding units. The references to “unitholders” in the discussion that follows are to persons who are treated as partners in us for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership

Flow-through of taxable income

Subject to the discussion below under “Entity-level collections” we will not pay any U.S. federal income tax. Instead, each unitholder will be required to report on his income tax return his share of our income, gains, losses and deductions without regard to whether we make cash distributions to him. Consequently, we may allocate income to a unitholder even if he has not received a cash distribution. For instance, dividends we receive from the REIT Subsidiary are generally taxable to our unitholders even if we do not distribute to them the cash that we receive from the REIT Subsidiary. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his allocable share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year ending with or within his taxable year. Our taxable year ends on December 31.

Treatment of distributions

Distributions by us to a unitholder generally will not be taxable to the unitholder for U.S. federal income tax purposes, except to the extent the amount of any such cash distribution exceeds his tax basis in his units immediately before the distribution. Our cash distributions in excess of a unitholder’s tax basis generally will be considered to be gain from the sale or exchange of the units, taxable in accordance with the rules described under “—Disposition of common units.” Any reduction in a unitholder’s share of our liabilities for which no

 

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partner, including the general partner, bears the economic risk of loss, known as “nonrecourse liabilities,” will be treated as a distribution by us of cash to that unitholder. To the extent our distributions cause a unitholder’s “at-risk” amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year, he must recapture any losses deducted in previous years. Please read “Limitations on deductibility of losses.”

A decrease in a unitholder’s percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional units may decrease his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, and thus may result in a corresponding deemed distribution of cash. This deemed distribution may constitute a non-pro rata distribution. A non-pro rata distribution of money or property may result in ordinary income to a unitholder, regardless of his tax basis in his units, if the distribution reduces the unitholder’s share of our “unrealized receivables,” including depreciation recapture and/or substantially appreciated “inventory items,” each as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, and collectively, “Section 751 Assets.” To that extent, the unitholder will be treated as having been distributed his proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and then having exchanged those assets with us in return for the non-pro rata portion of the actual distribution made to him. This latter deemed exchange will generally result in the unitholder’s realization of ordinary income, which will equal the excess of (i) the non-pro rata portion of that distribution over (ii) the unitholder’s tax basis (often zero) for the share of Section 751 Assets deemed relinquished in the exchange.

Basis of units

A unitholder’s initial tax basis for his units will be the amount he paid for the units plus his share, if any, of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be increased by his share of our income, by any increases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities and, on the disposition of a unit, by his share of certain items related to business interest not yet deductible by him, if any, due to applicable limitations. Please read “—Limitations on interest deductions.” A unitholder’s basis will be decreased, but not below zero, by distributions from us, by the unitholder’s share of our losses, if any, by any decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, by his share of our excess business interest (generally, the excess of our business interest over the amount that is deductible) and by his share of our expenditures that are not deductible in computing taxable income and are not required to be capitalized. A unitholder will have no share of our debt that is recourse to our general partner to the extent of the general partner’s “net value” as defined in the Treasury Regulations promulgated under Section 752 of the Internal Revenue Code, but may have a share, generally based on his share of profits, of our nonrecourse liabilities. Please read “—Disposition of Units—Recognition of gain or loss.”

Limitations on deductibility of losses

The deduction by a unitholder of his share of our losses will be limited to the tax basis in his units and, in the case of an individual unitholder, estate, trust, or corporate unitholder (if more than 50% of the value of the corporate unitholder’s stock is owned directly or indirectly by or for five or fewer individuals or some tax-exempt organizations) to the amount for which the unitholder is considered to be “at risk” with respect to our activities, if that is less than his tax basis. A unitholder subject to these limitations must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions cause his at-risk amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year. Losses disallowed to a unitholder or recaptured as a result of these limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction to the extent that his at-risk amount is subsequently increased, provided such losses do not exceed such unitholder’s tax basis in his units. Upon the taxable disposition of a unit, any gain recognized by a unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at-risk limitation but may not be offset by losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any loss previously suspended by the at-risk limitation in excess of that gain would no longer be usable.

In general, a unitholder will be at risk to the extent of the tax basis of his units, excluding any portion of that basis attributable to his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, reduced by (i) any portion of that basis representing amounts otherwise protected against loss because of a guarantee, stop loss agreement or other similar arrangement and (ii) any amount of money he borrows to acquire or hold his units, if the lender of those

 

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borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to the unitholder or can look only to the units for repayment. A unitholder’s at-risk amount will increase or decrease as the tax basis of the unitholder’s units increases or decreases, other than tax basis increases or decreases attributable to increases or decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities.

In addition to the basis and at-risk limitations on the deductibility of losses, the passive loss limitations generally provide that individuals, estates, trusts and some closely-held corporations and personal service corporations can deduct losses from passive activities, which are generally trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate, only to the extent of the taxpayer’s income from those passive activities. The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly traded partnership. Consequently, any passive losses we generate will only be available to offset our passive income generated in the future and will not be available to offset income from other passive activities or investments, including our investments or a unitholder’s investments in other publicly traded partnerships, or the unitholder’s salary, active business or other income. Passive losses that are not deductible because they exceed a unitholder’s share of income we generate may be deducted in full when he disposes of his entire investment in us in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. The passive loss limitations are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at-risk rules and the basis limitation.

A unitholder’s share of our net income may be offset by any of our suspended passive losses, but it may not be offset by any other current or carryover losses from other passive activities, including those attributable to other publicly traded partnerships.

An additional loss limitation may apply to certain of our unitholders for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026. A non-corporate unitholder will not be allowed to take a deduction for certain excess business losses in such taxable years. An excess business loss is the excess (if any) of a taxpayer’s aggregate deductions for the taxable year that are attributable to the trades or businesses of such taxpayer (determined without regard to the excess business loss limitation) over the aggregate gross income or gain of such taxpayer for the taxable year that is attributable to such trades or businesses plus a threshold amount. The threshold amount is equal to $259,000, or $518,000 for taxpayers filing a joint return (subject to adjustment for inflation). Any losses disallowed in a taxable year due to the excess business loss limitation may be used by the applicable unitholder in the following taxable year if certain conditions are met. Unitholders to which this excess business loss limitation applies will take their allocable share of our items of income, gain, loss and deduction into account in determining this limitation. This excess business loss limitation will be applied to a non-corporate unitholder after the passive loss limitations and may limit such unitholders’ ability to use any losses we generate allocable to such unitholder that are not otherwise limited by the basis, at-risk and passive loss limitations described above.

Limitations on interest deductions

Our ability to deduct interest paid or accrued on indebtedness properly allocable to a trade or business, “business interest,” may be limited in certain circumstances. Should our ability to deduct business interest be limited, the amount of taxable income allocated to our unitholders in the taxable year in which the limitation is in effect may increase. However, in certain circumstances, a unitholder may be able to use a portion of a business interest deduction subject to this limitation in future taxable years. Prospective unitholders should consult their tax advisors regarding the impact of this business interest deduction limitation on an investment in our units.

In addition, the deductibility of a non-corporate taxpayer’s “investment interest expense” is generally limited to the amount of that taxpayer’s “net investment income.” Investment interest expense includes:

 

   

interest on indebtedness properly allocable to property held for investment;

 

   

our interest expense attributed to portfolio income; and

 

   

the portion of interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an interest in a passive activity to the extent attributable to portfolio income.

