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CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

(1)

Includes common units issuable upon exercise of the underwriter's option to purchase additional common units.

(2)

The filing fee, calculated in accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r), has been transmitted to the SEC in connection with the securities offered from Registration Statement File No. 333-215912 by means of this prospectus supplement.

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Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2)
Registration No. 333-215912

PROSPECTUS

Antero Midstream Partners LP

6,000,000 Common Units
Representing Limited Partner Interests

$33.00 Per common unit

        We are offering 6,000,000 common units representing limited partner interests in us.

        Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "AM." The last reported trading price of our common units on the New York Stock Exchange on February 3, 2017 was $33.76 per unit.

        We have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 900,000 additional common units on the same terms and conditions set forth above.

(1)

We refer you to "Underwriting" beginning on page 66 of this prospectus for additional information regarding underwriting compensation.

        Investing in our common units involves risks. Please read "Risk Factors" beginning on page 6 of this prospectus.

        Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

        Delivery of the common units will be made on or about February 10, 2017.

Prospectus dated February 6, 2017

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        You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or incorporated by reference into this prospectus. Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized any dealer, salesman or other person to provide you with additional or different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. This prospectus is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities other than the securities to which it relates and is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make an offer or solicitation in that jurisdiction. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front cover of this prospectus, or that the information contained in any document incorporated by reference is accurate as of any date other than the date of such document, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of a security. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

        Additional information, including our financial statements and the notes thereto, is incorporated in this prospectus by reference to our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Please read "Where You Can Find More Information" below. You are urged to read this prospectus carefully, including "Risk Factors," "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," and the documents incorporated by reference in their entirety before investing in our securities.

        Unless the context requires otherwise or unless otherwise noted, all references in this prospectus to:

•

"the Partnership," "we," "our," "us" or like terms refer to Antero Midstream Partners LP and its subsidiaries;



•

"Midstream Operating" refer to Antero Midstream LLC, our wholly owned subsidiary, which owns Antero's midstream business and assets, consisting of its gathering systems and compressor stations, that were contributed to Midstream Operating prior to the closing of our initial public offering ("IPO");



•

"Antero Resources" refer to Antero Resources Corporation;



•

"Antero Investment" refer to Antero Resources Investment LLC, the owner of our general partner; and



•

"our general partner" or "Midstream Management" refer to Antero Resources Midstream Management LLC and, if the context so requires, its subsidiaries and affiliates.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

        This prospectus contains certain financial measures that have not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), including Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow. We view Adjusted EBITDA as an important indicator of our performance. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income before equity-based compensation expense, interest expense, depreciation expense, accretion of contingent acquisition consideration, excluding equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliate and gain on sale of asset, and including cash distributions from unconsolidated affiliate.

        We use Adjusted EBITDA to assess:

•

the financial performance of our assets, without regard to financing methods in the case of Adjusted EBITDA, capital structure or historical cost basis;



•

our operating performance and return on capital as compared to other publicly traded partnerships in the midstream energy sector, without regard to financing or capital structure; and



•

the viability of acquisitions and other capital expenditure projects.

        We define Distributable Cash Flow as Adjusted EBITDA less cash interest paid, senior note interest withholding, income tax withholding payments and cash reserved for payments upon vesting of equity-based compensation awards and ongoing maintenance capital expenditures paid. We use Distributable Cash Flow as a performance metric to compare our cash generating performance from period to period and to compare our cash generating performance for specific periods to the cash distributions (if any) that we expect to pay to our unitholders. Distributable Cash Flow does not reflect changes in working capital balances.

        Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow are non-GAAP financial measures. The GAAP measure most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow is net income.

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The non-GAAP financial measures of Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow should not be considered as alternatives to the GAAP measure of net income. Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow are not presentations made in accordance with GAAP and have important limitations as an analytical tool because they include some, but not all, items that affect Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA. Potential investors in this offering should not consider Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow in isolation or as a substitute for analyses of results as reported under GAAP. Our definitions of Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable Cash Flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other partnerships.

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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

        We file annual, quarterly and current reports and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC's public reference room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. You may also access the information we file electronically with the SEC through our website at www.anteromidstream.com. We have not incorporated by reference into this prospectus the information included on, or linked from, our website, and you should not consider it to be a part of this prospectus. You may also inspect reports, proxy statements and other information about Antero Midstream Partners LP at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), 20 Broad Street, New York, NY 10005.

        We "incorporate by reference" information into this prospectus, which means that we disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus, except for any information superseded by information contained expressly in this prospectus. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is current as of any date other than the date on the cover page of this prospectus. You should not assume that the information contained in the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the respective dates of such documents.

        We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any future filings we make with the SEC under Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, after the date of this prospectus and before the termination of this offering (excluding any information furnished and not filed with the SEC).

•

our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015;



•

our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with respect to the quarters ended March 31, 2016, June 30, 2016 and September 30, 2016;



•

our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed on January 7, 2016, March 25, 2016, April 1, 2016, August 8, 2016, September 6, 2016, September 13, 2016 and February 6, 2017 (excluding any information furnished and not filed pursuant to Item 2.02 or 7.01 or corresponding information furnished under Item 9.01 or included as an exhibit); and



•

the description of our common units included in our Form 8-A (File No. 001-36719), filed with the Commission on November 3, 2014, including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating, changing or otherwise modifying such description.

        You can obtain copies of any of these documents without charge upon written or oral request by requesting them in writing or by telephone at:

Antero Midstream Partners LP
1615 Wynkoop Street
Denver, Colorado 80202
(303) 357-7310

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

        Some of the information in this prospectus and incorporated by reference into this prospectus may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations, contain projections of results of operations or of financial condition, or forecasts of future events. Words such as "may," "assume," "forecast," "position," "predict," "strategy," "expect," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "project," "budget," "potential," or "continue," and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements. They can be affected by assumptions used or by known or unknown risks or uncertainties. Consequently, no forward-looking statements can be guaranteed. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in this prospectus. Actual results may vary materially. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. You should also understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors and should not consider the following list to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by such forward-looking statements include:

•

Antero Resources' production and drilling and development plan;



•

our ability to execute our business strategy;



•

realized natural gas, natural gas liquids and oil prices;



•

competition and government regulations;



•

actions taken by third-party producers, operators, processors and transporters;



•

pending legal or environmental matters;



•

costs of conducting our gathering and compression operations;



•

general economic conditions;



•

credit markets;



•

operating hazards, natural disasters, weather-related delays, casualty losses and other matters beyond our control;



•

uncertainty regarding our future operating results, including as a result of the Joint Venture (as defined in this prospectus); and



•

plans, objectives, expectations and intentions contained in this prospectus that are not historical.

        We caution you that these forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control, incident to the gathering and compression and water handling business. These risks include, but are not limited to, commodity price volatility, inflation, environmental risks, drilling and completion and other operating risks, regulatory changes, the uncertainty inherent in projecting future rates of production, cash flow and access to capital, the timing of development expenditures, and the other risks described under "Risk Factors" in this prospectus and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, which is incorporated by reference herein, and our other reports filed with the SEC.

        Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described in this prospectus occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.

        All forward-looking statements, expressed or implied, included in this prospectus are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. This cautionary statement should also be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that we or persons acting on our behalf may issue.

        Except as otherwise required by applicable law, we disclaim any duty to update any forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this prospectus.

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RISK FACTORS

        Limited partner interests are inherently different from the capital stock of a corporation, although many of the business risks to which we are subject are similar to those that would be faced by a corporation engaged in a similar business. You should carefully consider the risk described below, as well as the risk factors included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is incorporated by reference herein, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus and the documents we incorporate by reference, including the matters addressed under "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," in evaluating an investment in our common units.

        If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash available for distribution could be materially adversely affected. In that case, we may not be able to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on our common units, the trading price of our common units could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and the Joint Venture

We own a 50% interest in the Joint Venture, which will be operated by MarkWest. While we have the ability to influence certain business decisions affecting the Joint Venture, the success of our investment in the Joint Venture will depend on MarkWest's operation of the Joint Venture.

        We recently announced our entry into a joint venture with MarkWest. While we and MarkWest each own a 50% interest in the Joint Venture, MarkWest is the primary operator of the Joint Venture. Accordingly, we will depend on MarkWest for the day-to-day operations of the Joint Venture. Our lack of control over the Joint Venture's day-to-day operations and the associated costs of operations could result in our receiving lower cash distributions from the Joint Venture than currently anticipated, which could reduce our cash available for distribution to our unitholders. In addition, differences in views among the owners of the Joint Venture could result in delayed decisions or in failures to agree on significant matters, potentially adversely affecting the business and results of operations or prospects of the Joint Venture and, in turn, the amount of cash from the Joint Venture operations distributed to us.

