v3.19.3.a.u2
PARTNERS' EQUITY
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Partners' Capital Notes [Abstract]  
PARTNERS' EQUITY PARTNERS’ EQUITY

Please refer to Note 4 for a discussion of the Merger.

Partnership Agreement Amendments
In the third quarter of 2018, NuStar Energy’s partnership agreement was amended and restated to, among other things, (i) cancel the incentive distribution rights held by our general partner, (ii) convert the 2% general partner interest in NuStar Energy held by our general partner into a non-economic management interest and (iii) provide the holders of our common units with voting rights in the election of the members of the board of directors of NuStar GP, LLC, beginning at the annual meeting in 2019. The partnership agreement was also amended and restated in the second quarter of 2018 in connection with the issuance of our Series D Preferred Units discussed in Note 19. In 2017, the partnership agreement was amended and restated in connection with the issuances of our Series B Preferred Units and Series C Preferred Units described below, and in connection with the Navigator Acquisition to waive certain distributions to our general partner.

Series A, B and C Preferred Units
The following is a summary of our Series A, Series B and Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Units (collectively the Series A, B and C Preferred Units) issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2019:
Units
 
Original
Issuance Date
 
Number of Units Issued and Outstanding
 
Price per Unit
 
Net Proceeds (in millions)
 
Fixed Distribution Rate per Annum (as a Percentage of the $25.00 Liquidation Preference per Unit)
 
Fixed Distribution Rate per Unit per Annum
 
Fixed Distribution per Annum (in thousands)
 
Optional Redemption Date/Date at Which Distribution Rate Becomes Floating
 
Floating Annual Rate (as a Percentage of the $25.00 Liquidation Preference per Unit)
Series A
Preferred Units
 
November 25,
2016
 
9,060,000
 
$
25.00

 
$
218.4

 
8.50
%
 
$
2.125

 
$
19,252

 
December 15, 2021
 
Three-month LIBOR plus 6.766%
Series B
Preferred Units
 
April 28, 2017
 
15,400,000
 
$
25.00

 
$
371.8

 
7.625
%
 
$
1.90625

 
$
29,357

 
June 15,
2022
 
Three-month LIBOR plus 5.643%
Series C
Preferred Units
 
November 30, 2017
 
6,900,000
 
$
25.00

 
$
166.7

 
9.00
%
 
$
2.25

 
$
15,525

 
December 15, 2022
 
Three-month LIBOR plus 6.88%


We may redeem any of our outstanding Series A, B and C Preferred Units at any time on or after the optional redemption date set forth above for each series of the Series A, B and C Preferred Units, in whole or in part, at a redemption price of $25.00 per unit plus an amount equal to all accumulated and unpaid distributions to, but not including, the date of redemption, whether or not declared. We may also redeem the Series A, B and C Preferred Units upon the occurrence of certain rating events or a change of control as defined in our partnership agreement. In the case of the latter instance, if we choose not to redeem the Series A, B and C Preferred Units, those preferred unitholders may have the ability to convert their Series A, B and C Preferred Units to common units at the then applicable conversion rate. Holders of the Series A, B and C Preferred Units have no voting rights except for certain exceptions set forth in our partnership agreement.

Distributions on the Series A, B and C Preferred Units are payable out of any legally available funds, accrue and are cumulative from the original issuance dates, and are payable on the 15th day (or the next business day) of each of March, June, September and December of each year to holders of record on the first business day of each payment month. The Series A, B and C Preferred Units rank equal to each other and to the Series D Preferred Units, and senior to all of our other classes of equity securities with respect to distribution rights and rights upon liquidation.

In January 2020, our board of directors declared quarterly distributions with respect to the Series A, B and C Preferred Units to be paid on March 16, 2020.

Common Units and General Partner
Issuances of Common Units. In the fourth quarter of 2019, we issued 527,426 common units at a price of $28.44 per unit to William E. Greehey, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NuStar GP, LLC. We used the proceeds of $15.0 million from the sale of these units for general partnership purposes.

As a result of the Merger discussed in Note 4, we issued approximately 13.4 million incremental NuStar Energy common units in the third quarter of 2018, in exchange for the previously outstanding Holdings units.

In the second quarter of 2018, we issued 413,736 common units at a price of $24.17 per unit to William E. Greehey. We used the proceeds of $10.2 million from the sale of these units, including a contribution of $0.2 million from our general partner to maintain the 2% general partner economic interest it owned at that time, for general partnership purposes.

In the second quarter of 2017, we issued 14,375,000 common units at a price of $46.35 per unit. We used the net proceeds from this offering of $657.5 million, including a contribution of $13.6 million from our general partner to maintain the 2% general partner economic interest it owned at that time, to fund a portion of the purchase price for the Navigator Acquisition.