 

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The computation of a unitholder’s investment interest expense will take into account interest on any margin account borrowing or other loan incurred to purchase or carry a unit. Net investment income includes gross income from property held for investment and amounts treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules, less deductible expenses, other than interest, directly connected with the production of investment income, but generally does not include gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment or (if applicable) qualified dividend income. The IRS has indicated that the net passive income earned by a publicly traded partnership will be treated as investment income to its unitholders. In addition, the unitholder’s share of our portfolio income will be treated as investment income.

Entity-level collections

If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any U.S. federal, state, local or foreign income tax on behalf of any unitholder or any former unitholder, we are authorized to pay those taxes from our funds. That payment, if made, will be treated as a distribution of cash to the unitholder on whose behalf the payment was made. If the payment is made on behalf of a person whose identity cannot be determined, we are authorized to treat the payment as a distribution to all current unitholders. We are authorized to amend our partnership agreement in the manner necessary to maintain uniformity of intrinsic tax characteristics of units and to adjust later distributions, so that after giving effect to these distributions, the priority and characterization of distributions otherwise applicable under our partnership agreement is maintained as nearly as is practicable. Payments by us as described above could give rise to an overpayment of tax on behalf of an individual unitholder in which event the unitholder would be required to file a claim in order to obtain a credit or refund.

Allocation of income, gain, loss and deduction

In general, when distributions are made to holders of preferred units or incentive distributions are made, we intend to allocate available items of gross income to the recipients to the extent of such distributions.

Thereafter, if we have a net profit, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated among our common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. If we have a net loss, that loss will be allocated first to the common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us to the extent of their positive capital accounts, as adjusted for certain items in accordance with applicable Treasury Regulations.

Specified items of our income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated to account for (i) any difference between the tax basis and fair market value of our assets at the time of a unit offering and (ii) any difference between the tax basis and fair market value of any property contributed to us by the general partner and its affiliates (or by a third party) that exists at the time of such contribution, together referred to in this discussion as the “Contributed Property.” The effect of these allocations, referred to as “Section 704(c) Allocations,” to a unitholder purchasing units from us in an offering will be essentially the same as if the tax bases of our assets were equal to their fair market values at the time of the offering.

In the event we issue additional units or engage in certain other transactions in the future, “reverse Section 704(c) Allocations,” similar to the Section 704(c) Allocations described above, will be made to common unitholders immediately prior to such issuance or other transactions to account for the difference between the “book” basis for purposes of maintaining capital accounts and the fair market value of all property held by us at the time of such issuance or future transaction.

In addition, items of recapture income will be allocated to the extent possible to the unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to the treatment of that gain as recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by some unitholders. Finally, although we do not expect that our operations will result in the creation of negative capital accounts (subject to certain adjustments), if negative capital accounts (subject to certain adjustments) nevertheless result, items of our income and gain will be allocated in an amount and manner sufficient to eliminate such negative balance as quickly as possible.

 

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An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required by the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the difference between a partner’s “book” capital account, credited with the fair market value of Contributed Property, and “tax” capital account, credited with the tax basis of Contributed Property, referred to in this discussion as the “Book-Tax Disparity,” will generally be given effect for U.S. federal income tax purposes in determining a partner’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has “substantial economic effect.” In any other case, a partner’s share of an item will be determined on the basis of his interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including:

 

   

his relative contributions to us;

 

   

the interests of all the partners in profits and losses;

 

   

the interest of all the partners in cash flow; and

 

   

the rights of all the partners to distributions of capital upon liquidation.

Latham & Watkins LLP is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issues described in this section and in “Section 754 election,” “—Disposition of Units—Allocations between transferors and transferees and “—Uniformity of Units,” allocations under our partnership agreement will be given effect for U.S. federal income tax purposes in determining a partner’s share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction.

Treatment of short sales

A unitholder whose units are loaned to a “short seller” to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those units. If so, he would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition. As a result, during this period:

 

   

any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those units would not be reportable by the unitholder;

 

   

any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those units would be fully taxable; and

 

   

while not entirely free from doubt, all of these distributions would appear to be ordinary income.

Because there is no direct or indirect controlling authority on the issue relating to partnership interests, Latham & Watkins LLP has not rendered an opinion regarding the tax treatment of a unitholder whose units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of units; therefore, unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to consult a tax advisor to discuss whether it is advisable to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from borrowing and loaning their units. The IRS has previously announced that it is studying issues relating to the tax treatment of short sales of partnership interests. Please also read “—Disposition of Units—Recognition of gain or loss.”

Tax rates

Currently, the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to ordinary income of individuals is 37% and the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains (generally, capital gains on certain assets held for more than twelve months) of individuals is 20%. Such rates are subject to change by new legislation at any time.

In addition, a 3.8% Medicare tax, or NIIT, is imposed on certain net investment income earned by individuals, estates and trusts. For these purposes, net investment income generally includes a unitholder’s allocable share of our income and gain realized by a unitholder from a sale of units. In the case of an individual,

 

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the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) the unitholder’s net investment income or (ii) the amount by which the unitholder’s modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing jointly or a surviving spouse), $125,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing separately) or $200,000 (in any other case). In the case of an estate or trust, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) undistributed net investment income, or (ii) the excess adjusted gross income over the dollar amount at which the highest income tax bracket applicable to an estate or trust begins for such taxable year. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS have issued Treasury Regulations that provide guidance regarding the NIIT. Prospective unitholders are urged to consult with their tax advisors as to the impact of the NIIT on an investment in our units.

For taxable years ending on or before December 31, 2025, a non-corporate unitholder is entitled to a deduction of up to 20% of its “qualified business income” attributable to us and up to 20% of its allocable share of certain dividends we receive from the REIT Subsidiary (see “—Distributions received from the REIT subsidiary”). For purposes of this deduction, a unitholder’s “qualified business income” attributable to us is equal to the sum of:

 

   

the net amount of such unitholder’s allocable share of certain of our items of income, gain, deduction and loss (generally excluding certain items related to our investment activities, including capital gains and dividends, which are subject to a U.S. federal income tax rate of 20%); and

 

   

any gain recognized by such unitholder on the disposition of its units to the extent such gain is attributable to certain Section 751 assets, including depreciation recapture and “inventory items” we own.

Prospective unitholders should consult their tax advisors regarding the application of this deduction and its interaction with the overall deduction for qualified business income.

Section 754 election

We have made the election permitted by Section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS. The election generally permits us to adjust a common unit purchaser’s tax basis in our assets (“inside basis”) under Section 743(b) of the Internal Revenue Code to reflect his purchase price. This election does not apply with respect to a person who purchases units directly from us. The Section 743(b) adjustment belongs to the purchaser and not to other unitholders. For purposes of this discussion, the inside basis in our assets with respect to a unitholder will be considered to have two components: (i) his share of our tax basis in our assets (“common basis”) and (ii) his Section 743(b) adjustment to that basis.

The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and will be made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. Latham & Watkins LLP is unable to opine as to whether all our methods for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases, as there is no direct or indirect controlling authority addressing the validity of these positions. We cannot assure you that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS and that any deductions resulting from them will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different basis adjustment to be made, and should, in our opinion, the expense of compliance exceed the benefit of the election, we may seek permission from the IRS to revoke our Section 754 election. If permission is granted, a subsequent purchaser of units may be allocated more income than he would have been allocated had the election not been revoked.