If the Joint Venture is not successful or if the Joint Venture does not perform as expected, our future financial performance may be negatively impacted.

        We may be exposed to certain risks in connection with our ownership interest in the Joint Venture, including regulatory, environmental and litigation risks. If such risks or other anticipated or unanticipated liabilities were to materialize, any desired benefits of our entry into the Joint Venture may not be fully realized, if at all, and our future financial performance may be negatively impacted

        In addition, the Joint Venture may result in other difficulties including, among other things:

•

diversion of our management's attention from other business concerns;



•

managing regulatory compliance and corporate governance matters;



•

an increase in our indebtedness; and



•

potential environmental or other regulatory compliance matters or liabilities and/or title issues, including certain liabilities arising from the operation of the Joint Venture assets prior to the closing of the Joint Venture.

If additional takeaway pipelines under construction or other pipeline projects are not completed, Antero Resources', and correspondingly our, future growth may be limited.

        Antero Resources has secured sufficient long-term firm takeaway capacity on major pipelines that are in existence or currently under construction in each of its core operating areas to accommodate its

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current development plans; however, any failure of any pipeline under construction to be completed, or any unavailability of existing takeaway pipelines, could cause Antero Resources to curtail its future development and production plans. Sustained reductions in development or production activity in our areas of operation could lead to reduced utilization of our services, which could adversely affect our operating margin, cash flow and ability to make cash distributions to its unitholders.

Antero Resources' ability to produce oil and gas economically and in commercial quantities is dependent on the availability of adequate supplies of water for drilling and completion operations and access to water and other waste disposal or recycling services at a reasonable cost and in accordance with applicable environmental rules. Restrictions on Antero Resources' ability to obtain water or dispose of produced water and other waste may have an adverse effect on its financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

        The hydraulic fracture stimulation process on which Antero Resources depends to produce commercial quantities of oil and gas requires the use and disposal of significant quantities of water. The availability of disposal alternatives to receive all of the water produced from Antero Resources' wells may affect Antero Resources' production. Antero Resources' inability to secure sufficient amounts of water, or to dispose of or recycle the water used in its operations, could adversely impact its operations. We own two independent fresh water distribution systems that distribute fresh water to Antero Resources from the Ohio River and several regional water sources for well completion operations in the Marcellus and Ohio Utica Shales. Late in 2015, we began providing Antero Resources with wastewater services for our well completion operations, including wastewater transportation, disposal, and treatment.

        The inability to obtain water from Antero Resources' traditional sources of supply for any reason, including the loss of water rights, permit restrictions or drought, could adversely affect our business and operating results. Additionally, the imposition of new environmental initiatives and regulations could include restrictions on Antero Resources' ability to obtain water or dispose of waste and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Risks Related to the Offering and Our Common Units

We may issue additional units, including units that are senior to the common units, without unitholder approval, which would dilute our unitholders' existing ownership interests.

        Our partnership agreement does not limit the number of additional limited partner interests that we may issue at any time without the approval of our unitholders. The issuance by us of additional common units or other equity securities of equal or senior rank will have the following effects:

•

each unitholder's proportionate ownership interest in us will decrease;



•

the amount of cash available for distribution on each unit may decrease;



•

because a lower percentage of total outstanding units will be subordinated units, the risk that a shortfall in the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution will be borne by our common unitholders will increase;



•

the ratio of taxable income to distributions may increase;



•

the relative voting strength of each previously outstanding unit may be diminished; and



•

the market price of the common units may decline.

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Future sales of common units in the public markets or otherwise, which sales could have an adverse impact on the trading price of the common units.

        We may sell additional common units in subsequent public offerings. We may also issue additional common units.

        We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our common units or the effect, if any, that future issuances and sales of our common units will have on the market price of our common units. Sales of substantial amounts of common units (including common units issued in connection with an acquisition) or the perception that such sales could occur may adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common units. Future sales of common units in public or private markets could have an adverse impact on the price of the common units or on any trading market that may develop.

The price of our common units may fluctuate significantly, which could cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

        The market price of our common units is influenced by many factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

•

our quarterly distributions;



•

our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in our industry;



•

events affecting Antero Resources;



•

announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts or acquisitions;



•

changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;



•

general economic conditions;



•

the failure of securities analysts to cover our common units or changes in financial estimates by analysts; and



•

future sales of our common units.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

        We expect the net proceeds from this offering to be approximately $194,159,000 (or approximately $223,373,000 if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional common units in full), after deducting estimated fees and expenses. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, including the net proceeds from the underwriters option to purchase additional common units, for general partnership purposes, including to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under our revolving credit facility.

        As of February 3, 2017, we had approximately $210 million of borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility, which bears interest at a variable rate, which was approximately 2.03% as of September 30, 2016. We incurred an additional $155 million of borrowings on February 6, 2017 in connection with our entry into the Joint Venture. The borrowings that we expect to repay with the net proceeds of this offering were incurred primarily with our entry into the Joint Venture and for general partnership purposes. We may re-borrow amounts repaid under our revolving credit facility at any time.

        Certain affiliates of each of the underwriters are lenders under our revolving credit facility. To the extent we use proceeds from this offering to repay borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility, such affiliates will receive proceeds from this offering. Please see "Underwriting."

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CAPITALIZATION

        The following table shows our capitalization as of September 30, 2016:

•

on an actual basis;



•

on a pro forma basis to reflect the issuance and sale of our common units in this offering and the application of the net proceeds from this offering as described under "Use of Proceeds".

        You should read the following table in conjunction with "Use of Proceeds" in this prospectus supplement and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and subsequent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, each of which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement, for additional information.

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PRICE RANGE OF COMMON UNITS AND DISTRIBUTIONS

        Our common units are listed and traded on the NYSE under the symbol "AM." Our common units began trading on November 5, 2014 at an initial public offering price of $25.00 per common unit. The following table shows the low and high sales prices per common unit, as reported by the NYSE, for the periods indicated. Distributions are shown in the quarter for which they were paid.

        On February 3, 2017, the last sales price of our common units as reported on the NYSE was $33.76 per unit.

        As of February 3, 2017, there were 15 holders of record of our common units.

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CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS AND FIDUCIARY DUTIES

Conflicts of Interest

        Conflicts of interest exist and may arise in the future as a result of the relationships between our general partner and its directors, officers, affiliates (including Antero Resources) and owners, on the one hand, and us and our limited partners, on the other hand. Conflicts may arise as a result of the duties of our general partner and its directors and officers to act for the benefit of its owners, which may conflict with our interests and the interests of our public unitholders. We are managed and operated by the board of directors and officers of our general partner, Midstream Management, which is owned by Antero Investment. Certain of our officers and directors are also officers or directors of Antero Investment. Similarly, certain of our officers and directors are also officers or directors of Antero Resources. Although our general partner has a contractual duty to manage us in a manner that it believes is not adverse to our interests, the directors and officers of our general partner have a fiduciary duty to manage our general partner in a manner that is beneficial to Antero Investment. Our directors and officers who are also directors and officers of Antero Resources have a fiduciary duty to manage Antero Resources in a manner that is beneficial to Antero Resources and its shareholders. Our partnership agreement specifically defines the remedies available to unitholders for actions taken that, without these defined liability standards, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty under applicable Delaware law. The Delaware Act provides that Delaware limited partnerships may, in their partnership agreements, expand, restrict or eliminate the fiduciary duties otherwise owed by the general partner to the limited partners and the partnership.

        Whenever a conflict arises between our general partner or its owners and affiliates, on the one hand, and us or our limited partners, on the other hand, the resolution or course of action in respect of such conflict of interest shall be permitted and deemed approved by us and all our limited partners and shall not constitute a breach of our partnership agreement, of any agreement contemplated thereby or of any duty, if the resolution or course of action in respect of such conflict of interest is:

•

approved by the conflicts committee of our general partner, although our general partner is not obligated to seek such approval; or



•

approved by the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units, excluding any such units owned by our general partner or any of its affiliates.

        Our general partner may, but is not required to, seek the approval of such resolutions or courses of action from the conflicts committee of its board of directors or from the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units as described above. If our general partner does not seek approval from the conflicts committee or from holders of common units as described above and the board of directors of our general partner approves the resolution or course of action taken with respect to the conflict of interest, then it will be presumed that, in making its decision, the board of directors of our general partner acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of us or any of our unitholders, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption and proving that such decision was not in good faith. Unless the resolution of a conflict is specifically provided for in our partnership agreement, the board of directors of our general partner or the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner may consider any factors they determine in good faith to consider when resolving a conflict. An independent third party is not required to evaluate the resolution. Under our partnership agreement, a determination, other action or failure to act by our general partner, the board of directors of our general partner or any committee thereof (including the conflicts committee) will be deemed to be "in good faith" unless our general partner, the board of directors of our general partner or any committee thereof (including the conflicts committee) believed such determination, other action or failure to act was adverse to the interest of the partnership.

