UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 under
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the month of June, 2012
COMMISSION FILE NUMBER: 001-33373
CAPITAL PRODUCT PARTNERS L.P.
(Translation of registrant’s name into English)
3 Iassonos Street
Piraeus, 18537 Greece
(Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
|
Form 20-F þ
|
Form 40-F o
|
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): o
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes o No þ
(If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-________.)
Item 1 – Information Contained in this Form 6-K Report
Attached as Exhibit I is a letter to the Limited Partners of Capital Product Partners L.P., and notice of annual meeting of Limited Partners, each dated June 25, 2012.
Attached as Exhibit II is the Proxy Card for the 2012 Annual General Meeting of Limited Partners of Capital Product Partners L.P.
This report on Form 6-K is hereby incorporated by reference into the registrant's registration statement, registration number 333-177491, dated October 24, 2011.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
|
CAPITAL PRODUCT PARTNERS L.P.
|
||||
|
Dated: June 25, 2012
|
By:
|
Capital GP L.L.C., its general partner
|
||
|
|
/s/ Ioannis E. Lazaridis
|
|||
|
Name:
|
Ioannis E. Lazaridis
|
|||
|
Title:
|
Chief Executive Officer and
Chief Financial Officer of Capital GP L.L.C.
|
|||
June 25, 2012
LETTER TO THE LIMITED PARTNERS OF CAPITAL PRODUCT PARTNERS, L.P.
Enclosed is a Notice of the Annual Meeting of the Limited Partners of Capital Product Partners, L.P. (the “Company”) which will be held at 3 Iassonos Str., 18 537 Piraeus, Greece, on July 23, 2012, at 11:30 a.m (the “Annual Meeting”).
At this Annual Meeting, Limited Partners of the Company will consider and vote upon proposals:
|
|
1.
|
To elect one Class II Director to serve until the 2015 Annual Meeting of Limited Partners (“Proposal One”);
|
|
|
2.
|
To elect a second Class II Director to serve until the 2015 Annual Meeting of Limited Partners (“Proposal Two”).
|
|
|
3.
|
To transact other such business as may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment thereof.
|
Adoption of each of Proposal One and Proposal Two requires the affirmative vote of a plurality of the common units represented at the Annual Meeting, excluding common units owned by Capital Maritime & Trading Corp. or its affiliates.
You are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting in person. If you attend the Annual Meeting, you may revoke your proxy and vote your shares in person.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO VOTE. WHETHER OR NOT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING, PLEASE COMPLETE, DATE, SIGN AND RETURN THE ENCLOSED PROXY IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE, WHICH DOES NOT REQUIRE POSTAGE IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES. THE VOTE OF EVERY LIMITED PARTNER IS IMPORTANT AND YOUR COOPERATION IN RETURNING YOUR EXECUTED PROXY PROMPTLY WILL BE APPRECIATED. ANY SIGNED PROXY RETURNED AND NOT COMPLETED WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF ALL THE PROPOSALS PRESENTED IN THE PROXY STATEMENT.
|
Very truly yours,
|
||
|
Ioannis E. Lazaridis
|
||
|
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer of Capital GP L.L.C.
|
CAPITAL PRODUCT PARTNERS, L.P.
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF LIMITED PARTNERS
June 25, 2012
NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the Annual Meeting of the Limited Partners of Capital Product Partners, L.P. (the “Company”) will be held at 3 Iassonos Str., 18 537 Piraeus, Greece, on July 23, 2012, at 11:30 a.m. (the “Annual Meeting”) for the following purposes, of which items 1 and 2 are more completely set forth in the accompanying Proxy Statement:
|
|
1.
|
To elect one Class II Director to serve until the 2015 Annual Meeting of Limited Partners (“Proposal One”);
|
|
|
2.
|
To elect a second Class II Director to serve until the 2015 Annual Meeting of Limited Partners (“Proposal Two”);
|
|
|
3.
|
To transact other such business as may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment thereof.
