Redeemable Preferred Units

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Redeemable Preferred Units Disclosure [Abstract]

Series A Preferred Units

Private Placement of Preferred Units – On May 13, 2016, MPLX completed the private placement of approximately 30.8 million 6.5 percent Series A Convertible preferred units for a cash purchase price of $32.50 per unit. The aggregate net proceeds of approximately $984 million from the sale of the Series A preferred units were used for capital expenditures, repayment of debt and general business purposes.

Preferred Unit Distribution Rights - The Series A preferred units rank senior to all common units and pari passu with all Series B preferred units with respect to distributions and rights upon liquidation. The holders of the Series A preferred units received cumulative quarterly distributions equal to $0.528125 per unit for

each quarter prior to the second quarter of 2018. Beginning with the second quarter of 2018, the holders of the Series A preferred units are entitled to receive, when and if declared by the board, a quarterly distribution equal to the greater of $0.528125 per unit or the amount of distributions they would have received on an as converted basis. On January 23, 2020, MPLX declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.6875 per common unit for the fourth quarter of 2019. Holders of the Series A preferred units will receive the common unit rate in lieu of the lower $0.528125 base amount.

The holders may convert their Series A preferred units into common units at any time, in full or in part, subject to minimum conversion amounts and conditions. After the fourth anniversary of the issuance date, MPLX may convert the Series A preferred units into common units at any time, in whole or in part, subject to certain minimum conversion amounts and conditions, if the closing price of MPLX common units is greater than $48.75 for the 20-day trading period immediately preceding the conversion notice date. The conversion rate for the Series A preferred units shall be the quotient of (a) the sum of (i) $32.50, plus (ii) any unpaid cash distributions on the applicable preferred unit, divided by (b) $32.50, subject to adjustment for unit distributions, unit splits and similar transactions. The holders of the Series A preferred units are entitled to vote on an as-converted basis with the common unitholders and have certain other class voting rights with respect to any amendment to the MPLX partnership agreement that would adversely affect any rights, preferences or privileges of the preferred units. In addition, upon certain events involving a change of control, the holders of preferred units may elect, among other potential elections, to convert their Series A preferred units to common units at the then applicable change of control conversion rate.

On September 20, 2019, certain holders exercised their right to convert a total of 1.2 million Series A preferred units into common units. As a result of the transaction, approximately 29.6 million Series A preferred units remain outstanding as of December 31, 2019.

The changes in the redeemable preferred balance for 2019 and 2018 are summarized below:



(In millions)	2019			2018
Balance at beginning of period	$	1,004		$	1,000
Net income allocated	81			75
Distributions received by preferred unitholders	(81		)	(71		)
Conversion of preferred units to common units	(36		)	—
Balance at end of period	$	968		$	1,004

The Series A preferred units are considered redeemable securities under GAAP due to the existence of redemption provisions upon a deemed liquidation event, which is outside MPLX’s control. Therefore, they are presented as temporary equity in the mezzanine section of the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Series A preferred units have been recorded at their issuance date fair value, net of issuance costs. Income allocations increase the carrying value and declared distributions decrease the carrying value of the Series A preferred units. As the Series A preferred units are not currently redeemable and not probable of becoming redeemable, adjustment to the initial carrying amount is not necessary and would only be required if it becomes probable that the Series A preferred units would become redeemable.