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        Conflicts of interest could arise in the situations described below, among others:

Actions taken by our general partner may affect the amount of cash available to pay distributions to unitholders or accelerate the right to convert subordinated units.

        The amount of cash that is available for distribution to unitholders is affected by decisions of our general partner regarding such matters as:

•

amount and timing of asset purchases and sales;



•

cash expenditures;



•

borrowings;



•

entry into and repayment of current and future indebtedness;



•

issuance of additional units; and



•

the creation, reduction or increase of reserves in any quarter.

        In addition, borrowings by us and our affiliates do not constitute a breach of any duty owed by our general partner to our unitholders, including borrowings that have the purpose or effect of:

•

enabling our general partner to receive distributions on any subordinated units held by them or the incentive distribution rights; or



•

hastening the expiration of the subordination period.

        In addition, our general partner may use an amount, initially equal to $75.0 million, which would not otherwise constitute operating surplus, in order to permit the payment of distributions on subordinated units and the incentive distribution rights. All of these actions may affect the amount of cash or equity distributed to our unitholders and our general partner and may facilitate the conversion of subordinated units into common units. Please read "How We Make Distributions To Our Partners."

        For example, in the event we have not generated sufficient cash from our operations to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on our common units and our subordinated units, our partnership agreement permits us to borrow funds, which would enable us to make such distribution on all outstanding units. Please read "How We Make Distributions To Our Partners—Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus—Operating Surplus."

        The directors and officers of Antero Investment have a fiduciary duty to make decisions in the best interests of the owners of Antero Investment, which may be contrary to our interests.

        The officers and directors of our general partner that are also officers and directors of Antero Investment have fiduciary duties to Antero Investment that may cause them to pursue business strategies that disproportionately benefit Antero Investment or which otherwise are not in our best interests.

        Our general partner is allowed to take into account the interests of parties other than us, such as Antero Investment and Antero Resources, in exercising certain rights under our partnership agreement.

        Our partnership agreement contains provisions that replace the standards to which our general partner would otherwise be held by state fiduciary duty law. For example, our partnership agreement permits our general partner to make a number of decisions in its individual capacity, as opposed to in its capacity as our general partner. This entitles our general partner to consider only the interests and factors that it desires, and it has no duty or obligation to give any consideration to any interest of, or factors affecting, us, our affiliates or any limited partner. Examples include the exercise of its call right, its voting rights with respect to any units it owns, its registration rights and its determination whether or not to consent to any merger or consolidation or amendment of the partnership agreement.

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Our partnership agreement limits the liability of, and replaces the duties owed by, our general partner and also restricts the remedies available to our unitholders for actions that, without the limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty.

        In addition to the provisions described above, our partnership agreement contains provisions that restrict the remedies available to our unitholders for actions that might otherwise constitute breaches of fiduciary duty. For example, our partnership agreement provides that:

•

our general partner will not have any liability to us or our unitholders for decisions made in its capacity as general partner so long as it acted in good faith, meaning it believed that the decision was not adverse to the interest of the partnership, and, with respect to criminal conduct, did not act with the knowledge that its conduct was unlawful;



•

our general partner and its officers and directors will not be liable for monetary damages or otherwise to us or our limited partners for any acts or omissions unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment entered by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that such losses or liabilities were the result of the conduct of our general partner or such officer or director engaged in by it in bad faith or, with respect to any criminal conduct, with the knowledge that its conduct was unlawful; and



•

in resolving conflicts of interest, it will be presumed that in making its decision our general partner, the board of directors of our general partner or the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner acted in good faith, and in any proceeding brought by or on behalf of any limited partner or us, the person bringing or prosecuting such proceeding will have the burden of overcoming such presumption and proving that such decision was not in good faith.

        By purchasing a common unit, a common unitholder will agree to become bound by the provisions in our partnership agreement, including the provisions discussed above. Please read "—Duties."

Common unitholders have no right to enforce obligations of our general partner and its affiliates under agreements with us.

        Any agreements between us, on the one hand, and our general partner and its affiliates, on the other, will not grant to the unitholders, separate and apart from us, the right to enforce the obligations of our general partner and its affiliates in our favor.

        Contracts between us, on the one hand, and our general partner and its affiliates, on the other, are not and will not be the result of arm's-length negotiations.

        Neither our partnership agreement nor any of the other agreements, contracts and arrangements between us and our general partner and its affiliates are or will be the result of arm's-length negotiations. Our general partner will determine, in good faith, the terms of any of such future transactions.

        Except in limited circumstances, our general partner has the power and authority to conduct our business without unitholder approval.

        Under our partnership agreement, our general partner has full power and authority to do all things, other than those items that require unitholder approval, necessary or appropriate to conduct our business including, but not limited to, the following actions:

•

expending, lending, or borrowing money, assuming, guaranteeing, or otherwise contracting for, indebtedness and other liabilities, issuing evidences of indebtedness, including indebtedness that is convertible into our securities, and incurring any other obligations;

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preparing and transmitting tax, regulatory and other filings, periodic or other reports to governmental or other agencies having jurisdiction over our business or assets;



•

acquiring, disposing, mortgaging, pledging, encumbering, hypothecating or exchanging our assets or merging or otherwise combining us with or into another person;



•

negotiating, executing and performing contracts, conveyance or other instruments;



•

distributing cash;



•

selecting or dismissing employees and agents, outside attorneys, accountants, consultants and contractors and determining their compensation and other terms of employment or hiring;



•

maintaining insurance for our benefit;



•

forming, acquiring an interest in, and contributing property and loaning money to, any further limited partnerships, joint ventures, corporations, limited liability companies or other relationships;



•

controlling all matters affecting our rights and obligations, including bringing and defending actions at law or in equity or otherwise litigating, arbitrating or mediating, and incurring legal expense and settling claims and litigation;



•

indemnifying any person against liabilities and contingencies to the extent permitted by law;



•

purchasing, selling or otherwise acquiring or disposing of our partnership interests, or issuing additional options, rights, warrants, appreciation rights, phantom or tracking interests relating to our partnership interests; and



•

entering into agreements with any of its affiliates to render services to us or to itself in the discharge of its duties as our general partner.

        Please read "The Partnership Agreement" for information regarding the voting rights of unitholders.

Common units are subject to our general partner's call right.

        If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 80% of the common units, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign to any of its affiliates or to us, but not the obligation, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the common units held by unaffiliated persons at the market price calculated in accordance with the terms of our partnership agreement. As a result, you may be required to sell your common units at an undesirable time or price and may not receive any return on your investment. You may also incur a tax liability upon a sale of your units. Our general partner is not obligated to obtain a fairness opinion regarding the value of the common units to be repurchased by it upon exercise of the call right. There is no restriction in our partnership agreement that prevents our general partner from issuing additional common units and exercising its call right. Our general partner may use its own discretion, free of fiduciary duty restrictions, in determining whether to exercise this right. As a result, a common unitholder may have his common units purchased from him at an undesirable time or price. Please read "The Partnership Agreement—Limited Call Right."

        We may not choose to retain separate counsel for ourselves or for the holders of common units.

        The attorneys, independent accountants and others who perform services for us have been retained by our general partner. Attorneys, independent accountants and others who perform services for us are selected by our general partner or the conflicts committee of the board of directors of our general partner and may perform services for our general partner and its affiliates. We may retain separate counsel for ourselves or the conflict committee in the event of a conflict of interest between our

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general partner and its affiliates, on the one hand, and us or the holders of common units, on the other, depending on the nature of the conflict, although we may choose not to do so.

        Our general partner's affiliates may compete with us, and neither our general partner nor its affiliates have any obligation to present business opportunities to us.

        Our partnership agreement provides that our general partner is restricted from engaging in any business other than guaranteeing debt of its affiliates and those activities incidental to its ownership of interests in us.

        However affiliates of our general partner are not prohibited from engaging in other businesses or activities, including those that might be in direct competition with us, and Antero Investment or its affiliates may acquire, construct or dispose of assets in the future without any obligation to offer us the opportunity to acquire those assets. In addition, under our partnership agreement, the doctrine of corporate opportunity, or any analogous doctrine, will not apply to our general partner and its affiliates. As a result, neither our general partner nor any of its affiliates have any obligation to present business opportunities to us.