|
The Board of Directors has fixed the close of business on June 22, 2012 as the record date for the determination of the Limited Partners entitled to receive notice and to vote at the Annual Meeting or any adjournment thereof.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO VOTE. WHETHER OR NOT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING, PLEASE COMPLETE, DATE, SIGN AND RETURN THE ENCLOSED PROXY IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE, WHICH DOES NOT REQUIRE POSTAGE IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES. THE VOTE OF EVERY LIMITED PARTNER IS IMPORTANT AND YOUR COOPERATION IN RETURNING YOUR EXECUTED PROXY PROMPTLY WILL BE APPRECIATED. ANY SIGNED PROXY RETURNED AND NOT COMPLETED WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF ALL THE PROPOSALS PRESENTED IN THE PROXY STATEMENT.
If you attend the Annual Meeting, you may revoke your proxy and vote in person.
|
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
|
||
|
Ioannis E. Lazaridis
|
||
|
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer of Capital GP L.L.C.
|
CAPITAL PRODUCT PARTNERS L.P.
3 IASSONOS STR.
18 537 PIRAEUS
GREECE
______________________
PROXY STATEMENT FOR
ANNUAL MEETING OF LIMITED PARTNERS
TO BE HELD ON JULY 23, 2012
________________________
INFORMATION CONCERNING SOLICITATION AND VOTING
GENERAL
The enclosed proxy is solicited on behalf of the board of directors of Capital Product Partners, L.P. (the “Board of Directors”), a Marshall Islands limited partnership (the “Company”), for use at the Annual Meeting of Limited Partners to be held at 3 Iassonos Str., 18 537 Piraeus, Greece, on July 23, 2012, at 11:30 a.m., or at any adjournment or postponement thereof (the “Annual Meeting”), for the purposes set forth herein and in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Limited Partners. This Proxy Statement and the accompanying form of proxy are expected to be mailed to Limited Partners of the Company entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting on or about June 25, 2012.
VOTING RIGHTS AND OUTSTANDING UNITS
On June 22, 2012 (the “Record Date”), the Company had outstanding 69,372,077 common units (the “Common Units”), 15,555,554 Class B convertible preferred units (the “Class B Units”), 1,415,757 general partner units and no subordinated units.
Each Limited Partner of record at the close of business on the Record Date is entitled to one vote for each Common Unit held. Any Common Units owned by Capital Maritime & Trading Corp., an affiliate of our general partner, (“Capital Maritime”) and its affiliates have the same rights as the Company’s other outstanding Common Units; provided, however, that Common Units owned by Capital Maritime and its affiliates do not vote for directors. As of June 6, 2012, Capital Maritime owns 17,763,305 of our Common Units.
One or more Limited Partners holding Common Units representing at least a majority of the total voting rights of the Common Units outstanding represented in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting shall be a quorum for the purposes of the Annual Meeting. The Common Units represented by any proxy in the enclosed form will be voted in accordance with the instructions given on the proxy if the proxy is properly executed and is received by the Company prior to the close of voting at the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. Any proxies returned without instructions will be voted FOR the proposals set forth on the Notice of Annual Meeting of Limited Partners.
The Common Units are listed on the Nasdaq Global Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “CPLP”.
INTERNET AVAILABILITY FOR VOTING
Following receipt of your proxy card you may vote your Common Units by accessing www.proxyvote.com
REVOCABILITY OF PROXIES
A Limited Partner giving a proxy may revoke it at any time before it is exercised. A proxy may be revoked by filing with the Secretary of the Company at the Company’s registered office, at 3 Iassonos Str., 18 537 Piraeus, Greece a written notice of revocation by a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or by attending the Annual Meeting and voting in person.
ANNUAL REPORT AND OTHER MATERIALS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING
Our Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2011 and copies of the proxy materials for our Annual Meeting are available on our website at www.capitalpplp.com. You may also request a copy of our annual report or of the materials free of charge by writing or calling us at the following address:
Capital Product Partners L.P., 3 Iassonos Str., Piraeus 18537, Greece.
