LONG-TERM INCENTIVE
PLAN
SECTION 1.
Purpose of the Plan .
The Williams
Partners GP LLC Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”)
is intended to promote the interests of Williams Partners L.P., a
Delaware limited partnership (the “Partnership”), by
providing to employees, consultants, and directors of Williams
Partners GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the
“Company”), and its Affiliates who perform services for
the Partnership and its subsidiaries incentive compensation awards
that are based on Units for superior performance. The Plan is also
contemplated 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 Partnership
and to encourage them to devote their best efforts to advancing the
business of the Partnership and its subsidiaries.
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.
“Award”
means an Option, Restricted Unit, Phantom Unit or Unit Appreciation
Right granted under the Plan, and shall include any tandem DERs
granted with respect to a Phantom Unit, Option or Unit Appreciation
Right.
“Award
Agreement” means the written agreement by which an Award
shall be evidenced.
“Board”
means the Board of Directors of the Company.
“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 (in one transaction or a
series of related transactions) of all or substantially all of the
assets of the Partnership, the Company or The Williams Companies,
Inc. to any Person and/or its Affiliates, other than to the
Partnership, the Company and/or any of their Affiliates; or
(ii) the consolidation, reorganization, merger or other
transaction pursuant to which more than 50% of the voting power of
the outstanding equity interests in the Partnership, the Company or
The Williams Companies, Inc. cease to be owned by the Persons who
own such interests as of the effective date of the initial public
offering of Units.
Solely with
respect to any Award that is subject to Section 409A of the
Code and to the extent that the definition of change of control
under Section 409A applies to limited liability companies,
this definition is intended to comply with the definition of change
of control under Section 409A of the Code as in effect
commencing January 1, 2005 and, to the extent that
the
above
definition does not so comply, such definition shall be void and of
no effect and, to the extent required to ensure that this
definition complies with the requirements of Section 409A of
the Code, the definition of such term set forth in regulations or
other regulatory guidance issued under Section 409A of the Code by
the appropriate governmental authority is hereby incorporated by
reference into and shall form part of this Plan as fully as if set
forth herein verbatim and the Plan shall be operated in accordance
with the above definition of Change of Control as modified to the
extent necessary to ensure that the above definition complies with
the definition prescribed in such regulations or other regulatory
guidance insofar as the definition relates to any Award that is
subject to Section 409A of the Code.
“Committee”
means the Compensation Committee of the Board or such other
committee of the Board appointed by the Board to administer the
Plan.
“Common
Unit” has the meaning given to such term in the Partnership
Agreement.
“Consultant”
means an individual who performs services for the Partnership and
is not an Employee or a Director.
“DER”
means a distribution equivalent right, which is contingent right,
granted in tandem with a specific Award of any Unit Appreciation
Right, Option or Phantom Unit, to receive an amount in cash equal
to the cash distributions made by the Partnership with respect to a
Unit during the period such Award is outstanding.
“Director”
means a member of the Board who is not an Employee.
“Employee”
means any employee of the Company or an Affiliate who performs
services for the Partnership.
“Exchange
Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended.
“Fair Market
Value” means the closing sales price of a Unit on the date of
determination (or if there is no trading in the Units on such date,
on the next preceding date on which there was trading) as reported
in The Wall Street Journal (or other reporting service approved by
the Committee). 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.
“Option”
means an option to purchase Units granted under the
Plan.
“Participant”
means any Employee, Consultant or Director granted an Award under
the Plan.
“Partnership
Agreement” means the First Amended and Restated Agreement of
Limited Partnership of Williams Partners L.P., as it may be amended
or amended and restated from time to time.
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“Person”
means an individual or a corporation, limited liability company,
partnership, joint venture, trust, unincorporated organization,
association, governmental agency or political subdivision thereof
or other entity.
“Phantom
Unit” means a phantom (notional) Unit granted under the
Plan which upon vesting 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.
“UDR”
means a unit distribution right, which is a distribution made by
the Partnership with respect to a Restricted Unit.
“Unit”
means a Common Unit.
“Unit
Appreciation Right” 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 may be paid in cash
and/or in Units as determined by the Committee in its
discretion.
SECTION 3.
Administration .