Tax Treatment of Operations

Accounting method and taxable year

We use the year ending December 31 as our taxable year and the accrual method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our taxable year ending within or with his taxable year. In addition, a unitholder who has a

 

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taxable year ending on a date other than December 31 and who disposes of all of his units following the close of our taxable year but before the close of his taxable year must include his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction in income for his taxable year, with the result that he will be required to include in income for his taxable year his share of more than twelve months of our income, gain, loss and deduction. Please read “—Disposition of Units—Allocations between transferors and transferees.”

Tax basis, depreciation and amortization

The tax basis of our assets will be used for purposes of computing depreciation and cost recovery deductions and, ultimately, gain or loss on the disposition of these assets. The U.S. federal income tax burden associated with the difference between the fair market value of our assets and their tax basis immediately prior to an offering will be borne by our unitholders holding interests in us prior to such offering. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of income, gain, loss and deduction.”

The costs we incur in selling our units (called “syndication expenses”) must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably or upon our termination. There are uncertainties regarding the classification of costs as organization expenses, which may be amortized by us, and as syndication expenses, which may not be amortized by us. The underwriting discounts and commissions we incur will be treated as syndication expenses.

Valuation and tax basis of our properties

The U.S. federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values, and the initial tax bases, of our assets. Although we may from time to time consult with professional appraisers regarding valuation matters, we will make many of the relative fair market value estimates ourselves. These estimates and determinations of basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or determinations of basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deductions previously reported by unitholders might change, and unitholders might be required to adjust their tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.

Disposition of Units

Recognition of gain or loss

Gain or loss will be recognized on a sale of units equal to the difference between the amount realized and the unitholder’s tax basis for the units sold. A unitholder’s amount realized will be measured by the sum of the cash or the fair market value of other property received by him plus his share, if any, of our nonrecourse liabilities. Because the amount realized includes a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale of units could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from the sale.

Prior distributions from us that in the aggregate were in excess of cumulative net taxable income for a unit and, therefore, decreased a unitholder’s tax basis in that unit will, in effect, become taxable income if the unit is sold at a price greater than the unitholder’s tax basis in that unit, even if the price received is less than his original cost.

Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder, other than a “dealer” in units, on the sale or exchange of a unit will generally be taxable as capital gain or loss. Capital gain recognized by an individual on the sale of units held for more than twelve months will generally be taxed at the U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains. However, a portion of this gain or loss, which may be substantial, will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Internal Revenue Code to the extent attributable to assets giving rise to “unrealized receivables,” including potential recapture items such as depreciation recapture, or to “inventory items” we own. Ordinary income attributable to unrealized receivables

 

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and inventory items may exceed net taxable gain realized upon the sale of a unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale of a unit. Thus, a unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and a capital loss upon a sale of units. Capital losses may offset capital gains and no more than $3,000 of ordinary income, in the case of individuals, and may only be used to offset capital gains in the case of corporations. Ordinary income recognized by a unitholder on disposition of our units may be reduced by such unitholder’s deduction for qualified business income. Both ordinary income and capital gain recognized on a sale of units may be subject to the NIIT in certain circumstances. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Tax rates.”

The IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all those interests. Upon a sale or other disposition of less than all of those interests, a portion of that tax basis must be allocated to the interests sold using an “equitable apportionment” method, which generally means that the tax basis allocated to the interest sold equals an amount that bears the same relation to the partner’s tax basis in his entire interest in the partnership as the value of the interest sold bears to the value of the partner’s entire interest in the partnership. Treasury Regulations under Section 1223 of the Internal Revenue Code allow a selling unitholder who can identify units transferred with an ascertainable holding period to elect to use the actual holding period of the units transferred. Thus, according to the ruling discussed above, a unitholder will be unable to select high or low basis units to sell as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the Treasury Regulations, he may designate specific units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of units transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional units or a sale of units purchased in separate transactions is urged to consult his tax advisor as to the possible consequences of this ruling and application of the Treasury Regulations.

Specific provisions of the Internal Revenue Code affect the taxation of some financial products and securities, including partnership interests, by treating a taxpayer as having sold an “appreciated” partnership interest, one in which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value, if the taxpayer or related persons enter(s) into:

 

   

a short sale;

 

   

an offsetting notional principal contract; or

 

   

a futures or forward contract;

in each case, with respect to the partnership interest or substantially identical property.

Moreover, if a taxpayer has previously entered into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest, the taxpayer will be treated as having sold that position if the taxpayer or a related person then acquires the partnership interest or substantially identical property. The Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized to issue regulations that treat a taxpayer that enters into transactions or positions that have substantially the same effect as the preceding transactions as having constructively sold the financial position.

Allocations between transferors and transferees

In general, after the allocation of items of gross income to the recipients of distributions attributable to our preferred units and incentive distribution rights, if any, our taxable income and losses will be determined annually, prorated on a monthly basis in proportion to the number of days in each month and subsequently apportioned among our common unitholders in proportion to the number of units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month, which we refer to in this

 

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prospectus as the “Allocation Date.” However, gain or loss realized on a sale or other disposition of our assets other than in the ordinary course of business and other “extraordinary items” will be allocated among our common unitholders either at the time or on the Allocation Date in the month in which that gain or loss is recognized. As a result, a common unitholder transferring units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.

The U.S. Department of Treasury and the IRS have issued Treasury Regulations that permit publicly traded partnerships to use a monthly simplifying convention that is similar to ours, but they do not specifically authorize all aspects of the proration method we have adopted. Accordingly, Latham & Watkins LLP is unable to opine on the validity of this method of allocating income and deductions between transferor and transferee unitholders. If this method is not allowed under the Treasury Regulations, our taxable income or losses might be reallocated among the unitholders. We are authorized to revise our method of allocation between transferor and transferee unitholders, as well as unitholders whose interests vary during a taxable year.

A unitholder who owns common units at any time during a quarter and who disposes of them prior to the record date set for a cash distribution for that quarter will be allocated items of our income, gain, loss and deductions attributable to that quarter through the month of disposition but will not be entitled to receive that cash distribution.

Notification requirements

A unitholder who sells any of his units is generally required to notify us in writing of that sale within 30 days after the sale (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the sale). A purchaser of units who purchases units from another unitholder is also generally required to notify us in writing of that purchase within 30 days after the purchase. Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the IRS of that transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a purchase may, in some cases, lead to the imposition of penalties. However, these reporting requirements do not apply to a sale by an individual who is a citizen of the United States and who effects the sale or exchange through a broker who will satisfy such requirements.

Uniformity of Units

Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of units, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the units to a purchaser of these units. In the absence of uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of U.S. federal income tax requirements, both statutory and regulatory. A lack of uniformity can result from a literal application of certain depreciation and amortization methods. Any non-uniformity could have a negative impact on the value of the units. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 election.” Latham & Watkins LLP has not rendered an opinion with respect to our specific methods of depreciation and amortization, and the IRS may challenge these methods. If this challenge were sustained, the uniformity of units might be affected, and the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions. Please read “—Disposition of Units—Recognition of gain or loss.”

Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors

General. Ownership of units by employee benefit plans, other tax-exempt organizations, non-resident aliens, foreign corporations and other foreign persons raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below to a limited extent, may have substantially adverse tax consequences to them. If you are a tax-exempt entity or a foreign person, you should consult your tax advisor before investing in our units.