        The holder or holders of our incentive distribution rights may elect to cause us to issue common units to it in connection with a resetting of incentive distribution levels without the approval of our unitholders. This election may result in lower distributions to our common unitholders in certain situations.

        The holder or holders of a majority of our incentive distribution rights have the right, at any time when there are no subordinated units outstanding and they have received incentive distributions at the highest level to which they are entitled (50%) for each of the prior four consecutive fiscal quarters, to reset the initial target distribution levels at higher levels based on our cash distribution levels at the time of the exercise of the reset election. Following a reset election, a baseline distribution amount will be calculated equal to an amount equal to the prior cash distribution per common unit for the fiscal quarter immediately preceding the reset election (such amount is referred to as the "reset minimum quarterly distribution"), and the target distribution levels will be reset to correspondingly higher levels based on percentage increases above the reset minimum quarterly distribution.

        We anticipate that the holder of our incentive distribution rights would exercise this reset right in order to facilitate acquisitions or internal growth projects that would not be sufficiently accretive to cash distributions per unit without such conversion. However, the holder of our incentive distribution rights may transfer the incentive distribution rights at any time. It is possible that the holder of our incentive distribution rights or a transferee could exercise this reset election at a time when we are experiencing declines in our aggregate cash distributions or at a time when the holders of the incentive distribution rights expect that we will experience declines in our aggregate cash distributions in the foreseeable future. In such situations, the holders of the incentive distribution rights may be experiencing, or may expect to experience, declines in the cash distributions it receives related to the incentive distribution rights and may therefore desire to be issued our common units, which are entitled to specified priorities with respect to our distributions and which therefore may be more advantageous for them to own in lieu of the right to receive incentive distribution payments based on target distribution levels that are less certain to be achieved. As a result, a reset election may cause our common unitholders to experience dilution in the amount of cash distributions that they would have otherwise received had we not issued new common units to the holders of the incentive distribution rights in connection with resetting the target distribution levels. Please read "How We Make Distributions To Our Partners—Incentive Distribution Rights."

Duties

        Duties owed to unitholders by our general partner are prescribed by law and in our partnership agreement. The Delaware Act provides that Delaware limited partnerships may, in their partnership

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agreements, expand, restrict or eliminate the fiduciary duties otherwise owed by the general partner to limited partners and the partnership.

        Our partnership agreement contains various provisions that eliminate and replace the fiduciary duties that might otherwise be owed by our general partner. We have adopted these provisions to allow our general partner or its affiliates to engage in transactions with us that otherwise might be prohibited by state law fiduciary standards and to take into account the interests of other parties in addition to our interests when resolving conflicts of interest. We believe this is appropriate and necessary because the board of directors of our general partner has a duty to manage our partnership in good faith and a duty to manage our general partner in a manner beneficial to its owner. Without these modifications, our general partner's ability to make decisions involving conflicts of interest would be restricted. Replacing the fiduciary duty standards in this manner benefits our general partner by enabling it to take into consideration all parties involved in the proposed action. Replacing the fiduciary duty standards also strengthens the ability of our general partner to attract and retain experienced and capable directors. Replacing the fiduciary duty standards represents a detriment to our public unitholders because it restricts the remedies available to our public unitholders for actions that, without those limitations, might constitute breaches of fiduciary duty, as described below, and permits our general partner to take into account the interests of third parties in addition to our interests when resolving conflicts of interests.

        The following is a summary of the fiduciary duties imposed on general partners of a limited partnership by the Delaware Act in the absence of partnership agreement provisions to the contrary, the contractual duties of our general partner contained in our partnership agreement that replace the fiduciary duties that would otherwise be imposed by Delaware laws on our general partner and the rights and remedies of our unitholders with respect to these contractual duties:

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        By purchasing our common units, each common unitholder automatically agrees to be bound by the provisions in our partnership agreement, including the provisions discussed above. This is in accordance with the policy of the Delaware Act favoring the principle of freedom of contract and the enforceability of partnership agreements. The failure of a limited partner to sign a partnership agreement does not render the partnership agreement unenforceable against that person.

        Under our partnership agreement, we must indemnify our general partner and its officers, directors, managers and certain other specified persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, against liabilities, costs and expenses incurred by our general partner or these other persons. We must provide this indemnification unless there has been a final and non-appealable judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction determining that such losses or liabilities were the result of the conduct of our general partner or such officer or director engaged in by it in bad faith or, with respect to any criminal conduct, with the knowledge that its conduct was unlawful. Thus, our general partner could be indemnified for its negligent acts if it meets the requirements set forth above. To the extent these provisions purport to include indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is contrary to public policy and, therefore, unenforceable. Please read "The Partnership Agreement—Indemnification."

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DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMON UNITS

The Units

        The common units and the subordinated units are separate classes of limited partner interests in us. Unitholders are entitled to participate in partnership distributions and exercise the rights or privileges available to limited partners under our partnership agreement. For a description of the relative rights and preferences of unitholders in and to partnership distributions, please read this section and "How We Make Distributions To Our Partners." For a description of other rights and privileges of limited partners under our partnership agreement, including voting rights, please read "The Partnership Agreement."

Transfer Agent and Registrar

Duties

        American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC serves as the registrar and transfer agent for the common units. We pay all fees charged by the transfer agent for transfers of common units except the following, which must be paid by our common unitholders:

•

surety bond premiums to replace lost or stolen certificates, taxes and other governmental charges;



•

special charges for services requested by a holder of a common unit; and



•

other similar fees or charges.

        There is no charge to our unitholders for disbursements of our cash distributions. We will indemnify the transfer agent, its agents and each of their stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.

Resignation or Removal

        The transfer agent may resign, by notice to us, or be removed by us. The resignation or removal of the transfer agent will become effective upon our appointment of a successor transfer agent and registrar and its acceptance of the appointment. If no successor is appointed or has not accepted its appointment within 30 days of the resignation or removal, our general partner may act as the transfer agent and registrar until a successor is appointed.

Transfer of Common Units

        Upon the transfer of a common unit in accordance with our partnership agreement, the transferee of the common unit shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission are reflected in our books and records. Each transferee:

•

represents that the transferee has the capacity, power and authority to become bound by our partnership agreement;



•

automatically becomes bound by the terms and conditions of our partnership agreement; and



•

gives the consents, waivers and approvals contained in our partnership agreement.

        Our general partner will cause any transfers to be recorded on our books and records no less frequently than quarterly.

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        We may, at our discretion, treat the nominee holder of a common unit as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holder's rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.

        Common units are securities and any transfers are subject to the laws governing the transfer of securities. In addition to other rights acquired upon transfer, the transferor gives the transferee the right to become a substituted limited partner in our partnership for the transferred common units.

        Until a common unit has been transferred on our books, we and the transfer agent may treat the record holder of the common unit as the absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.

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HOW WE MAKE DISTRIBUTIONS TO OUR PARTNERS

General

Cash Distribution Policy

        While our partnership agreement provides that our general partner will make a determination as to whether to make a distribution, our partnership agreement does not require us to pay distributions at any time or in any amount. Instead, the board of directors of our general partner has adopted a cash distribution policy that sets forth our general partner's intention with respect to the distributions to be made to unitholders. Pursuant to our cash distribution policy, within 60 days after the end of each quarter, we intend to distribute to the holders of common and subordinated units on a quarterly basis at least the minimum quarterly distribution of $0.17 per unit, or $0.68 on an annualized basis, to the extent we have sufficient cash after establishment of cash reserves and payment of fees and expenses, including payments to our general partner and its affiliates.

        The board of directors of our general partner may change our distribution policy at any time and from time to time, and even if our cash distribution policy is not modified or revoked, the amount of distributions paid under our distribution policy and the decision to make any distribution is determined by our general partner. Our partnership agreement does not contain a requirement for us to pay distributions to our unitholders, and there is no guarantee that we will pay the minimum quarterly distribution, or any distribution, on the units in any quarter. However, our partnership agreement does contain provisions intended to motivate our general partner to make steady, increasing and sustainable distributions over time.

        As described in further detail below, we may make distributions out of either operating surplus or capital surplus. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from capital surplus. To the extent that we make distributions from capital surplus, they will be made pro rata to all unitholders, but the holder of the incentive distribution rights would generally not participate in any capital surplus distributions with respect to those incentive rights.

