Global Partners LP Long-Term Incentive Plan (as Amended and Restated Effective June 22, 2012 and further amended as of June 22, 2022)
Exhibit 10.4
GLOBAL PARTNERS LP
LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLAN
(As Amended and Restated Effective June 22, 2012
and further amended as of June 22, 2022)
The Global Partners LP Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) is intended to promote the interests of Global Partners LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Company”), by providing to Employees, Consultants and Directors incentive compensation Awards for superior performance that are based on Units. The Plan is also intended to enhance the ability of the Company and its Affiliates to attract and retain the services of individuals who are essential for the growth and profitability of the Company and to encourage those individuals to devote their best efforts to advancing the business of the Company. The Plan is hereby amended and restated in its entirety as of June 22, 2022 (the “Effective Date”) to incorporate prior amendments to the Plan and to make certain other changes.
As used in the Plan, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:
“Affiliate” means, with respect to any Person, any other Person that directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries controls, is controlled by or is under common control with, the Person in question. As used herein, the term “control” means the possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person, whether through ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise.
“ASC Topic 718” means Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation, or any successor accounting standard.
“Award” means an Option, UAR, Restricted Unit, Phantom Unit, Unit Award or Substitute Award granted under the Plan, and shall include any tandem DERs granted with respect to Phantom Unit.
“Award Agreement” means the written or electronic agreement by which an Award shall be evidenced.
“Board” means the Board of Directors of the General Partner.
“Change of Control” shall have the meaning assigned to such term in the applicable Award Agreement; provided, however, that if the applicable Award Agreement does not define the term “Change of Control” (or a similar term), then “Change of Control” means, and shall be deemed to have occurred upon the occurrence of one or more of the following events: (i) any sale, lease, exchange or other transfer or disposition (in one transaction or a series of related transactions) of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company or the General Partner to any
Person and/or its Affiliates, other than to the Company, the General Partner and/or any of their Affiliates; (ii) the consolidation, reorganization, merger or other transaction pursuant to which more than 50% of the combined voting power of the outstanding equity interests in the General Partner cease to be owned by the Persons (including Affiliates thereof) who own such interests as of the effective date of the initial public offering of Units; or (iii) the General Partner (or one of its Affiliates) ceasing to be the general partner of the Company.
“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
“Committee” means the Compensation Committee of the Board or such other committee of the Board as may be appointed by the Board to administer the Plan.
“Consultant” means an independent contractor, other than a Director, who performs services for the benefit of the Company or an Affiliate of the Company.
“DER” means a distribution equivalent right, representing a contingent right, granted in tandem with a Phantom Unit, to receive an amount in cash equal to the cash distributions made by the Company with respect to a Unit during the period such tandem Phantom Unit is outstanding.
“Director” means a member of the Board who is not an Employee.
“Employee” means any employee of the Company or an employee of an Affiliate who performs services for the benefit of the Company or an Affiliate of the Company.
“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
“Fair Market Value” means, as of any given date, the closing sales price of a Unit on such date (or if there is no trading in the Units on such date, on the next preceding date on which there was trading) on the New York Stock Exchange or, if not listed on such exchange, on any other national securities exchange on which the Units are listed or on an inter-dealer quotation system, in any case, as reported in The Wall Street Journal (or other reporting service approved by the Committee). Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event Units are not publicly traded at the time a determination of Fair Market Value is required to be made hereunder, the determination of Fair Market Value shall be made in good faith by the Committee and, to the extent applicable, in compliance with Section 409A.
“General Partner” means Global GP LLC, the general partner of the Company.
“Option” means an option to purchase Units granted under the Plan.
“Participant” means any Employee, Consultant or Director granted an Award under the Plan.
“Person” means an individual or a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, unincorporated organization, association, government agency or political subdivision thereof or other entity.
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“Phantom Unit” means a phantom (notional) Unit granted under the Plan that, to the extent vested, entitles the Participant to receive a Unit or an amount of cash equal to the Fair Market Value of a Unit, as determined by the Committee in its discretion.
“Restricted Period” means the period established by the Committee with respect to an Award during which the Award remains subject to forfeiture and is either not exercisable by or payable to the Participant, as the case may be.
“Restricted Unit” means a Unit granted under the Plan that is subject to a Restricted Period.
“Rule 16b-3” means Rule 16b-3 promulgated by the SEC under the Exchange Act, or any successor rule or regulation thereto as in effect from time to time.
“SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission, or any successor thereto.
“Section 409A” means Section 409A of the Code and the Department of Treasury regulations and other interpretive guidance issued thereunder, including, without limitation, any such regulations or other guidance that may be issued after the Effective Date.
“Substitute Award” means an Award granted pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Plan.
“Unit” means a common unit of the Company.
“UDR” means a unit distribution right, granted in tandem with a Restricted Unit, representing the right to receive distributions made by the Company with respect to such Restricted Unit.
“Unit Appreciation Right” or “UAR” means an Award that, upon exercise, entitles the holder to receive the excess of the Fair Market Value of a Unit on the exercise date over the exercise price established for such Unit Appreciation Right. Such excess shall be paid in Units or in cash as set forth in the applicable Award Agreement.
“Unit Award” means a grant of a Unit that is not subject to a Restricted Period.
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Any Employee, Consultant or Director shall be eligible to be designated a Participant and receive an Award under the Plan. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Employees, Consultants and Directors that provide services to an Affiliate of the Company that is not considered a single employer with the Company under Section 414(b) of the Code or Section 414(c) of the Code shall not be eligible to receive Awards that are subject to Section 409A of the Code until such Affiliate adopts the Plan as a participating employer in accordance with Section 8(m). Further, if the Units issuable pursuant to an Award are intended to be registered with the SEC under the Securities Act on a Form S-8 Registration Statement (“Form S-8”), then only Employees, Consultants, and Directors of the Company or a parent or subsidiary of the Company (within the meaning of General Instruction A.1(a) to Form S-8) will be eligible to receive such an Award to the extent necessary pursuant to Form S-8 to ensure the effective registration of the Units awarded pursuant to such an Award.
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Except to the extent prohibited by applicable law:
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) with respect to an above event that is an “equity restructuring” event that would be subject to a compensation expense pursuant to ASC Topic 718, or any successor accounting standard, the provisions in Section 4(c) shall control to the extent they are in conflict with the discretionary provisions of this Section 7(c); provided, however, that nothing in this Section 7(c) or Section 4(c) shall be construed as providing any Participant or any beneficiary any rights with respect to the “time value”, “economic opportunity” or “intrinsic value” of an Award or limiting in any manner the Committee’s actions that may be taken with respect to an Award as set forth above or in Section 4(c); and (ii) no action shall be taken under this Section 7(c) which shall cause an Award to fail to comply with Section 409A, to the extent Section 409A is applicable to such Award.
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The Plan, as amended and restated hereby, shall be effective as of June 22, 2022 and shall continue until the earliest of (i) the date terminated by the Board or the Committee, (ii) the date Units are no longer available for Awards under the Plan or (iii) June 22, 2032. However, any Award granted prior to such termination, and the authority of the Board or the Committee to amend, alter, adjust, suspend, discontinue, or terminate any such Award or to waive any conditions or rights under such Award, shall extend beyond such termination date.
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