Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:FGP) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain OfficersItem 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On September20, 2017, the Board of Directors of Ferrellgas,Inc., the general partner of Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. and Ferrellgas, L.P. (the “Company”), appointed Doran N. Schwartz as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, effective October16, 2017. On that date, Mr.Schwartz will succeed Alan C. Heitmann, who informed the Company on June6, 2017 of his intention to retire, effective January31, 2018. In order to facilitate an orderly transition of responsibilities, Mr.Heitmann will remain employed by the Company as a special advisor from October16, 2017 until his anticipated retirement date of January31, 2018.
Prior to joining the Company, Mr.Schwartz, age 48, was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of MDU Resources Group,Inc. (NYSE: MDU), a diversified energy and infrastructure company based in Bismarck, ND, from February2010 to 2017 and was Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer at MDU from September2005 to February2010. Mr.Schwartz obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Moorhead State University, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with an emphasis in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Northern Iowa. He has also earned his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation.
Under the terms of an offer letter, entered into between the Company and Mr.Schwartz (the “Offer Letter”), Mr.Schwartz will receive a base salary of $425,000 per year. Mr.Schwartz will be eligible to participate in the Company’s Corporate Incentive Plan (“CIP”), a bonus program conditioned on the achievement of certain annual performance goals related to distributable cash flow, with a target CIP bonus of 50% of his base salary. He will also be eligible to receive 100,000 stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) in Ferrell Companies,Inc., the sole shareholder of the Company (“Ferrell Companies”), with a five year vesting period, to be issued on or about October31, 2017 and valued based on the valuation of shares of common stock of Ferrell Companies as of July31, 2017. In addition, Mr.Schwartz will also receive a signing bonus of $100,000, grossed up for tax and payable within 14 days after his starting date (the “Signing Bonus”), which is subject to full repayment if he voluntarily resigns within one year. The foregoing description of the Offer Letter is qualified in its entirety by the text of the Offer Letter, which is filed herewith as Exhibit10.1 to this current report on Form8-K.
There is no arrangement or understanding to which Mr.Schwartz was selected to serve as an officer of the Company, and there are no family relationships between Mr.Schwartz and any of the Company’s directors or other executive officers.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d)Exhibits