Tel: (+30) 210 458 4950
Email: info@capitalpplp.com
PROPOSALS
PROPOSAL ONE
ELECTION OF CLASS II DIRECTOR
The Company’s board of directors consists of three persons who are designated by the Company’s general partner in its sole discretion and five who are elected by the holders of Common Units, excluding Common Units owned by Capital Maritime and its affiliates. As provided in the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership, as amended, directors appointed by our general partner serve as directors for a three-year term and directors elected by holders of our Common Units are divided into three classes serving staggered three year terms with the exception of Dimitris P. Christacopoulos who was elected as a Class II director at the Company’s 2011 Annual General Meeting with a term expiring in 2012. Accordingly, the Board of Directors has nominated Abel Rasterhoff, a Class II Director, for re-election as a director whose term would expire at the 2015 Annual Meeting.
Unless the proxy is marked to indicate that such authorization is expressly withheld, the persons named in the enclosed proxy intend to vote the Common Units authorized thereby FOR the election of the following nominee. It is expected that such nominee will be able to serve, but if before the election it develops that such nominee is unavailable, the persons named in the accompanying proxy will vote for the election of such substitute nominee as the current Board of Directors may recommend.
Nominee for Election to the Company’s Board of Directors
Information concerning the nominee for Class II director of the Company is set forth below:
|
Name
|
Age
|
Position
|
|
Abel Rasterhoff
|
72
|
Class II Director
|
Mr. Rasterhoff joined our board of directors on April 3, 2007. He serves on our conflicts committee and has been designated as the audit committee’s financial expert. Mr. Rasterhoff joined Shell International Petroleum Maatschappij in 1967, and worked for various entities of the Shell group of companies until his retirement from Shell in 1997. From 1981 to 1984, Mr. Rasterhoff was Managing Director of Shell Tankers B.V., Vice Chairman and Chairman-elect of the Dutch Council of Shipping and a Member of the Dutch Government Advisory Committee on the North Sea. From 1991 to 1997, Mr. Rasterhoff was Director and Vice President Finance and Planning for Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited. During this period he also served as a Board Member of the Securities and Futures Authority (SFA) in London. From February 1998 to 2004, Mr. Rasterhoff has served as a member of the executive board and as Chief Financial Officer of TUI Nederland, the largest Dutch tour operator. From February 2001 to September 2001, Mr. Rasterhoff served as a member of the executive board and as Chief Financial Officer of Connexxion, the government owned public transport company. Mr. Rasterhoff was also on the Supervisory Board of SGR and served as an advisor to the trustees of the TUI Nederland Pension Fund. Mr. Rasterhoff served on the Capital Maritime Board from May 2005 until his resignation in February 2007 as the chairman of the audit committee. Mr. Rasterhoff holds a graduate business degree in economics from Groningen State University.
Audit Committee. The audit committee of our board of directors is composed of three or more independent directors, each of whom must meet the independence standards of the Nasdaq Global Market, the SEC and any other applicable laws and regulations governing independence from time to time. The audit committee is currently comprised of directors Abel Rasterhoff (chair), Pierre de Demandolx Dedons, Keith Forman and Dimitris Christacopoulos. All members of the committee are financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Rasterhoff qualifies as an "audit committee financial expert" for purposes of the U.S. Sarbanes Oxley Act. The audit committee, among other things, reviews our external financial reporting, engages our external auditors and oversees our internal audit activities and procedures and the adequacy of our internal accounting controls.
Conflicts Committee. The conflicts committee of our board of directors is composed of the same directors constituting the audit committee, being Keith Forman (chair), Abel Rasterhoff, Pierre de Demandolx Dedons and Dimitris Christacopoulos. The members of our conflicts committee may not be officers or employees of our general partner or directors, officers or employees of its affiliates, and must meet the independence standards established by The Nasdaq Global Market to serve on an audit committee of a board of directors and certain other requirements. The conflicts committee reviews specific matters that the board believes may involve conflicts of interest and determines if the resolution of the conflict of interest is fair and reasonable to us. Any matters approved by the conflicts committee will be conclusively deemed to be fair and reasonable to us, approved by all of our partners, and not a breach by our directors, our general partner or its affiliates of any duties any of them may owe us or our limited partners.
Required Vote. Approval of Proposal One will require the affirmative vote of the plurality of the votes cast by holders of the Common Units (excluding common units owned by Capital Maritime or its affiliates) present either in person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting.
