CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Policies and Procedures for Related Party Transactions
As provided by our Audit Committee charter, our Audit Committee has the primary responsibility for the review, approval, and oversight of any related party transaction. A related party includes our directors, executive officers, beneficial owners of more than 5% of our voting securities, or any member of the immediate family or person sharing the household with the foregoing persons. A related party transaction is any transaction, arrangement, or relationship (or series of similar transactions, arrangements, or relationships) in which we are, were, or will be a participant and the amount involved exceeds $120,000, and in which the related party had, has, or will have a direct or indirect material interest. Under our Related Party Transaction Policy, our management is required to submit any related party transaction not previously approved or ratified by our Audit Committee to our Audit Committee. In approving or rejecting the proposed transactions, our Audit Committee takes into account all of the relevant facts and circumstances available and deemed relevant to the Audit Committee, including, but not limited to, whether the transaction is on terms no less favorable than terms generally available to an unaffiliated third party under the same or similar circumstances and the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction. Our Audit Committee will approve only those transactions that, as determined by our Audit Committee, are in, or are not inconsistent with, our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders.
Related Party Transactions
Other than the compensation arrangements with directors and current or former executive officers described elsewhere in this proxy statement or as described below, since January 1, 2025, we have not entered into any transactions, nor are there any currently proposed transactions, between us and a related party where the amount exceeds, or would exceed, the lower of (i) $120,000 or (ii) 1% of the average of our total assets at year end for the last two completed fiscal years, and in which any related party had or will have a direct or indirect material interest. We believe the terms of the transactions described below were comparable to terms we could have obtained in arm’s-length dealings with unrelated third parties.
Indemnification Agreements
We have entered into an indemnification agreement with each of our directors and executive officers. The indemnification agreements and our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws require us to indemnify our directors and executive officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.
US Salt Acquisition
Purchase Agreement
We entered into a Purchase Agreement on December 8, 2025 (as amended, the “Purchase Agreement”) with ContextLogic LLC (“CLI LLC”), ContextLogic Holdings, LLC (“Holdings” and together with ContextLogic and CLI LLC, the “Buyer Parties”), Salt Management Aggregator, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Management Aggregator”), Emerald Lake Pearl Acquisition GP, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (“Emerald GP”), Emerald Lake Pearl Acquisition-A, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (“Blocker Seller”), Emerald Lake Pearl Acquisition Blocker, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Blocker”), Emerald Lake Pearl Acquisition, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (solely in its capacity as a Seller Party, “Emerald Fund” and, together with Emerald GP and Blocker Seller, the “Emerald Investors”), ACP I, ACP II, Riva V, and Riva VI (collectively, the “Abrams Investors”), the investors set forth on Schedule II to the Purchase Agreement (the “Management Investors” and, together with the Emerald Investors and the Abrams Investors, collectively, the “Seller Parties”), US Salt, Emerald Lake Pearl Acquisition, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, solely in its capacity as the Sellers Representative pursuant to the Purchase Agreement (the “Sellers Representative”), and, solely for the purposes of Section 7.16 to the Purchase Agreement and, as it relates thereto, Article XV of the Purchase Agreement, BCP. Mark Ward, our president and a member of our Board of Directors, serves as a Director at BC Partners. Raja Bobbili, Chairperson of our Board of Directors, servers as a Managing Director and Investment Analyst at Abrams Capital. David Abrams, a member of our Board of Directors, serves as Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager of Abrams Capital. Ted Goldthorpe, a member of our Board of Directors, serves as a Partner at BC Partners. Capitalized terms used in this section discussing the Purchase Agreement, but not herein defined shall have the respective meanings set forth in the Purchase Agreement.