        In order to pay any distribution on our subordinated units, we must first make distributions from operating surplus in respect of all of our outstanding common units of at least the minimum quarterly distribution of $0.17 per unit (plus any arrearages resulting from the failure to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on all of our common units). Moreover, the subordination period will ordinarily not end until we have made distributions from operating surplus in excess of certain targets and generated sufficient adjusted operating surplus. Adjusted operating surplus is intended to serve as a proxy for the amount of operating surplus that was "earned" (rather than, for example, borrowed) during the relevant distribution period. Distributions from capital surplus will not count toward satisfying the tests to end the subordination period. Finally, holders of our incentive distribution rights will generally only participate in distributions from operating surplus above certain threshold distribution levels.

        Set forth below is a summary of the significant provisions of our partnership agreement that relate to cash distributions.

Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus

General

        Any distributions we make are characterized as made from "operating surplus" or "capital surplus." Distributions from operating surplus are made differently than cash distributions that we would make from capital surplus. Operating surplus distributions will be made to our unitholders and, if we make quarterly distributions above the first target distribution level described below, to the holder of our incentive distribution rights. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from

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capital surplus. In such an event, however, any capital surplus distribution would be made pro rata to all unitholders, but the holder of the incentive distribution rights would generally not participate in any capital surplus distributions with respect to those rights.

Operating Surplus

        We define operating surplus as:

•

$75.0 million (as described below); plus



•

all of our cash receipts after the closing of our IPO, excluding cash from interim capital transactions (as defined below) provided that cash receipts from the termination of any hedge contract prior to its stipulated settlement or termination date will be included in equal quarterly installments over the remaining scheduled life of such hedge contract had it not been terminated; plus



•

cash distributions paid in respect of equity issued (including incremental distributions on incentive distribution rights), other than equity issued in our IPO, to finance all or a portion of expansion capital expenditures in respect of the period from such financing until the earlier to occur of the date the asset commences commercial service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed of; plus



•

cash distributions paid in respect of equity issued (including incremental distributions on incentive distribution rights), other than equity issued in our IPO, to pay the construction period interest on debt incurred, or to pay construction period distributions on equity issued, to finance the expansion capital expenditures referred to above, in each case, in respect of the period from such financing until the earlier to occur of the date the asset commences commercial service and the date that it is abandoned or disposed of; less



•

all of our operating expenditures (as defined below) after our IPO; less



•

the amount of cash reserves established by our general partner to provide funds for future operating expenditures; less



•

all working capital borrowings not repaid within twelve months after having been incurred, or repaid within such twelve-month period with the proceeds of additional working capital borrowings; less



•

any cash loss realized on disposition of an investment capital expenditure.

        Disbursements made, cash received (including working capital borrowings) or cash reserves established, increased or reduced after the end of a period but on or before the date on which cash or cash equivalents will be distributed with respect to such period shall be deemed to have been made, received, established, increased or reduced, for purposes of determining operating surplus, within such period if our general partner so determines. Furthermore, cash received from an interest in an entity for which we account using the equity method will not be included to the extent it exceeds our proportionate share of that entity's operating surplus (calculated as if the definition of operating surplus applied to such entity from the date of our acquisition of such an interest without any basket similar to described in the first bullet above). Operating surplus does not reflect cash generated by our operations. For example, it includes a basket of $75.0 million that will enable us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus cash we receive in the future from non-operating sources such as asset sales, issuances of securities and long-term borrowings that would otherwise be distributed as capital surplus. In addition, the effect of including, as described above, certain cash distributions on equity interests in operating surplus will be to increase operating surplus by the amount of any such cash distributions. As a result, we may also distribute as operating surplus up to the amount of any such cash that we receive from non-operating sources.

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        The proceeds of working capital borrowings increase operating surplus, and repayments of working capital borrowings are generally operating expenditures, as described below, and thus reduce operating surplus when made. However, if a working capital borrowing is not repaid during the twelve-month period following the borrowing, it will be deemed repaid at the end of such period, thus decreasing operating surplus at such time. When such working capital borrowing is in fact repaid, it will be excluded from operating expenditures because operating surplus will have been previously reduced by the deemed repayment.

        We define operating expenditures in our partnership agreement, and it generally means all of our cash expenditures, including, but not limited to, taxes, reimbursement of expenses to our general partner or its affiliates, payments made under interest rate hedge agreements or commodity hedge agreements (provided that (1) with respect to amounts paid in connection with the initial purchase of an interest rate hedge contract or a commodity hedge contract, such amounts will be amortized over the life of the applicable interest rate hedge contract or commodity hedge contract and (2) payments made in connection with the termination of any interest rate hedge contract or commodity hedge contract prior to the expiration of its stipulated settlement or termination date will be included in operating expenditures in equal quarterly installments over the remaining scheduled life of such interest rate hedge contract or commodity hedge contract), officer compensation, repayment of working capital borrowings, interest on indebtedness and maintenance capital expenditures (as discussed in further detail below). However, operating expenditures do not include:

•

repayment of working capital borrowings deducted from operating surplus pursuant to the penultimate bullet point of the definition of operating surplus above when such repayment actually occurs;



•

payments (including prepayments and prepayment penalties and the purchase price of indebtedness that is repurchased and cancelled) of principal of and premium on indebtedness, other than working capital borrowings;



•

expansion capital expenditures;



•

investment capital expenditures;



•

payment of transaction expenses relating to interim capital transactions;



•

distributions to our partners (including distributions in respect of our incentive distribution rights);



•

repurchases of equity interests except to fund obligations under employee benefit plans; or



•

any other expenditures or payments made with the proceeds from our IPO and described under "Use of Proceeds" in our IPO prospectus.

Capital Surplus

        Capital surplus is defined in our partnership agreement as any cash distributed in excess of our operating surplus. Accordingly, capital surplus would generally be generated only by the following (which we refer to as "interim capital transactions"):

•

borrowings other than working capital borrowings;



•

sales of our equity interests and long-term borrowings; and



•

sales or other dispositions of assets for cash, other than inventory, accounts receivable and other assets sold in the ordinary course of business or as part of normal retirement or replacement of assets.

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Characterization of Cash Distributions

        Our partnership agreement provides that we treat all cash distributed as coming from operating surplus until the sum of all cash distributed since the closing of our IPO equals the operating surplus from the closing of our IPO. However, operating surplus includes a basket of $75.0 million that enables us, if we choose, to distribute as operating surplus cash we receive from non-operating sources such as asset sales, issuances of securities and long-term borrowings that would otherwise be distributed as capital surplus. Our partnership agreement provides that we treat any amount distributed in excess of operating surplus, regardless of its source, as distributions of capital surplus. We do not anticipate that we will make any distributions from capital surplus.

Capital Expenditures

        Maintenance capital expenditures reduce operating surplus, but expansion capital expenditures and investment capital expenditures do not. Maintenance capital expenditures are cash expenditures (including expenditures for the construction or development of new capital assets or the replacement, improvement or expansion of existing capital assets) made to maintain, over the long term, our operating capacity or revenue. Examples of maintenance capital expenditures are expenditures to repair, refurbish and replace pipelines, to connect new wells to maintain gathering and compression throughput to maintain equipment reliability, integrity and safety and to address environmental laws and regulations. Our business, facilities and equipment are currently not subject to major turnaround, overhaul or rebuilds. Cash expenditures made solely for investment purposes will not be considered maintenance capital expenditures.

        Expansion capital expenditures are cash expenditures to construct new midstream infrastructure and those expenditures incurred in order to extend the useful lives of our assets, reduce costs, increase revenues or increase system throughput or capacity from current levels, including well connections that increase existing system throughput. Examples of expansion capital expenditures include the construction, development or acquisition of additional gathering pipelines or compressor stations, in each case to the extent such capital expenditures are expected to expand our operating capacity or our operating income. In the future, if we make acquisitions that increase system throughput or capacity, the associated capital expenditures may also be considered expansion capital expenditures. Expenditures made solely for investment purposes are not considered expansion capital expenditures.

        Investment capital expenditures are those capital expenditures, including transaction expenses, that are neither maintenance capital expenditures nor expansion capital expenditures. Investment capital expenditures largely consist of capital expenditures made for investment purposes. Examples of investment capital expenditures include traditional capital expenditures for investment purposes, such as purchases of securities, as well as other capital expenditures that might be made in lieu of such traditional investment capital expenditures, such as the acquisition of an asset for investment purposes or development of assets that are in excess of the maintenance of our operating capacity or revenue, but which are not expected to expand, for more than the short term, operating capacity or revenue.

        As described above, neither investment capital expenditures nor expansion capital expenditures are operating expenditures, and thus do not reduce operating surplus. Losses on disposition of an investment capital expenditure reduce operating surplus when realized and cash receipts from an investment capital expenditure are treated as a cash receipt for purposes of calculating operating surplus only to the extent the cash receipt is a return on principal.