Effect of abstentions. Abstentions will not affect the vote on Proposal One.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE PROPOSED DIRECTOR. UNLESS REVOKED AS PROVIDED ABOVE, PROXIES RECEIVED BY MANAGEMENT WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF THE PROPOSED DIRECTOR UNLESS A CONTRARY VOTE IS SPECIFIED.
PROPOSAL TWO
ELECTION OF CLASS II DIRECTOR
The Company’s board of directors consists of three persons who are designated by the Company’s general partner in its sole discretion and five who are elected by the holders of Common Units, excluding Common Units owned by Capital Maritime and its affiliates. As provided in the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership, as amended, directors appointed by our general partner serve as directors for a three-year term and directors elected by holders of our Common Units are divided into three classes serving staggered three year terms with the exception of Dimitris P. Christacopoulos who was elected as a Class II director at the Company’s 2011 Annual General Meeting with a term expiring in 2012. Accordingly, the Board of Directors has nominated Dimitris P. Christacopoulos, a Class II Director, for re-election as director whose term would expire at the 2015 Annual Meeting.
Unless the proxy is marked to indicate that such authorization is expressly withheld, the persons named in the enclosed proxy intend to vote the Common Units authorized thereby FOR the election of the following nominee. It is expected that such nominee will be able to serve, but if before the election it develops that such nominee is unavailable, the persons named in the accompanying proxy will vote for the election of such substitute nominee as the current Board of Directors may recommend.
Nominee for Election to the Company’s Board of Directors
Information concerning the nominee for a second Class II director of the Company is set forth below:
|
Name
|
Age
|
Position
|
|
Dimitris P. Christacopoulos
|
41
|
Class II Director
|
Mr. Christacopoulos, joined our board of directors on September 30, 2011, following our merger with NYSE listed Crude Carriers Corp., where he had served as a director since 2010. Mr. Christacopoulos currently serves as a Partner at Octane Management Consultants. He started his professional career as an analyst in the R&D Department of a major food producer in Greece in 1992 before joining Booz Allen & Hamilton Consulting in 1995 in New York in their Operations Management Group. He subsequently joined Barclays Capital as the Associate Director for Strategic Planning in London from 1999 to 2002 at which time he became Director of Corporate Finance & Strategy at Aspis Group of Companies in Athens where he participated in the Group's Management and Investment Committees. In 2005, he joined Fortis Bank NV/SA as a Director in the Energy, Commodities and Transportation Group and until 2010 acted as the Deputy Country Head for Greece, setting up the bank's Greek branch and expanding its presence in ship and energy finance in the region. Mr. Christacopoulos has a diploma in chemical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.
Required Vote. Approval of Proposal Two will require the affirmative vote of the plurality of the votes cast by holders of the Common Units (excluding common units owned by Capital Maritime or its affiliates) present either in person or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting.
Effect of abstentions. Abstentions will not affect the vote on Proposal One.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE PROPOSED DIRECTOR. UNLESS REVOKED AS PROVIDED ABOVE, PROXIES RECEIVED BY MANAGEMENT WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF THE PROPOSED DIRECTOR UNLESS A CONTRARY VOTE IS SPECIFIED.
SOLICITATION
The cost of preparing and soliciting proxies will be borne by the Company. Solicitation on behalf of the Board of Directors will be made primarily by mail, but Limited Partners may be solicited by telephone, e-mail, other electronic means, or personal contact. Copies of materials for the Annual Meeting will be supplied to brokers, dealers, banks and voting trustees, or their nominees, for the purpose of soliciting proxies from beneficial owners and will also be available on the Company’s website at www.capitalpplp.com.
Morrow & Co., LLC, 470 West Ave, Stamford, CT 06902 has been retained to assist in soliciting proxies.