Employee benefit plans and most other organizations exempt from U.S. federal income tax, including IRAs and other retirement plans, are subject to U.S. federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Items of our income allocated to a unitholder that is a tax-exempt organization may be treated as unrelated business taxable income that will be taxable to it.

 

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Non-resident aliens and foreign corporations, trusts or estates that own units (“foreign unitholders”) may be considered to be engaged in business in the United States because of the ownership of units. As a consequence, they may be required to file U.S. federal tax returns to report their share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay U.S. federal income tax at regular rates on their share of our net income or gain. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly traded partnerships, except as described below with respect to income derived from the REIT Subsidiary that is not effectively connected to a U.S. trade or business, our quarterly distribution to foreign unitholders will generally be subject to withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Each foreign unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on a Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or applicable substitute form in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes. A change in applicable law may require us to change these procedures.

In addition, because a foreign corporation that owns units may be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business, that corporation may be subject to the U.S. branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, in addition to regular U.S. federal income tax, on its share of our earnings and profits, as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation’s “U.S. net equity,” that is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the United States and the country in which the foreign corporate unitholder is a “qualified resident.” In addition, this type of unitholder is subject to special information reporting requirements under Section 6038C of the Internal Revenue Code.

REIT Subsidiary Dividends and Dispositions. Foreign unitholders will be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax on their allocable shares of the ordinary dividends received from the REIT Subsidiary that are not otherwise effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. This tax will be withheld by us. The 30% withholding tax may be reduced by an applicable income tax treaty.

To the extent that we receive a capital gain dividend from the REIT Subsidiary, a foreign unitholder’s allocable share of such capital gain dividend will be treated as effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business and subject to 21% withholding tax. Consequently, foreign unitholders will be subject to U.S. income tax payment and tax return filing obligations with respect to their allocable shares of capital gain dividends made by the REIT Subsidiary to us and foreign unitholders that are corporations will be subject to an additional 30% “branch profits tax” on such capital gain dividends. The branch profits tax may be reduced by an applicable income tax treaty.

If we dispose of our shares in the REIT Subsidiary, a foreign unitholder will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its allocable share of our gain from such disposition if the REIT Subsidiary is a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity as defined in the Internal Revenue Code. To the extent the REIT Subsidiary is a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity, a foreign unitholder’s allocable share of our gain from our disposition of shares in the REIT Subsidiary will not be treated as income effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. However, if the REIT Subsidiary is not a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity, a foreign unitholder will be subject to U.S. tax payment and tax return filing obligations on its allocable share of our gain from the disposition of shares in the REIT Subsidiary.

Sale of a Unit. A foreign unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a common unit will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized from the sale or disposition of that unit to the extent the gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the foreign unitholder. Gain on the sale or disposition of a unit will be treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business to the extent that a foreign unitholder would recognize gain effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business upon the hypothetical sale of our assets at fair market value on the date of the sale or exchange of that unit. Such gain shall be reduced by certain amounts treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business attributable to certain real property interests.

Under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, a foreign unitholder (other than certain “qualified foreign pension funds” (or an entity all of the interests of which are held by such a qualified foreign pension

 

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fund), which generally are entities or arrangements that are established and regulated by foreign law to provide retirement or other pension benefits to employees, do not have a single participant or beneficiary that is entitled to more than 5% of the assets or income of the entity or arrangement and are subject to certain preferential tax treatment under the laws of the applicable foreign country) generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax upon the sale, exchange or other disposition of a unit if (i) he owned (directly or constructively applying certain attribution rules) more than 5% of the class of such units at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of such disposition and (ii) 50% or more of the fair market value of all of our assets consisted of U.S. real property interests at any time during the shorter of the period during which such unitholder held the units or the five-year period ending on the date of disposition. In general, a U.S. real property interest does not include any interest in a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity. If more than 50% of our assets consist of U.S. real property interests foreign unitholders may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain from the sale, exchange or other disposition of their units.

Upon the sale, exchange or other disposition of a unit by a foreign unitholder, the transferee is generally required to withhold 10% of the amount realized on such sale, exchange or other disposition if any portion of the gain on such sale, exchange or other disposition would be treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. If the transferee fails to satisfy this withholding requirement, we will be required to deduct and withhold such amount (plus interest) from future distributions to the transferee. Because the “amount realized” would include a unitholder’s share of our nonrecourse liabilities, 10% of the amount realized could exceed the total cash purchase price for such disposed units. Due to this fact, our inability to match transferors and transferees of units and other uncertainty surrounding the application of these withholding rules, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS have currently suspended these rules for transfers of certain publicly traded partnership interests, including transfers of our units, until regulations or other guidance has been finalized. It is unclear when such regulations or other guidance will be finalized.

Additional withholding requirements may also affect certain foreign unitholders. Please read “—Administrative Matters—Additional withholding requirements.”

Administrative Matters

Information returns and audit procedures

We intend to furnish to each unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each calendar year, specific tax information, including a Schedule K-1, which describes his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our preceding taxable year. In preparing this information, which will not be reviewed by counsel, we will take various accounting and reporting positions, some of which have been mentioned earlier, to determine each unitholder’s share of income, gain, loss and deduction. We cannot assure you that those positions will yield a result that conforms to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS. Neither we nor Latham & Watkins LLP can assure prospective unitholders that the IRS will not successfully contend in court that those positions are impermissible. Any challenge by the IRS could negatively affect the value of the units.

The IRS may audit our U.S. federal income tax information returns. Adjustments resulting from an IRS audit may require each unitholder to adjust a prior year’s tax liability, and possibly may result in an audit of his return. Any audit of a unitholder’s return could result in adjustments not related to our returns as well as those related to our returns.

Partnerships generally are treated as separate entities for purposes of U.S. federal tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS and tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss and deduction are determined in a partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings with the partners. For taxable years beginning on or before December 31, 2017, the Internal Revenue Code requires that one partner be designated as the “Tax Matters Partner” for these purposes. Our partnership agreement names our general partner as our Tax Matters Partner.

 

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The Tax Matters Partner has made and will make some elections on our behalf and on behalf of unitholders. In addition, the Tax Matters Partner can extend the statute of limitations for assessment of tax deficiencies against unitholders for items in our returns. The Tax Matters Partner may bind a unitholder with less than a 1% profits interest in us to a settlement with the IRS unless that unitholder elects, by filing a statement with the IRS, not to give that authority to the Tax Matters Partner. The Tax Matters Partner may seek judicial review, by which all the unitholders are bound, of a final partnership administrative adjustment and, if the Tax Matters Partner fails to seek judicial review, judicial review may be sought by any unitholder having at least a 1% interest in profits or by any group of unitholders having in the aggregate at least a 5% interest in profits. However, only one action for judicial review will go forward, and each unitholder with an interest in the outcome may participate.

A unitholder must file a statement with the IRS identifying the treatment of any item on his U.S. federal income tax return that is not consistent with the treatment of the item on our return. Intentional or negligent disregard of this consistency requirement may subject a unitholder to substantial penalties.

Pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns, it may assess and collect any taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from us. Similarly, for such taxable years, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to income tax returns filed by an entity in which we are a member or a partner, it may assess and collect any taxes (including penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from such entity. Generally, we expect to elect to have our general partner and our unitholders take such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the tax year under audit, but there can be no assurance that such election will be effective in all circumstances. If we are unable or choose not to have our general partner and our unitholders take such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, our current unitholders may bear some or all of the tax liability resulting from such audit adjustment, even if such unitholders did not own units in us during the tax year under audit. If, as a result of any such audit adjustment, we are required to make payments of taxes, penalties and interest, our cash available for distribution to our unitholders might be substantially reduced.