        Cash expenditures that are made in part for maintenance capital purposes, investment capital purposes or expansion capital purposes are allocated as maintenance capital expenditures, investment capital expenditures or expansion capital expenditures by our general partner.

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Subordination Period

General

        Our partnership agreement provides that, during the subordination period (described below), the common units will have the right to receive distributions from operating surplus each quarter in an amount equal to $0.17 per common unit, which amount is defined in our partnership agreement as the minimum quarterly distribution, plus any arrearages in the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units from prior quarters, before any distributions from operating surplus may be made on the subordinated units. These units are deemed "subordinated" because for a period of time, referred to as the subordination period, the subordinated units are not entitled to receive any distributions from operating surplus until the common units have received the minimum quarterly distribution plus any arrearages in the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution from prior quarters. Furthermore, no arrearages are paid on the subordinated units. The practical effect of the subordinated units is to increase the likelihood that during the subordination period there will be sufficient cash from operating surplus to pay the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units.

Determination of Subordination Period

        Antero Resources currently owns all of our subordinated units. The subordination period began on the closing date of our IPO and, except as described below, will expire on the first business day after the distribution to unitholders in respect of any quarter, beginning with the quarter ending September 30, 2017, if each of the following has occurred:

•

distributions from operating surplus on each of the outstanding common and subordinated units equaled or exceeded the minimum quarterly distribution for each of the three consecutive, non-overlapping four-quarter periods immediately preceding that date;



•

the "adjusted operating surplus" (as defined below) generated during each of the three consecutive, non-overlapping four-quarter periods immediately preceding that date equaled or exceeded the sum of the minimum quarterly distribution on all of the outstanding common and subordinated units during those periods on a fully diluted weighted average basis; and



•

there are no arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units.

        For the period after the closing of our IPO through December 31, 2014, our partnership agreement prorated the minimum quarterly distribution based on the actual length of the period, and uses such prorated distribution for all purposes, including in determining whether the test described above has been satisfied.

Early Termination of Subordination Period

        Notwithstanding the foregoing, the subordination period will automatically terminate, and all of the subordinated units will convert into common units on a one-for-one basis, on the first business day after the distribution to unitholders in respect of any quarter, beginning with the quarter ending September 30, 2015, if each of the following has occurred:

•

distributions from operating surplus equaled or exceeded $1.02 per unit (150% of the annualized minimum quarterly distribution) on all outstanding common units and subordinated units for a four-quarter period immediately preceding that date;



•

the "adjusted operating surplus" (as defined below) generated during the four-quarter period immediately preceding that date equaled or exceeded $1.02 per unit (150% of the annualized minimum quarterly distribution) on all of the outstanding common and subordinated units during that period on a fully diluted weighted average basis, plus the related distribution on the incentive distribution rights; and

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•

there are no arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distributions on the common units.

        For the period after the closing of our IPO through December 31, 2014, our partnership agreement prorated the minimum quarterly distribution based on the actual length of the period and uses such prorated distribution for all purposes, including in determining whether the test described above has been satisfied.

Expiration of the Subordination Period

        When the subordination period ends, each outstanding subordinated unit will convert into one common unit, which will then participate pro-rata with the other common units in distributions.

Adjusted Operating Surplus

        Adjusted operating surplus is intended to generally reflect the cash generated from operations during a particular period and therefore excludes net increases in working capital borrowings and net drawdowns of reserves of cash generated in prior periods if not utilized to pay expenses during that period. Adjusted operating surplus for any period consists of:

•

operating surplus generated with respect to that period (excluding any amounts attributable to the items described in the first bullet point under "—Operating Surplus and Capital Surplus—Operating Surplus" above); less



•

any net increase during that period in working capital borrowings; less



•

any net decrease during that period in cash reserves for operating expenditures not relating to an operating expenditure made during that period; plus



•

any net decrease during that period in working capital borrowings; plus



•

any net increase during that period in cash reserves for operating expenditures required by any debt instrument for the repayment of principal, interest or premium; plus



•

any net decrease made in subsequent periods in cash reserves for operating expenditures initially established during such period to the extent such decrease results in a reduction of adjusted operating surplus in subsequent periods pursuant to the third bullet point above.

        Any disbursements received, cash received (including working capital borrowings) or cash reserves established, increased or reduced after the end of a period that the general partner determines to include in operating surplus for such period shall also be deemed to have been made, received or established, increased or reduced in such period for purposes of determining adjusted operating surplus for such period.

Distributions From Operating Surplus During the Subordination Period

        If we make a distribution from operating surplus for any quarter during the subordination period, our partnership agreement requires that we make the distribution in the following manner:

•

first, to the common unitholders, pro rata, until we distribute for each common unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter and any arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units for any prior quarters;



•

second, to the subordinated unitholders, pro rata, until we distribute for each subordinated unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter; and



•

thereafter, in the manner described in "—Incentive Distribution Rights" below.

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Distributions From Operating Surplus After the Subordination Period

        If we make distributions of cash from operating surplus for any quarter after the subordination period, our partnership agreement requires that we make the distribution in the following manner:

•

first, to all common unitholders, pro rata, until we distribute for each common unit an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter; and



•

thereafter, in the manner described in "—Incentive Distribution Rights" below.

General Partner Interest

        Our general partner owns a non-economic general partner interest in us, which does not entitle it to receive cash distributions. However, our general partner may in the future own common units or other equity interests in us and will be entitled to receive distributions on any such interests.

Incentive Distribution Rights

        Incentive distribution rights represent the right to receive increasing percentages (15%, 25% and 50%) of quarterly distributions from operating surplus after the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels have been achieved. Our general partner currently holds the incentive distribution rights, but may transfer these rights.

        If for any quarter:

•

we have distributed cash from operating surplus to the common and subordinated unitholders in an amount equal to the minimum quarterly distribution; and



•

we have distributed cash from operating surplus on outstanding common units in an amount necessary to eliminate any cumulative arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution;

then we will make additional distributions from operating surplus for that quarter among the unitholders and the holders of the incentive distribution rights in the following manner:

•

first, to all unitholders, pro rata, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.1955 per unit for that quarter (the "first target distribution");



•

second, 85% to all common unitholders and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.2125 per unit for that quarter (the "second target distribution");



•

third, 75% to all common unitholders and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights, until each unitholder receives a total of $0.2550 per unit for that quarter (the "third target distribution"); and



•

thereafter, 50% to all common unitholders and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights.

Percentage Allocations of Distributions From Operating Surplus

        The following table illustrates the percentage allocations of distributions from operating surplus between the unitholders and the holders of our incentive distribution rights based on the specified target distribution levels. The amounts set forth under the column heading "Marginal Percentage Interest in Distributions" are the percentage interests of the holders of our incentive distribution rights and the unitholders in any distributions from operating surplus we distribute up to and including the corresponding amount in the column "Total Quarterly Distribution Per Unit." The percentage interests shown for our unitholders and the holders of our incentive distribution rights for the minimum

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quarterly distribution are also applicable to quarterly distribution amounts that are less than the minimum quarterly distribution. The percentage interests set forth below assume there are no arrearages on common units.

Our General Partner's Right to Reset Incentive Distribution Levels

        Our general partner, as the current holder of our incentive distribution rights, has the right under our partnership agreement to elect to relinquish the right to receive incentive distribution payments based on the initial target distribution levels and to reset, at higher levels, the target distribution levels upon which the incentive distribution payments would be set. Our general partner's only cash generating asset is its interest in our incentive distribution rights. If our general partner transfers all or a portion of the incentive distribution rights in the future, then the holder or holders of a majority of our incentive distribution rights will be entitled to exercise this right. The following discussion assumes that our general partner continues to hold all of the incentive distribution rights at the time that a reset election is made.

        The right to reset the target distribution levels upon which the incentive distributions are based may be exercised, without approval of our unitholders or the conflicts committee of our general partner, at any time when there are no subordinated units outstanding and we have made cash distributions to the holders of the incentive distribution rights at the highest level of incentive distribution for the prior four consecutive fiscal quarters. The reset target distribution levels will be higher than the target distribution levels prior to the reset such that there will be no incentive distributions paid under the reset target distribution levels until cash distributions per unit following the reset event increase as described below. We anticipate that our general partner would exercise this reset right in order to facilitate acquisitions or internal growth projects that would otherwise not be sufficiently accretive to cash distributions per common unit, taking into account the existing levels of incentive distribution payments being made.

        In connection with the resetting of the target distribution levels and the corresponding relinquishment by our general partner of incentive distribution payments based on the target cash distributions prior to the reset, our general partner will be entitled to receive a number of newly issued common units based on the formula described below that takes into account the "cash parity" value of the cash distributions related to the incentive distribution rights for the quarter prior to the reset event as compared to the cash distribution per common unit in such quarter.