The Board does not
initially intend to grant any Award under the Plan; provided
however, the Board reserves the right to implement the Plan in the
future and upon implementation by resolution of the Board, the Plan
shall be administered by the Committee. A majority of the Committee
shall constitute a quorum, and the acts of the members of the
Committee who are present at any meeting thereof at which a quorum
is present, or acts unanimously approved by the members of the
Committee in writing, shall be the acts of the Committee. Subject
to the following and any applicable law, the Committee, in its sole
discretion, may delegate any or all of its powers and duties under
the Plan, including the power to grant Awards under the Plan, to
the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, subject to such
limitations on such delegated powers and duties as the Committee
may impose, if any. Upon any such delegation all references in the
Plan to the “Committee”, other than in Section 7,
shall be deemed to include the Chief Executive Officer; provided,
however, that such delegation shall not limit the Chief Executive
Officer’s right to receive Awards under the Plan.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Chief Executive Officer may not
grant Awards to, or take any action with respect to any Award
previously granted to, a person who is an officer subject to
Rule 16b-3 or who is a member of the Board. Subject to the
terms of the Plan and applicable law, and in addition to
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other express
powers and authorizations conferred on the Committee by the Plan,
the Committee shall have full power and authority to:
(i) designate Participants; (ii) determine the type or
types of Awards to be granted to a Participant;
(iii) determine the number of Units to be covered by Awards;
(iv) determine the terms and conditions of any Award;
(v) determine whether, to what extent, and under what
circumstances Awards may be settled, exercised, canceled, or
forfeited; (vi) interpret and administer the Plan and any
instrument or agreement relating to an Award made under the Plan;
(vii) establish, amend, suspend, or waive such rules and
regulations and appoint such agents as it shall deem appropriate
for the proper administration of the Plan; and (viii) make any
other determination and take any other action that the Committee
deems necessary or desirable for the administration of the Plan.
Unless otherwise expressly provided in the Plan, all designations,
determinations, interpretations, and other decisions under or with
respect to the Plan or any Award shall be within the sole
discretion of the Committee, may be made at any time and shall be
final, conclusive, and binding upon all Persons, including the
Company, the Partnership, any Affiliate, any Participant, and any
beneficiary of any Award.
(a)
Limits on Units Deliverable . Subject to adjustment as
provided in Section 4(c), the number of Units with respect to
which Awards may be granted under the Plan is 700,000. However,
there shall not be any limitation on the number of Awards that may
be granted and paid in cash. If any Award expires, is canceled,
exercised, paid or otherwise terminates without the delivery of
Units, then the Units covered by such Award, to the extent of such
expiration, cancellation, exercise, payment or termination, shall
again be Units with respect to which Awards may be granted. In the
event that Units issued under the Plan are reacquired by the
Company pursuant to any forfeiture provision, such Units shall
again be available for the purposes of the Plan. In the event a
Participant pays for any Award through the delivery of previously
acquired Units, the number of Units available shall be increased by
the number of Units delivered by the Participant.
(b)
Sources of Units Deliverable Under Awards . Any Units
delivered pursuant to an Award shall consist, in whole or in part,
of Units acquired in the open market, from any Affiliate, the
Partnership or any other Person, or any combination of the
foregoing.
(c)
Adjustments . In the event that the Committee determines
that any distribution (whether in the form of cash, Units, other
securities, or other property), recapitalization, Unit split,
reverse Unit split, reorganization, merger, consolidation,
split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase, or exchange of Units
or other securities of the Partnership, issuance of warrants or
other rights to purchase Units or other securities of the
Partnership, or other similar transaction or event affects the
Units such that an adjustment is determined by the Committee to be
appropriate in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the
benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under
the Plan, then the Committee shall, in such manner as it may deem
equitable, adjust any or all of (i) the number and type of
Units (or other securities or property) with respect to which
Awards may be granted, (ii) the number and type of Units (or
other securities or property) subject to outstanding Awards, and
(iii) the grant or exercise price with respect to any Award
or, if deemed appropriate, make provision for a cash payment to the
holder of an outstanding Award; provided, that the number of Units
subject to any Award shall always be a whole number and, provided
further, that the Committee shall not take any action
otherwise
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authorized
under this subparagraph (c) to the extent that (i) such
action would cause (A) the application of Section 409A or
162(m) of the Code to the Award or (B) create adverse tax
consequences under Section 409A or 162(m) of the Code should
either or both of those Code sections apply to the Award or
(ii) except as permitted in Section7(c), materially reduce the
benefit to the Participant without the consent of the
Participant.
Any Employee,
Consultant or Director shall be eligible to be designated a
Participant and receive an Award under the Plan.
(a)
Options . Subject to the provisions of the Plan, the
Committee shall have the authority to determine the Participants to
whom Options shall be granted, the number of Units to be covered by
each Option, whether DERs are granted with respect to such Option,
the purchase price therefor and the conditions and limitations
applicable to the exercise of the Option, including the following
terms and conditions and such additional terms and conditions, as
the Committee shall determine, that are not inconsistent with the
provisions of the Plan.
(i) Exercise
Price . The purchase price per Unit purchasable under an
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