The following table shows the balance of and changes in the number of our common units outstanding:
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2017
Balance as of the beginning of year
107,225,156

 
93,176,683

 
78,616,228

Issuance of units
527,426

 
413,736

 
14,375,000

Unit-based compensation (refer to Note 24 for discussion)
775,224

 
225,144

 
185,455

Merger (refer to Note 4 for discussion)

 
13,409,593

 

Balance as of the end of year
108,527,806

 
107,225,156

 
93,176,683



Cash Distributions. We make quarterly distributions to common unitholders, and, prior to the Merger, made quarterly distributions to the general partner of 100% of our “Available Cash,” generally defined as cash receipts less cash disbursements, including distributions to our preferred units, and cash reserves established by the general partner, in its sole discretion. These quarterly distributions are declared and paid within 45 days subsequent to each quarter-end. The common unitholders receive a distribution each quarter as determined by the board of directors, subject to limitation by the distributions in arrears, if any, on our preferred units. Prior to the Merger, our Available Cash was distributed based on the percentages shown below:
 
 
Percentage of Distribution
Quarterly Distribution Amount Per Common Unit
 
Common
Unitholders
 
General Partner
Including Incentive Distributions
Up to $0.60
 
98%
 
2%
Above $0.60 up to $0.66
 
90%
 
10%
Above $0.66
 
75%
 
25%


Because the Merger was effective prior to the record date for the distribution for the second quarter of 2018, the general partner received no distributions after the first quarter of 2018 distribution. The following table reflects the allocation of total cash distributions to the general partner and common limited partners applicable to the period in which the distributions were earned:
 
Year Ended December 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2017
 
(Thousands of Dollars, Except Per Unit Data)
General partner interest
$

 
$
1,141

 
$
9,252

General partner incentive distribution

 

 
45,669

Total general partner distribution

 
1,141

 
54,921

Common limited partners’ distribution
259,136

 
248,705

 
407,681

Total cash distributions
$
259,136

 
$
249,846

 
$
462,602

 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash distributions per unit applicable to common limited partners
$
2.40

 
$
2.40

 
$
4.38



The following table summarizes information about quarterly cash distributions declared for our common limited partners applicable to the year ended December 31, 2019:
Quarter Ended
 
Cash Distributions Per Unit
 
Total Cash Distributions
 
Record Date
 
Payment Date
 
 
 
 
(Thousands of Dollars)
 
 
 
 
December 31, 2019
 
$
0.60

 
$
65,128

 
February 10, 2020
 
February 14, 2020
September 30, 2019
 
$
0.60

 
$
64,660

 
November 8, 2019
 
November 14, 2019
June 30, 2019
 
$
0.60

 
$
64,658

 
August 7, 2019
 
August 13, 2019
March 31, 2019
 
$
0.60

 
$
64,690

 
May 8, 2019
 
May 14, 2019

Net Income Applicable to the General Partner. For the year ended December 31, 2018, net income applicable to the general partner totaled $2.5 million and related to the general partner interest allocation prior to the Merger. The following table details the calculation of net income applicable to the general partner for 2017:
 
Year Ended 
December 31, 2017
 
(Thousands of Dollars)
Net income attributable to NuStar Energy L.P.
$
147,964

Less preferred limited partner interest
40,448

Less general partner incentive distribution
45,669

Net income after general partner incentive distribution and preferred
limited partner interest
61,847

General partner interest allocation
2
%
General partner interest allocation of net income
1,237

General partner incentive distribution
45,669

Net income applicable to general partner
$
46,906

 

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
The balance of and changes in the components included in AOCI were as follows:
 
Foreign
Currency
Translation
 
Cash Flow Hedges
 
Pension and
Other
Postretirement
Benefits
 
Total
 
(Thousands of Dollars)
Balance as of January 1, 2017
$
(69,069
)
 
$
(22,258
)
 
$
(2,850
)
 
$
(94,177
)
Other comprehensive income (loss) before
reclassification adjustments
17,466

 
(8,670
)
 
(4,641
)
 
4,155

Net gain on pension costs reclassified into operating expense

 

 
(1,143
)
 
(1,143
)
Net gain on pension costs reclassified into general and administrative expense

 

 
(386
)
 
(386
)
Net loss on cash flow hedges reclassified into interest expense, net

 
6,624

 

 
6,624

Other comprehensive income (loss)
17,466

 
(2,046
)
 
(6,170
)
 
9,250

Balance as of December 31, 2017
(51,603
)
 
(24,304
)
 
(9,020
)
 
(84,927
)
Other comprehensive (loss) income before
reclassification adjustments
(13,880
)
 
17,912

 
3,282

 
7,314

Sale of European Operations reclassified into other income, net
18,124

 

 

 
18,124

Net gain on pension costs reclassified into other income, net

 

 
(814
)
 
(814
)
Net loss on cash flow hedges reclassified into interest expense, net

 
5,499

 

 
5,499

Other
60

 

 
(134
)
 
(74
)
Other comprehensive income
4,304

 
23,411

 
2,334

 
30,049

Balance as of December 31, 2018
(47,299
)
 
(893
)
 
(6,686
)
 
(54,878
)
Other comprehensive income (loss) before
reclassification adjustments
3,527

 
(19,045
)
 
1,000

 
(14,518
)
Net gain on pension costs reclassified into other income, net

 

 
(2,314
)
 
(2,314
)
Net loss on cash flow hedges reclassified into interest expense, net

 
3,814

 

 
3,814

Other comprehensive income (loss)
3,527

 
(15,231
)
 
(1,314
)
 
(13,018
)
Balance as of December 31, 2019
$
(43,772
)
 
$
(16,124
)
 
$
(8,000
)
 
$
(67,896
)