        The number of common units to be issued in connection with a resetting of the minimum quarterly distribution amount and the target distribution levels would equal the quotient determined by dividing (x) the amount of cash distributions received in respect of the incentive distribution rights for the fiscal quarter ended immediately prior to the date of such reset election by (y) the amount of cash distributed per common unit with respect to such quarter.

        Following a reset election, a baseline minimum quarterly distribution amount will be calculated as an amount equal to the cash distribution amount per unit for the fiscal quarter immediately preceding the reset election (which amount we refer to as the "reset minimum quarterly distribution") and the

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target distribution levels will be reset to be correspondingly higher such that we would make distributions from operating surplus for each quarter thereafter as follows:

•

first, to all common unitholders, pro rata, until each unitholder receives an amount per unit equal to 115% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for that quarter;



•

second, 85% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights, until each unitholder receives an amount per unit equal to 125% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter;



•

third, 75% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights, until each unitholder receives an amount per unit equal to 150% of the reset minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter; and



•

thereafter, 50% to all common unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights.

        Because a reset election can only occur after the subordination period expires, the reset minimum quarterly distribution will have no significance except as a baseline for the target distribution levels.

        The holders of our incentive distribution rights are entitled to cause the target distribution levels to be reset on more than one occasion. There are no restrictions on the ability of holders of our incentive distribution rights to exercise the reset right multiple times, but the requirements for exercise must be met each time. Because one of the requirements is that we make cash distributions in excess of the then-applicable third target distribution for the prior four consecutive fiscal quarters, a minimum of four quarters must elapse between each reset.

Distributions From Capital Surplus

How Distributions From Capital Surplus Will Be Made

        Our partnership agreement requires that we make distributions from capital surplus, if any, in the following manner:

•

first, to all common unitholders and subordinated unitholders, pro rata, until the minimum quarterly distribution is reduced to zero, as described below;



•

second, to the common unitholders, pro rata, until we distribute for each common unit an amount from capital surplus equal to any unpaid arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units; and



•

thereafter, we will make all distributions from capital surplus as if they were from operating surplus.

Effect of a Distribution From Capital Surplus

        Our partnership agreement treats a distribution of capital surplus as the repayment of the initial unit price from our IPO, which is a return of capital. Each time a distribution of capital surplus is made, the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels will be reduced in the same proportion as the distribution of capital surplus to the fair market value of the common units prior to the announcement of the distribution. Because distributions of capital surplus will reduce the minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels after any of these distributions are made, it may be easier for holders of our incentive distribution rights to receive incentive distributions and for the subordinated units to convert into common units. However, any distribution of capital surplus before the minimum quarterly distribution is reduced to zero cannot be applied to the payment of the minimum quarterly distribution or any arrearages.

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        Once we reduce the minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels to zero, all future distributions will be made such that 50% is paid to all unitholders, pro rata, and 50% is paid to the holder or holders of incentive distribution rights, pro rata.

Adjustment to the Minimum Quarterly Distribution and Target Distribution Levels

        In addition to adjusting the minimum quarterly distribution and target distribution levels to reflect a distribution of capital surplus, if we combine our common units into fewer common units or subdivide our common units into a greater number of common units, our partnership agreement specifies that the following items will be proportionately adjusted:

•

the minimum quarterly distribution;



•

the target distribution levels;



•

the initial unit price, as described below under "—Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation";



•

the per unit amount of any outstanding arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units; and



•

the number of subordinated units.

        For example, if a two-for-one split of the common units should occur, the minimum quarterly distribution, the target distribution levels and the initial unit price would each be reduced to 50% of its initial level. If we combine our common units into a lesser number of units or subdivide our common units into a greater number of units, we will combine or subdivide our subordinated units using the same ratio applied to the common units. We will not make any adjustment by reason of the issuance of additional units for cash or property.

        In addition, if, as a result of a change in law or interpretation thereof, we or any of our subsidiaries is treated as an association taxable as a corporation or is otherwise subject to additional taxation as an entity for U.S. federal, state, local or non-U.S. income or withholding tax purposes, our general partner may, in its sole discretion, reduce the minimum quarterly distribution and the target distribution levels for each quarter by multiplying each distribution level by a fraction, the numerator of which is cash for that quarter (after deducting our general partner's estimate of our additional aggregate liability for the quarter for such income and withholdings taxes payable by reason of such change in law or interpretation) and the denominator of which is the sum of (1) cash for that quarter, plus (2) our general partner's estimate of our additional aggregate liability for the quarter for such income and withholding taxes payable by reason of such change in law or interpretation thereof. To the extent that the actual tax liability differs from the estimated tax liability for any quarter, the difference will be accounted for in distributions with respect to subsequent quarters.

Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation

General

        If we dissolve in accordance with the partnership agreement, we will sell or otherwise dispose of our assets in a process called liquidation. We will first apply the proceeds of liquidation to the payment of our creditors. We will distribute any remaining proceeds to the unitholders and the holders of the incentive distribution rights, in accordance with their capital account balances, as adjusted to reflect any gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of our assets in liquidation.

        The allocations of gain and loss upon liquidation are intended, to the extent possible, to entitle the holders of units to a repayment of the initial value contributed by unitholders for their units, which we refer to as the "initial unit price" for each unit. The allocations of gain and loss upon liquidation are also intended, to the extent possible, to entitle the holders of common units to a preference over the

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holders of subordinated units upon our liquidation, to the extent required to permit common unitholders to receive their initial unit price plus the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which liquidation occurs plus any unpaid arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution on the common units. However, there may not be sufficient gain upon our liquidation to enable the common unitholders to fully recover all of these amounts, even though there may be cash available for distribution to the holders of subordinated units. Any further net gain recognized upon liquidation will be allocated in a manner that takes into account the incentive distribution rights.

Manner of Adjustments for Gain

        The manner of the adjustment for gain is set forth in the partnership agreement. If our liquidation occurs before the end of the subordination period, we will generally allocate any gain to the partners in the following manner:

•

first, to our general partner to the extent of certain prior losses specially allocated to our general partner;



•

second, to the common unitholders, pro rata, until the capital account for each common unit is equal to the sum of: (1) the initial unit price; (2) the amount of the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which our liquidation occurs; and (3) any unpaid arrearages in payment of the minimum quarterly distribution;



•

third, to the subordinated unitholders, pro rata, until the capital account for each subordinated unit is equal to the sum of: (1) the initial unit price; and (2) the amount of the minimum quarterly distribution for the quarter during which our liquidation occurs;



•

fourth, to all unitholders, pro rata, until we allocate under this bullet an amount per unit equal to: (1) the sum of the excess of the first target distribution per unit over the minimum quarterly distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less (2) the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions from operating surplus in excess of the minimum quarterly distribution per unit that we distributed to the unitholders, pro rata, for each quarter of our existence;



•

fifth, 85% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights, until we allocate under this bullet an amount per unit equal to: (1) the sum of the excess of the second target distribution per unit over the first target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less (2) the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions from operating surplus in excess of the first target distribution per unit that we distributed 85% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 15% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights for each quarter of our existence;



•

sixth, 75% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights, until we allocate under this bullet an amount per unit equal to: (1) the sum of the excess of the third target distribution per unit over the second target distribution per unit for each quarter of our existence; less (2) the cumulative amount per unit of any distributions from operating surplus in excess of the second target distribution per unit that we distributed 75% to the unitholders, pro rata, and 25% to the holders of our incentive distribution rights for each quarter of our existence; and



•

thereafter, 50% to all unitholders, pro rata, and 50% to holders of our incentive distribution rights.

        If the liquidation occurs after the end of the subordination period, the distinction between common units and subordinated units will disappear, so that clause (3) of the second bullet point above and all of the third bullet point above will no longer be applicable.

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        We may make special allocations of gain among the partners in a manner to create economic uniformity among the common units into which the subordinated units convert and the common units held by public unitholders.

Manner of Adjustments for Losses

        If our liquidation occurs before the end of the subordination period, we will generally allocate any loss to our general partner and the unitholders in the following manner:

•

first, to the holders of subordinated units in proportion to the positive balances in their capital accounts until the capital accounts of the subordinated unitholders have been reduced to zero;



•

second, to the holders of common units in proportion to the positive balances in their capital accounts, until the capital accounts of the common unitholders have been reduced to zero; and



•

thereafter, 100% to our general partner.