OTHER MATTERS
No other matters are expected to be presented for action at the Annual Meeting. Should any additional matter come before the Annual Meeting, it is intended that proxies in the accompanying form will be voted in accordance with the judgment of the person or persons named in the proxy.
|
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
|
||
|
Ioannis E. Lazaridis
|
||
|
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer of Capital GP L.L.C.
|
June 25, 2012
Piraeus, Greece
|
VOTE BY INTERNET – www.proxyvote.com
Use the Internet to transmit your voting instructions and for electronic delivery of information up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off-date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you access the web site and follow the instructions to obtain your records and to create an electronic voting instruction form.
|
|
|
CAPITAL PRODUCT PARTNERS L.P.
C/O CAPITAL SHIP MANAGEMENT CORP.
3, IASSONOS ST. 18537
PIRAEUS, GREECE
|
ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF FUTURE PROXY MATERIALS
If you would like to reduce the costs incurred by our company in mailing proxy materials, you can consent to receiving all future proxy statements, proxy cards and annual reports electronically via
e-mail or the Internet. To sign up for electronic delivery, please follow the instructions above to vote using the Internet and, when prompted, indicate that you agree to receive or access proxy materials electronically in future years. |
|
VOTE BY PHONE – 1-800-690-6903
Use any touch-tone telephone to transmit your voting instructions up until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time the day before the cut-off date or meeting date. Have your proxy card in hand when you call and then follow the instructions.
|
|
|
VOTE BY MAIL
Mark, sign and date your proxy card and return it in the postage-paid envelope we have provided or return it to Vote Processing, c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717.
|
TO VOTE, MARK BLOCKS IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS FOLLOWS:
M48152-P28755 KEEP THIS PORTION FOR YOUR RECORDS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THIS PROXY IS VALID ONLY WHEN SIGNED AND DATED. DETACH AND RETURN THIS PORTION ONLY
|
CAPITAL PRODUCT PARTNERS L.P.
|
For
All
|
Withhold
All
|
For All
Except
|
To withhold authority to vote for any individual
nominee(s), mark “For All Except” and write the number(s) of the nominee(s) on the line below. |
|
The Board of Directors recommends you vote
FOR the following:
|
|
|||
| 1. Election of two Class II Directors until the 2015 Annual Meeting | o | o | o |
___________________________________________
|
| Nominees: | ||||
| 01) Abel Rasterhoff | ||||
| 02) Dimitris P. Christacopoulos | ||||
|
For address, changes and/or comments, please check this box and write them on the back where indicated.
|
o | |||
|
_________________________________/______
|
_________________________/______
|
|||
|
Signature [PLEASE SIGN WITHIN BOX] Date
|
Signature (Joint Owners) Date
|
Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual General Meeting:
The Notice and Proxy Statement is available at www.proxyvote.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -M348153-P28755
|
CAPITAL PRODUCT PARTNERS LP.
2012 Annual General Meeting of Limited Partners
July 23, 2012 11:30 AM
This proxy is solicited by the Board of Directors
|
|
The undersigned being a limited partner of Capital Product Partners L.P. (the “Company”) HEREBY APPOINTS the Secretary of the Board of Directors, Mr. Evangelos G. Bairactaris, or if Mr. Bairactaris is not present, any director of the Company, with full power of substitution, for and in the name of the undersigned, to vote all Units of the Company that the undersigned would be entitled to vote if personally present at the 2012 Annual General Meeting of Limited Partners of the Company, to be held at 3, Iassonos Street, 18537 Piraeus, Greece on July 23, 2012 at 11:30 AM and at any adjournment or postponement thereof, and, in their discretion, on all other matters that may properly come before such meeting, hereby revoking any proxy heretofore executed by the undersigned to vote at said meeting.
|
|
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” EACH OF THE NOMINEES FOR DIRECTOR IN ITEM 1. IF THIS PROXY IS EXECUTED BUT NO INSTRUCTIONS ARE GIVEN AS TO ANY ITEMS SET FORTH HEREIN, THE PROXY WILL BE VOTED “FOR” EACH OF THE NOMINEES FOR DIRECTOR IN ITEM 1. YOUR VOTE IS VERY IMPORTANT – PLEASE VOTE TODAY
|
|
Address Changes/Comments: _____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
(If you noted any Address Changes/Comments above, please mark corresponding box on the reverse side.)
|
|
Continued and to be signed on reverse side
|