Associated Partnership I, Inc. v. Huddleston

889 S.W.2d 190, 1994 Tenn. LEXIS 306
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 17, 1994
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 889 S.W.2d 190 (Associated Partnership I, Inc. v. Huddleston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Associated Partnership I, Inc. v. Huddleston, 889 S.W.2d 190, 1994 Tenn. LEXIS 306 (Tenn. 1994).

Opinions

OPINION

ANDERSON, Justice.

In this direct tax appeal, the Chancellor held that the capital gain realized from the sale of a partnership interest by the taxpayer was classified as “business earnings.”1 Because we conclude that the capital gain did not arise from a transaction in the regular course of the taxpayer’s business, we hold the gain was “nonbusiness earnings.” We, therefore, reverse the Chancellor’s judgment, which denied a full refund of corporate excise taxes.

We also hold that the commercial domicile of the taxpayer was not in Tennessee and that, therefore, the nonbusiness earnings are not allocable to Tennessee and not taxable.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Daily Mail and General Trust, pic (“Daily Mail”), is a publicly owned corporation based in London, England, which serves as a holding company for various publishing and media concerns. The principal business activity of the Daily Mail group of corporations is the provision of information through public media, including the publication and printing of newspapers and periodicals. The “flagship” publication of the Daily Mail group is the London Daily Mail, which is the largest newspaper, by circulation, in the United Kingdom. The principal officers of Daily Mail are Charles Sinclair, who is the Chief Executive Officer and a resident of London, England, and Lord Rothermere, who is the chairman, the principal shareholder, and a resident of Paris, France.

In 1979, Daily Mail began investing in publishing businesses that were managed by Christopher Whittle and headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Daily Mail’s investment was in stock in the 13-30 Group, a corporation which was the holding company for Whittle’s publishing company, 13-30 Corporation.

Between 1979 and 1986, Daily Mail’s investments in 13-30 Group continually increased. With each additional investment, Daily Mail acquired a larger share of the business, so that, by 1986, Whittle and his key employees had only a very limited economic stake in the publishing business. To provide an economic incentive for Whittle and his associates who were conducting the day-to-day operations, Whittle and Sinclair agreed on a restructuring of the business in 1986. To carry out the restructuring plan, Daily Mail established two Delaware corporations known as Associated Partnership I (“AP I”) and Associated Partnership II (“AP II”). Whittle’s holding company, 13-30 Group, was merged into AP I; and his pub[193]*193lishing company, 13-30 Corporation, was merged into AP II. Whittle Communications LP (“WCLP”), a Delaware limited partnership, was established as a part of this restructuring. AP II then became a general partner in WCLP, along with Whittle Communications, Inc. (“WCI”), a Tennessee corporation controlled by Whittle. The limited partners of WCLP were management employees in the publishing businesses. WCLP was capitalized by AP II’s contribution of 141 million dollar's, as well as the contribution of the other general partner, WCI, of 2.25 million dollars. The limited partners made only nominal capital contributions.

In recognition of the fact that AP II had contributed substantially all of the capital to the new partnership, and to ensure that Whittle and his managers had an economic incentive to make the publishing businesses as profitable as possible, WCLP’s limited partnership agreement contained profit allocation provisions granting AP II a preferential return on its capital from the profits of the business. Any profits above the amounts required to give AP II its preferential return were allocated among the partners in accordance with percentages that varied depending on the profit levels attained.

The partnership agreement, through WCI, specifically vested exclusive authority for day-to-day operations in Whittle. WCI had sole and exclusive authority to hire and fire employees, conduct WCLP’s product development, acquire additional assets (within certain guidelines), arrange for borrowings on a non-recourse basis, and to execute all routine contracts and documents deemed necessary and appropriate.

AP II’s principal, in fact only, business activity was holding the general partnership interest in WCLP. The directors of AP II resided outside the United States, but, on a regular basis, traveled to New York to attend partnership meetings for WCLP. The directors included Lord Rothermere, Sinclair, and Peter Saunders, a resident of London, England. Although AP II’s involvement in the day-to-day business of the partnership was limited to major issues such as borrowing on a recourse basis and the sale of WCLP assets in excess of certain limits, the AP II directors were actively involved in activities which required the consent of all the partners. For example, the decisions to locate WCLP’s corporate headquarters in Knoxville, and to construct a new facility to house the headquarters were made only after the directors of AP II persuaded Whittle that knowledgeable personnel necessary to the publishing business would relocate to Knoxville. Only then did the partners unanimously agree to proceed with the financing arrangement for the project. AP II consulted with their own independent legal and financial advisors in New York and London before agreeing to these proposals.

Sinclair and Saunders were also the only managing officers of AP II. Sinclair was primarily responsible for management decisions. Sharon Draper, a resident of Knoxville and a full-time employee of WCLP, held the title of Chief Accounting Officer for AP II, but she performed only bookkeeping functions in regard to the bank account that AP II maintained in Tennessee to receive distributions from the partnership, and she received no compensation. Her appointment was to avoid any administrative inconvenience that might result from the six-hour time difference between London and East Tennessee. She never attended a partnership meeting, nor did she attend any meeting of the officers and directors of AP II which were all held outside of Tennessee, in either London, New York, Montreal, or Paris. All of the decisions concerning the management and investment policy of AP II were made and implemented at these meetings outside Tennessee. In addition, AP II’s corporate advisers, including lawyers, accountants, and investment bankers, were located in New York and London, and all of the corporate books and records were maintained in New York. AP II never maintained an office in Tennessee, and its directors and managing officers never once came to Tennessee on AP II business, or otherwise, during the entire time of AP II’s corporate existence. Throughout its existence, the only assets owned by AP II were its interest as a general partner in WCLP, and the bank account in Knoxville set up to receive partnership distributions.

[194]*194The operations of WCLP were highly successful. In 1988, however, Whittle decided he wanted to sell the business in order to insure his own personal financial security and liquidity. Time, Inc., (“Time”) was interested in buying, but AP II was reluctant to sell because Sinclair believed, that over the long term, the investment would produce greater returns if AP II retained its partnership interest. However, because AP II considered Whittle vital to WCLP’s continued success and because Whittle wanted to sell, AP II agreed. The transaction provided for Time to purchase, in 1988, one-half of the interests owned by all the partners of WCLP and the remaining partnership interests in 1993, if certain financial conditions were achieved.

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Associated Partnership I, Inc. v. Huddleston
889 S.W.2d 190 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1994)

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Bluebook (online)
889 S.W.2d 190, 1994 Tenn. LEXIS 306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/associated-partnership-i-inc-v-huddleston-tenn-1994.