Additionally, pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the Internal Revenue Code will no longer require that we designate a Tax Matters Partner. Instead, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, we will be required to designate a partner, or other person, with a substantial presence in the United States as the partnership representative (“Partnership Representative”). The Partnership Representative will have the sole authority to act on our behalf for purposes of, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS. If we do not make such a designation, the IRS can select any person as the Partnership Representative. We currently anticipate that we will designate our general partner as our Partnership Representative. Further, any actions taken by us or by the Partnership Representative on our behalf with respect to, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS, will be binding on us and all of our unitholders.

Additional withholding requirements

Withholding taxes may apply to certain types of payments made to “foreign financial institutions” (as specially defined in the Internal Revenue Code) and certain other foreign entities. Specifically, a 30% withholding tax may be imposed on interest, dividends and other fixed or determinable annual or periodical gains, profits and income from sources within the United States (“FDAP Income”), or (subject to the proposed Treasury Regulations discussed below) gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of any property of a type that can produce interest or dividends from sources within the United States (“Gross Proceeds”) paid to a foreign financial institution or to a “non-financial foreign entity,” (as specially defined in the Internal Revenue Code) unless (i) the foreign financial institution undertakes certain diligence and reporting, (ii) the non-financial foreign entity either certifies it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or furnishes identifying information regarding each substantial U.S. owner or (iii) the foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity otherwise qualifies for an exemption from these rules. If the payee is a foreign financial institution and is subject to the

 

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diligence and reporting requirements in clause (i) above, it must enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury requiring, among other things, that it undertake to identify accounts held by certain U.S. persons or U.S.-owned foreign entities, annually report certain information about such accounts, and withhold 30% on payments to noncompliant foreign financial institutions and certain other account holders. Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing these requirements may be subject to different rules.

These rules generally apply to payments of FDAP Income currently and, while these rules generally would have applied to payments of relevant Gross Proceeds made on or after January 1, 2019, recently proposed Treasury Regulations eliminate such withholding on payments of Gross Proceeds entirely. Taxpayers generally may rely on these proposed Treasury Regulations until final Treasury Regulations are issued. Thus, to the extent we have FDAP Income that are not treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (please read “—Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors”), unitholders who are foreign financial institutions or certain other foreign entities, or persons that hold their units through such foreign entities, may be subject to withholding on distributions they receive from us, or their distributive share of our income, pursuant to the rules described above.

Prospective unitholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the potential application of these withholding provisions to their investment in our units.

Nominee reporting

Persons who hold an interest in us as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us:

 

   

the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee;

 

   

whether the beneficial owner is:

 

   

a person that is not a U.S. person;

 

   

a foreign government, an international organization or any wholly owned agency or instrumentality of either of the foregoing; or

 

   

a tax-exempt entity;

 

   

the amount and description of units held, acquired or transferred for the beneficial owner; and

 

   

specific information including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers, and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from dispositions.

Brokers and financial institutions are required to furnish additional information, including whether they are U.S. persons and specific information on units they acquire, hold or transfer for their own account. A penalty of $280 per failure, up to a maximum of $3,392,000 per calendar year (subject to adjustment for inflation), is imposed by the Internal Revenue Code for failure to report that information to us. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of the units with the information furnished to us.

Accuracy-related penalties

Certain penalties may be imposed on taxpayers as a result of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to one or more specified causes, including: (i) negligence or disregard of rules or regulations, (ii) substantial understatements of income tax, (iii) substantial valuation misstatements and (iv) the disallowance of claimed tax benefits by reason of a transaction lacking economic substance or failing to meet the requirements of any similar rule of law. Except with respect to the disallowance of claimed tax benefits by reason of a transaction lacking economic substance or failing to meet the requirements of any similar rule of law, however, no penalty will be imposed for any portion of any such underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for the underpayment of that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding the underpayment of that portion.

 

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With respect to substantial understatements of income tax, the amount of any understatement subject to penalty generally is reduced by that portion of the understatement which is attributable to a position adopted on the return (A) for which there is, or was, “substantial authority”; or (B) as to which there is a reasonable basis and the relevant facts of that position are adequately disclosed on the return. If any item of income, gain, loss or deduction included in the distributive shares of unitholders might result in that kind of an “understatement” of income for which no “substantial authority” exists, we must adequately disclose the relevant facts on our return. In addition, we will make a reasonable effort to furnish sufficient information for unitholders to make adequate disclosure on their returns and to take other actions as may be appropriate to permit unitholders to avoid liability for this penalty.

Recent Legislative Developments

The present U.S. federal income tax treatment of REITs, publicly traded partnerships, including us, or an investment in our units may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. For example, from time to time, members of Congress and the President propose and consider substantive changes to the existing U.S. federal income tax laws that would affect the tax treatment of certain publicly traded partnerships, including the elimination of partnership tax treatment for publicly traded partnerships.

Legislation enacted in 2017, among other things, contains significant changes to the taxation of our operations and an investment in our units, including a partial limitation on the deductibility of certain business interest expenses, a deduction for our unitholders relating to certain income from partnerships, immediate deductions for certain new investments instead of deductions for depreciation over time, limitations on a REIT’s ability to deduct net operating losses and the modification or repeal of many business deductions and credits. This tax reform legislation is highly complex and the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS continue to release Treasury Regulations and other guidance. Any significant variance of our current interpretation of this legislation from any future Treasury Regulations or other guidance could result in a change to the presentation of our financial condition and results of operations and could negatively affect our business. Prospective unitholders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the impact of this tax reform legislation on an investment in our units.

Additional modifications to the U.S. federal income tax laws and interpretations thereof may or may not be retroactively applied and could make it more difficult or impossible to meet the exception for us to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Please read “—Partnership Status.” We are unable to predict whether any such changes will ultimately be enacted. However, it is possible that a change in law could affect us, and any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our units.

State, Local, Foreign and Other Tax Considerations

In addition to U.S. federal income taxes, you may be subject to other taxes, such as state, local and foreign income taxes, unincorporated business taxes, and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property or in which you are a resident. Some of the jurisdictions may require us, or we may elect, to withhold a percentage of income from amounts to be distributed to a unitholder who is not a resident of the jurisdiction. Withholding, the amount of which may be greater or less than a particular unitholder’s income tax liability to the jurisdiction, generally does not relieve a nonresident unitholder from the obligation to file an income tax return. Amounts withheld will be treated as if distributed to unitholders for purposes of determining the amounts distributed by us. Please read “—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-level collections.” Based on current law and our estimate of our future operations, our general partner anticipates that any amounts required to be withheld will not be material.

 

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It is the responsibility of each unitholder to investigate the legal and tax consequences, under the laws of pertinent states, localities and foreign jurisdictions, of his investment in us. Accordingly, each prospective unitholder is urged to consult his own tax counsel or other advisor with regard to those matters. Further, it is the responsibility of each unitholder to file all state, local and foreign, as well as U.S. federal tax returns, that may be required of him. Latham & Watkins LLP has not rendered an opinion on the state tax, local tax, alternative minimum tax or foreign tax consequences of an investment in us.

