Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
MARKET INFORMATION
Our common units are listed on the NYSE under the symbol “WES.” As of February 22, 2021, there were 23 unitholders of record of our common units. This number does not include unitholders whose units are held in trust by other entities. The actual number of unitholders is greater than the number of holders of record. We also have 9,060,641 general partner units issued and outstanding; there is no established public trading market for any such general partner units. All general partner units are held by our general partner.
OTHER SECURITIES MATTERS
Unregistered sales of equity securities and use of proceeds. Under the Exchange Agreement, WES issued 9,060,641 general partner units to the general partner in 2019. See Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentation in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements under Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K.
Securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans. Our general partner has the authority to grant equity compensation awards under the Western Gas Equity Partners, LP 2012 Long-Term Incentive Plan (“WES LTIP”) and the Western Gas Partners, LP 2017 Long-Term Incentive Plan (assumed by us in connection with the Merger) to our independent directors, executive officers, and employees. The WES LTIP permits the issuance of up to 3,000,000 units, of which 2,823,967 units remained available for future issuance as of December 31, 2020. The Western Gas Partners, LP 2017 Long-Term Incentive Plan permits the issuance of up to 3,431,251 units, of which 3,431,251 units remained available for future issuance as of December 31, 2020. Read the information under Part III, Item 12 of this Form 10-K, which is incorporated by reference into this Item 5. See Note 15—Equity-Based Compensation in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements under Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K.
Purchases of equity securities by the issuer and affiliated persons. The following table sets forth information with respect to repurchases made by WES of its common units in the open market under the Purchase Program during the fourth quarter of 2020:
Period Total number of units purchased Average price paid per unit Total number of units purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs (1)
Approximate dollar value of units that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs (1)
October 1-31, 2020 — $ — — $ 250,000,000
November 1-30, 2020 870,369 13.28 870,369 238,445,000
December 1-31, 2020 1,498,342 14.00 1,498,342 217,466,000
Total 2,368,711 13.73 2,368,711
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(1) In November 2020, WES announced the $250.0 million Purchase Program that will extend through December 31, 2021. See Note 5—Equity and Partners’ Capital in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements under Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K for additional details.
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SELECTED INFORMATION FROM OUR PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
Set forth below is a summary of the significant provisions of our partnership agreement that relate to cash distributions.
Available cash. Under our partnership agreement, we distribute all of our available cash (beyond proper reserves as defined in our partnership agreement) to unitholders of record on the applicable record date within 55 days following each quarter’s end. The amount of available cash generally is all cash on hand at the end of the quarter, plus, at the discretion of the general partner, working capital borrowings made subsequent to the end of such quarter, less the amount of cash reserves established by the general partner to provide for the proper conduct of our business, including reserves to fund future capital expenditures; to comply with applicable laws, debt instruments, or other agreements; or to provide funds for unitholder distributions for any one or more of the next four quarters. Working capital borrowings generally include borrowings made under a credit facility or similar financing arrangement and are intended to be repaid or refinanced within 12 months. In all cases, working capital borrowings are used solely for working capital purposes or to fund unitholder distributions.
General partner interest. As of December 31, 2020, our general partner owned a 2.1% general partner interest in us, which entitles it to receive cash distributions. Our general partner may own our common units or other equity securities and would be entitled to receive cash distributions on any such interests.
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