 

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INVESTMENT IN LANDMARK INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP BY EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

An investment in our common units and/or debt securities by an employee benefit plan is subject to certain additional considerations because the investments of these plans are subject to the fiduciary responsibility and prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or ERISA, and the prohibited transaction restrictions imposed by Section 4975 of the Code or provisions under any federal, state, local, non-U.S. or other laws, rules or regulations that are similar to such provisions of the Code or ERISA, which we refer to collectively as “Similar Laws.” As used herein, the term “employee benefit plan” includes, but is not limited to, qualified pension, profit-sharing and stock bonus plans, certain Keogh plans, certain simplified employee pension plans and tax deferred annuities or individual retirement accounts or other arrangements established or maintained by an employer or employee organization, and entities whose underlying assets are considered to include “plan assets” of such plans, accounts and arrangements.

This summary is based on the provisions of ERISA and the Code (and related regulations and administrative and judicial interpretations) as of the date of this prospectus. This summary does not purport to be complete and future legislation, court decisions, administrative regulations, rulings or administrative pronouncements could significantly modify the requirements summarized below. Any of these changes may be retroactive and, therefore, may apply to transactions entered into prior to the date of their enactment or release.

General Fiduciary Matters

ERISA and the Code impose certain duties on persons who are fiduciaries of an employee benefit plan that is subject to Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, which we refer to as an “ERISA Plan,” and prohibit certain transactions involving the assets of an ERISA Plan and its fiduciaries or other interested parties. Under ERISA and the Code, any person who exercises any discretionary authority or control over the administration of such an ERISA Plan or the management or disposition of the assets of an ERISA Plan, or who renders investment advice for a fee or other compensation to an ERISA Plan, is generally considered to be a fiduciary of the ERISA Plan. In considering an investment in our common units or debt securities with any portion of the assets of an employee benefit plan, a fiduciary of the employee benefit plan should consider, among other things, whether the investment is in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the employee benefit plan and the applicable provisions of ERISA, the Code or any applicable Similar Law relating to the fiduciary’s duties to the employee benefit plan, including, without limitation:

 

  (a)

whether the investment is prudent under Section 404(a)(1)(B) of ERISA and any other applicable Similar Laws;

 

  (b)

whether, in making the investment, the employee benefit plan will satisfy the diversification requirements of Section 404(a)(1)(C) of ERISA and any other applicable Similar Laws;

 

  (c)

whether making the investment will comply with the delegation of control and prohibited transaction provisions under Section 406 of ERISA, Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code and any other applicable Similar Laws (please read the discussion under “—Prohibited Transaction Issues” below);

 

  (d)

whether in making the investment, the employee benefit plan will be considered to hold, as plan assets, (1) only the investment in our common units or (2) an undivided interest in our underlying assets (please read the discussion under “—Plan Asset Issues” below); and

 

  (e)

whether the investment will result in recognition of unrelated business taxable income by the employee benefit plan and, if so, the potential after-tax investment return. Please read “Material U.S. Income Tax Considerations.”

Prohibited Transaction Issues

Section 406 of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code prohibit employee benefit plans (and certain IRAs that are not considered part of an employee benefit plan) from engaging in certain transactions involving “plan

 

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assets” with parties that are “parties in interest” under ERISA or “disqualified persons” under the Code with respect to the employee benefit plan or IRA, unless an exemption is applicable. A party in interest or disqualified person who engages in a non-exempt prohibited transaction may be subject to excise taxes and other penalties and liabilities under ERISA and the Code. In addition, the fiduciary of the ERISA Plan that engaged in such a non-exempt prohibited transaction may be subject to excise taxes, penalties and liabilities under ERISA and the Code.

The acquisition and/or holding of the debt securities by an ERISA Plan with respect to which we or the initial purchasers are considered a party in interest or a disqualified person, may constitute or result in a direct or indirect prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA and/or Section 4975 of the Code, unless the debt securities are acquired and held in accordance with an applicable statutory, class or individual prohibited transaction exemption. In this regard, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued prohibited transaction class exemptions, or PTCEs, that may apply to the acquisition, holding and, if applicable, conversion of the debt securities. These class exemptions include, without limitation, PTCE 84-14 respecting transactions determined by independent qualified professional asset managers, PTCE 90-1 respecting insurance company pooled separate accounts, PTCE 91-38 respecting bank collective investment funds, PTCE 95-60 respecting life insurance company general accounts and PTCE 96-23 respecting transactions determined by in-house asset managers. There can be no assurance that all of the conditions of any such exemptions will be satisfied.

Because of the foregoing, our common units and/or the debt securities may not be purchased or held (or converted to equity securities, in the case of any convertible debt) by any person investing “plan assets” of any employee benefit plan, unless such purchase and holding (or conversion, if any) will not constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under ERISA or the Code or similar violation of any applicable Similar Laws.

Plan Asset Issues

In connection with an investment in the common units or debt securities with any portion of the assets of an employee benefit plan, in addition to considering whether the purchase of our common units and/or debt securities is a prohibited transaction, a fiduciary of an employee benefit plan should consider whether the plan will, by investing in our common units and/or debt securities, be deemed to own an undivided interest in our assets, with the result that our general partner also would be a fiduciary of the plan and our operations would be subject to the regulatory restrictions of ERISA, including its prohibited transaction rules, as well as the prohibited transaction rules of the Code and any other applicable Similar Laws. In addition, if our assets are deemed to be “plan assets” under ERISA, this would result, among other things, in (a) the application of the prudence and other fiduciary responsibility standards of ERISA to investments made by us, and (b) the possibility that certain transaction in which we seek to engage could constitute “prohibited transaction” under the Code, ERISA and any other applicable Similar Laws.

The Department of Labor regulations, as modified by Section 3(42) of ERISA, provide guidance with respect to whether, in certain circumstances, the assets of an entity in which employee benefit plans acquire equity interests would be deemed “plan assets.” Under these regulations, an entity’s underlying assets generally would not be considered to be “plan assets” if, among other things:

 

  (a)

the equity interests acquired by the employee benefit plan are “publicly offered securities”—i.e., the equity interests are part of a class of securities that are widely held by 100 or more investors independent of the issuer and each other, “freely transferable” (as defined in the applicable Department of Labor regulations) and either part of a class of securities registered pursuant to certain provisions of the federal securities laws or sold to the plan as part of a public offering under certain conditions;

 

  (b)

the entity is an “operating company”—i.e., it is primarily engaged in the production or sale of a product or service other than the investment of capital either directly or through a majority-owned subsidiary or subsidiaries, or it qualifies as a “venture capital operating company” or a “real estate operating company”; or

 

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  (c)

there is no “significant” investment by benefit plan investors (as defined in Section 3(42) of ERISA), which is defined to mean that, immediately after the most recent acquisition of an equity interest in any entity by an employee benefit plan, less than 25% of the total value of each class of equity interest, (disregarding certain interests held by our general partner, its affiliates and certain other persons who have discretionary authority or control with respect to the assets of the entity or provide investment advice for a fee with respect to such assets) is held by the employee benefit plans that are subject to part 4 of Title I of ERISA (which excludes governmental plans and non-electing church plans) and/or Section 4975 of the Code, IRAs and certain other employee benefit plans not subject to ERISA (such as electing church plans).

With respect to an investment in our common units, we believe that our assets should not be considered “plan assets” under these regulations because it is expected that the investment will satisfy the requirements in (a) above and may also satisfy the requirements in (b) and/or (c) above (although there is little applicable Department of Labor guidance with respect to whether we may qualify as an “operating company” as required for compliance with (b), and we do not monitor the level of investment by benefit plan investors as required for compliance with (c)).

The foregoing discussion of issues arising for employee benefit plan investments under ERISA, the Code and applicable Similar Laws is general in nature and is not intended to be all inclusive, nor should it be construed as legal advice. Plan fiduciaries and other persons contemplating a purchase of our common units and/or the debt securities should consult with their own counsel regarding the potential applicability of and consequences of such purchase under ERISA, the Code and other Similar Laws in light of the complexity of these rules and the serious penalties, excise taxes and liabilities imposed on persons who engage in non-exempt prohibited transactions or other violations. The sale of any common units and/or debt securities by or to any employee benefit plan is in no respect a representation by us or any of our affiliates or representatives that such an investment meets all relevant legal requirements with respect to investments by such employee benefit plans generally or any particular employee benefit plan, or that such an investment is appropriate for such employee benefit plans generally or any particular employee benefit plan.

Representation

By purchase or acceptance of the common units and/or the debt securities, each purchaser and subsequent transferee of the common units and/or the debt securities will be deemed to have represented and warranted that either (i) no portion of the assets used by such purchaser or transferee to acquire and hold the common units and/or the debt securities constitutes assets of any employee benefit plan or (ii) the purchase and holding (and any conversion, if applicable) of the common units and/or the debt securities by such purchaser or transferee will not constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code or similar violation under any applicable Similar Laws.

 

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PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

The securities offered pursuant to this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement may be sold in any of the following ways:

 

   

directly to one or more purchasers;

 

   

through agents;

 

   

through underwriters, brokers or dealers; or

 

   

through a combination of any of these methods of sale.

In addition, we may from time to time sell securities pursuant to available exemptions from the registration requirements under the Securities Act, rather than pursuant to this prospectus. In such event, we may be required by the securities laws of certain states to offer and sell securities only through registered or licensed brokers or dealers.

We will fix a price or prices of our securities at:

 

   

market prices prevailing at the time of any sale under this registration statement;

 

   

prices related to market prices; or

 

   

negotiated prices.

We may change the price of the securities offered from time to time.

Offers to purchase securities may be solicited directly by us and the sale thereof may be made by us directly to institutional investors or others. In this case, no underwriters or agents would be involved. We may use electronic media, including the Internet, to sell offered securities directly.

We, or agents designated by us, may directly solicit, from time to time, offers to purchase the securities. Any such agent may be deemed to be an underwriter as that term is defined in the Securities Act. We will name any agents involved in the offer or sale of the securities and describe any commissions payable by us to these agents in the prospectus supplement. Unless otherwise indicated in the prospectus supplement, these agents will be acting on a best efforts basis for the period of their appointment. The agents may be entitled under agreements which may be entered into with us to indemnification by us against specific civil liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. The agents may also be our customers or may engage in transactions with or perform services for us in the ordinary course of business.

If we utilize any underwriters in the sale of the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered, we will enter into an underwriting agreement with those underwriters at the time of sale to them. We will set forth the names of these underwriters and the terms of the transaction in the prospectus supplement, which will be used by the underwriters to make resales of the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered to the public. We may indemnify the underwriters under the relevant underwriting agreement against specific liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. The underwriters or their affiliates may be customers of, may engage in transactions with and may perform services for us or our affiliates in the ordinary course of business.

Agents could make sales in privately negotiated transactions and/or by any other method permitted by law, including sales deemed to be “at-the-market” offerings as defined in Rule 415 promulgated under the Securities Act, which includes sales made directly on or through the NASDAQ Global Market, the existing trading market for our common units, or sales made to or through a market maker other than on an exchange.

To the extent that we make sales through one or more underwriters or agents in “at-the-market” offerings, we will do so pursuant to the terms of a sales agency financing agreement or other “at-the-market” offering

 

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arrangement between us and the underwriters or agents. If we engage in at-the-market sales pursuant to any such agreement, we will issue and sell common units through one or more underwriters or agents, which may act on an agency basis or on a principal basis. During the term of any such agreement, we may sell common units on a daily basis in exchange transactions or otherwise as we agree with the underwriters or agents. The agreement will provide that any common units sold will be sold at prices related to the then prevailing market prices for such securities. Therefore, exact figures regarding proceeds that will be raised or commissions to be paid cannot be determined at this time. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, we also may agree to sell, and the relevant underwriters or agents may agree to solicit offers to purchase, blocks of common units. The terms of each such agreement will be set forth in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus. In the event that any underwriter or agent acts as principal, or any broker-dealer acts as underwriter, it may engage in certain transactions that stabilize, maintain, or otherwise affect the price of common units. We will describe any such activities in the prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus relating to the transaction.

If we utilize a dealer in the sale of the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered, we will sell those securities to the dealer, as principal. The dealer may then resell those securities to the public at varying prices to be determined by the dealer at the time of resale. We may indemnify the dealers against specific liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. The dealers or their affiliates may also be our customers or may engage in transactions with, or perform services for us in the ordinary course of business.

A prospectus and accompanying prospectus supplement in electronic form may be made available on the web sites maintained by the underwriters. The underwriters may agree to allocate a number of securities for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Such allocations of securities for internet distributions will be made on the same basis as other allocations. In addition, securities may be sold by the underwriters to securities dealers who resell securities to online brokerage account holders.

Because the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, views our common units as interests in a direct participation program, any offering of common units under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part will be made in compliance with Rule 2310 of the FINRA Conduct Rules.

To the extent required, this prospectus may be amended or supplemented from time to time to describe a specific plan of distribution. The place and time of delivery for the securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered will be set forth in the accompanying prospectus supplement.

In connection with offerings of securities under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and in compliance with applicable law, underwriters, brokers or dealers may engage in transactions that stabilize or maintain the market price of the securities at levels above those that might otherwise prevail in the open market. Specifically, underwriters, brokers or dealers may over-allot in connection with offerings, creating a short position in the securities for their own accounts. For the purpose of covering a syndicate short position or stabilizing the price of the securities, the underwriters, brokers or dealers may place bids for the securities or effect purchases of the securities in the open market. Finally, the underwriters may impose a penalty whereby selling concessions allowed to syndicate members or other brokers or dealers for distribution of the securities in offerings may be reclaimed by the syndicate if the syndicate repurchases previously distributed securities in transactions to cover short positions, in stabilization transactions or otherwise. These activities may stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the securities, which may be higher than the price that might otherwise prevail in the open market, and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

 

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VALIDITY OF THE SECURITIES

In connection with particular offerings of the securities offered in this prospectus in the future, and if stated in the applicable prospectus supplements, the validity of the issuance of the securities and certain other legal matters will be passed upon for us by Latham & Watkins LLP, Houston, Texas. Legal counsel to any underwriters may pass upon legal matters for such underwriters and will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement.

EXPERTS

The consolidated and combined financial statements of Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP appearing in Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP’s Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the year ended December 31, 2018, have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon, included therein, and incorporated herein by reference. Such financial statements are, and audited financial statements to be included in subsequently filed documents will be, incorporated herein in reliance upon the report of Ernst & Young LLP pertaining to such financial statements (to the extent covered by consents filed with the SEC) given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

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PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

 

Item 14.

Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution

Set forth below are the expenses (other than underwriting discounts and commissions) expected to be incurred in connection with the issuance and distribution of the securities registered hereby.

 

SEC registration fee

   $ 33,605  

Legal fees and expenses

         *  

Accounting fees and expenses

         *  

Printing and engraving expenses

         *  

Transfer agent and registrar fees

         *  

Miscellaneous

         *  
  

 

 

 

Total

   $     *  
  

 

 

 

 

*

These fees are calculated based on the number of issuances and amount of securities offered and accordingly cannot be estimated at this time.

 

Item 15.

Indemnification of Directors and Officers

Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP

Subject to any terms, conditions or restrictions set forth in the partnership agreement, Section 17-108 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act empowers a Delaware limited partnership to indemnify and hold harmless any partner or other person from and against any and all claims and demands whatsoever. The section of the prospectus entitled “Our Partnership Agreement—Indemnification” discloses that we will generally indemnify officers, directors and affiliates of our general partner to the fullest extent permitted by the law against all losses, claims, damages or similar events and is incorporated herein by reference.

We expect that any underwriting agreement to be entered into in connection with the sale of the securities offered pursuant to this registration statement will provide for indemnification by the underwriters of us, our general partner, our general partner’s directors and our general partner’s officers who sign the registration statement, and any person who controls us or our general partner, including indemnification for liabilities under the Securities Act.

Landmark Infrastructure Partners GP LLC

Subject to any terms, conditions or restrictions set forth in the limited liability company agreement, Section 18-108 of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act empowers a Delaware limited liability company to indemnify and hold harmless any member or manager or other person from and against any and all claims and demands whatsoever.

Under the second amended and restated limited liability company agreement of our general partner, in most circumstances, our general partner will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against any and all losses, claims, damages, liabilities (joint or several), expenses (including legal fees and expenses), judgments, fines, penalties, interest, settlements or other amounts arising from any and all threatened, pending or completed claims, demands, actions, suits or proceedings (whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative):

 

   

any member of our general partner;

 

   

any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner (other than us and our subsidiaries);

 

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any person who is or was a member, manager, partner, director, officer, fiduciary or trustee of our general partner or any affiliate of our general partner (other than us and our subsidiaries);

 

   

any person who is or was serving at the request of our general partner or any affiliate of our general partner as an officer, director, member, manager, partner, fiduciary or trustee of another person; and

 

   

any person designated by the board of directors of our general partner.

Our general partner has purchased insurance covering its officers and directors against liabilities asserted and expenses incurred in connection with their activities as officers and directors of our general partner or any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries.

Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp.

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provides that a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with such action, suit, or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful.

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law also provides that a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending, or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery of Delaware or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery of Delaware or such other court shall deem proper.

To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to above, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith; provided that indemnification provided for by Section 145 or granted pursuant thereto shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which the indemnified party may be entitled; and a corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity or arising out of such person’s status as such whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liabilities under Section 145.

In addition, Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law permits Delaware corporations to include a provision in their certificates of incorporation eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, provided

 

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that such provisions shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a director: (i) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders; (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; (iii) for unlawful payment of dividends or unlawful stock purchases or redemptions; or (iv) for any transactions from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.

The Certificate of Incorporation of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. currently provides that each director shall not be personally liable to such corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law.

Article VI of the Bylaws of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. sets forth the extent to which the directors and officers of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. may be indemnified by Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. against liabilities which they may incur while serving in such capacity. Article VI generally provides that Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. shall indemnify the directors and officers of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. who are or were or are threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director or officer of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. or, while a director or officer of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp., is or was serving at the request of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, enterprise or nonprofit entity, against all liabilities and losses suffered and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) reasonably incurred in connection therewith. Subject to the procedures for indemnification of directors and officers set forth in the Bylaws, the indemnification of the directors and officers of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. provided for therein is in all other respects substantially similar to that provided for in Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Any such indemnification shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director or officer of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors, and administrators of such person.

 

Item 16.

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

(a)    Exhibits

 

  1.1+       Form of Underwriting Agreement
  4.1       Fourth Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on April 2, 2018)
  4.2       Articles of Incorporation of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp., dated as of October  30, 2015 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Partnership’s Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed on December 3, 2015 (File No.  333-208316))
  4.3       Bylaws of Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Partnership’s Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed on December 3, 2015 (File No. 333-208316))
  4.4*       Form of Indenture
  4.5+       Form of Debt Securities
  5.1*       Opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP as to the legality of the securities being registered
  8.1*       Opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP relating to tax matters
23.1       Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
23.2*       Consents of Latham  & Watkins LLP (contained in Exhibits 5.1 and 8.1)
24.1*       Powers of Attorney
25.1*       Form T-1 Statement of Eligibility and Qualification under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 of the Trustee under the Indenture

 

+

To be filed as an exhibit to a report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or in a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement.

*

Previously filed.

 

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Item 17.

Undertakings

Each of the undersigned registrants hereby undertakes:

 

A

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

(1)    To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

(a)    To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(b)    To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of the prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement;

(c)    To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to the information in this Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (A)(l)(a), (A)(l)(b) and (A)(1)(c) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of this Registration Statement.

(2)    That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each of the post-effective amendments shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of the securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3)    To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(4)    That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser:

(a)    Each prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of this Registration Statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in this Registration Statement; and

(b)    Each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5), or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii), or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and included in this Registration Statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the

 

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offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of this Registration Statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement or prospectus that is part of this Registration Statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in this Registration Statement or prospectus that was part of this Registration Statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date.

(5)    That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this Registration Statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

(a)    Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;

(b)    Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;

(c)    The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

(d)    Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

 

B

Each undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of its annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of the securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of El Segundo, State of California, on January 29, 2020.

 

Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP

By:

 

Landmark Infrastructure Partners GP LLC,

its general partner

By:  

/s/ George P. Doyle

Name:   George P. Doyle
Title:   Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on January 29, 2020.

 

Signature

  

Title

*

Arthur P. Brazy, Jr.

  

Director and Chief Executive Officer

(Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ George P. Doyle

George P. Doyle

  

Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

(Principal Financial Officer and

Principal Accounting Officer)

*

Matthew P. Carbone

  

Chairman of the Board of Directors

*

James F. Brown

  

Director

*

Edmond G. Leung

  

Director

*

Thomas Carey White III

  

Director

*

Gerald A. Tywoniuk

  

Director

*

Keith Benson

  

Director

 

/s/ George P. Doyle

George P. Doyle

Attorney-in-Fact

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of El Segundo, State of California, on January 29, 2020.

 

Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp.
By:  

/s/ George P. Doyle

Name:   George P. Doyle
Title:   Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities indicated on January 29, 2020.

 

Signature

  

Title

*

Arthur P. Brazy, Jr.

  

Director and Chief Executive Officer

(Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ George P. Doyle

George P. Doyle

  

Director, Vice President, Chief

Financial Officer and Treasurer

(Principal Financial Officer and

Principal Accounting Officer)

 

/s/ George P. Doyle

George P. Doyle

Attorney-in-Fact

 

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EX-23.1

Exhibit 23.1

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

We consent to the reference to our firm under the caption “Experts” in Amendment No. 2 to the Registration Statement (Form S-3) and related Prospectus of Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP and Landmark Infrastructure Finance Corp. for the registration of an aggregate of $750 million of common units, preferred units, and debt securities and to the incorporation by reference therein of our report dated February 20, 2019, with respect to the consolidated and combined financial statements and schedule of Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP, included in its Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the year ended December 31, 2018, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Los Angeles, California

January 28, 2020