        If the liquidation occurs after the end of the subordination period, the distinction between common units and subordinated units will disappear, so that all of the first bullet point above will no longer be applicable.

        We may make special allocations of loss among the partners in a manner to create economic uniformity among the common units into which the subordinated units convert and the common units held by public unitholders.

Adjustments to Capital Accounts

        Our partnership agreement requires that we make adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units. In this regard, our partnership agreement specifies that we allocate any unrealized and, for federal income tax purposes, unrecognized gain resulting from the adjustments to the unitholders and the holders of our incentive distribution rights in the same manner as we allocate gain upon liquidation. In the event that we make positive adjustments to the capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units, our partnership agreement requires that we generally allocate any later negative adjustments to the capital accounts resulting from the issuance of additional units or upon our liquidation in a manner that results, to the extent possible, in the partners' capital account balances equaling the amount that they would have been if no earlier positive adjustments to the capital accounts had been made. In contrast to the allocations of gain, and except as provided above, we generally will allocate any unrealized and unrecognized loss resulting from the adjustments to capital accounts upon the issuance of additional units to the unitholders and the holders of our incentive distribution rights based on their respective percentage ownership of us. In this manner, prior to the end of the subordination period, we generally will allocate any such loss equally with respect to our common and subordinated units. If we make negative adjustments to the capital accounts as a result of such loss, future positive adjustments resulting from the issuance of additional units will be allocated in a manner designed to reverse the prior negative adjustments, and special allocations will be made upon liquidation in a manner that results, to the extent possible, in our unitholders' capital account balances equaling the amounts they would have been if no earlier adjustments for loss had been made.

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THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

        The following is a summary of the material provisions of our partnership agreement. We will provide investors and prospective investors with a copy of our partnership agreement upon request at no charge.

        We summarize the following provisions of our partnership agreement elsewhere in this prospectus:

•

with regard to distributions of cash available for distribution, please read "How We Make Distributions To Our Partners";



•

with regard to the transfer of common units, please read "Description of the Common Units—Transfer of Common Units"; and



•

with regard to allocations of taxable income and taxable loss, please read "Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences."

Organization and Duration

        We were organized in September 2013 as a Delaware limited liability company and converted into a Delaware limited partnership—Antero Midstream Partners LP—in connection with the contribution of Midstream Operating to us at the completion of our IPO. We will have a perpetual existence unless terminated pursuant to the terms of our partnership agreement.

Purpose

        Our purpose, as set forth in our partnership agreement, is limited to any business activity that is approved by our general partner and that lawfully may be conducted by a limited partnership organized under Delaware law; provided that our general partner shall not cause us to take any action that the general partner determines would be reasonably likely to cause us to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes.

        Although our general partner has the ability to cause us and our subsidiaries to engage in activities other than the midstream business, our general partner may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in good faith or in the best interests of us or the limited partners. Our general partner is generally authorized to perform all acts it determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out our purposes and to conduct our business.

Cash Distributions

        Our partnership agreement does not require us to pay distributions at any time or in any amount. Instead, the board of directors of our general partner has adopted a cash distribution policy that sets forth our general partner's intention with respect to the distributions to be made to unitholders.

        Our partnership agreement specifies the manner in which we will make cash distributions to holders of our common units and other partnership securities as well as to our general partner in respect of its incentive distribution rights. For a description of these cash distribution provisions, please read "How We Make Distributions To Our Partners."

Capital Contributions

        Unitholders are not obligated to make additional capital contributions, except as described below under "—Limited Liability."

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Voting Rights

        The following is a summary of the unitholder vote required for approval of the matters specified below. Matters that require the approval of a "unit majority" require:

•

during the subordination period, the approval of a majority of the common units, excluding those common units whose vote is controlled by our general partner or its affiliates, and a majority of the subordinated units, voting as separate classes; and



•

after the subordination period, the approval of a majority of the common units.

        In voting their common and subordinated units, our general partner and its affiliates will have no duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or the limited partners.

        The incentive distribution rights may be entitled to vote in certain circumstances.

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        If any person or group other than our general partner and its affiliates acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply to Antero Resources or to any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates and any transferees of that person or group approved by our general partner or to any person or group who acquires the units with the specific prior approval of our general partner.

Applicable Law; Forum, Venue and Jurisdiction

        Our partnership agreement is governed by Delaware law. Our partnership agreement requires that any claims, suits, actions or proceedings:

•

arising out of or relating in any way to the partnership agreement (including any claims, suits or actions to interpret, apply or enforce the provisions of the partnership agreement or the duties, obligations or liabilities among limited partners or of limited partners to us, or the rights or powers of, or restrictions on, the limited partners or us);



•

brought in a derivative manner on our behalf;



•

asserting a claim of breach of a duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of us or our general partner, or owed by our general partner, to us or the limited partners;



•

asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware Act; or



•

asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine

shall be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, any other court located in the State of Delaware with subject matter jurisdiction), regardless of whether such claims, suits, actions or proceedings sound in contract, tort, fraud or otherwise, are based on common law, statutory, equitable, legal or other grounds, or are derivative or direct claims. By purchasing a common unit, a limited partner is irrevocably consenting to these limitations and provisions regarding claims, suits, actions or proceedings and submitting to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or such other court) in connection with any such claims, suits, actions or proceedings.

Reimbursement of Partnership Litigation Costs

        Our partnership agreement provides that if a limited partner or any person holding a beneficial interest in us files a claim, suit, action or proceeding against us and does not obtain a judgment on the merits that substantially achieves, in substance and amount, the full remedy sought in any such claim, suit, action or proceeding, then such partner or person will be obligated to reimburse us and our affiliates for all fees, costs and expenses of every kind and description, including but not limited to all reasonable attorneys' fees and other litigation expenses, that the parties may incur in connection with such claim, suit, action or proceeding. By purchasing a common unit, a limited partner is irrevocably consenting to these reimbursement obligations as set forth in the partnership agreement.

Limited Liability

        Assuming that a limited partner does not participate in the control of our business within the meaning of the Delaware Act and that he otherwise acts in conformity with the provisions of the partnership agreement, his liability under the Delaware Act will be limited, subject to possible exceptions, to the amount of capital he is obligated to contribute to us for his common units plus his share of any undistributed profits and assets. However, if it were determined that the right, or exercise of the right, by the limited partners as a group:

•

to remove or replace our general partner;

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•

to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement; or



•

to take other action under our partnership agreement;

constituted "participation in the control" of our business for the purposes of the Delaware Act, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the laws of Delaware, to the same extent as our general partner. This liability would extend to persons who transact business with us under the reasonable belief that the limited partner is a general partner. Neither our partnership agreement nor the Delaware Act specifically provides for legal recourse against our general partner if a limited partner were to lose limited liability through any fault of our general partner. While this does not mean that a limited partner could not seek legal recourse, we know of no precedent for this type of a claim in Delaware case law.

        Under the Delaware Act, a limited partnership may not make a distribution to a partner if, after the distribution, all liabilities of the limited partnership, other than liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and liabilities for which the recourse of creditors is limited to specific property of the partnership, would exceed the fair value of the assets of the limited partnership, except that the fair value of property that is subject to a liability for which the recourse of creditors is limited is included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds that liability. For the purpose of determining the fair value of the assets of a limited partnership, the Delaware Act provides that the fair value of property subject to liability for which recourse of creditors is limited shall be included in the assets of the limited partnership only to the extent that the fair value of that property exceeds the nonrecourse liability. The Delaware Act provides that a limited partner who receives a distribution and knew at the time of the distribution that the distribution was in violation of the Delaware Act shall be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution for three years.

        Our subsidiary conducts business in several states and we may have subsidiaries that conduct business in other states or countries in the future. Maintenance of our limited liability as owner of our operating subsidiaries may require compliance with legal requirements in the jurisdictions in which the operating subsidiaries conduct business, including qualifying our subsidiaries to do business there.

        Limitations on the liability of members or limited partners for the obligations of a limited liability company or limited partnership have not been clearly established in many jurisdictions. If, by virtue of our ownership interest in our subsidiaries or otherwise, it were determined that we were conducting business in any jurisdiction without compliance with the applicable limited partnership or limited liability company statute, or that the right or exercise of the right by the limited partners as a group to remove or replace our general partner, to approve some amendments to our partnership agreement, or to take other action under our partnership agreement constituted "participation in the control" of our business for purposes of the statutes of any relevant jurisdiction, then the limited partners could be held personally liable for our obligations under the law of that jurisdiction to the same extent as our general partner under the circumstances. We will operate in a manner that our general partner considers reasonable and necessary or appropriate to preserve the limited liability of the limited partners.

Issuance of Additional Interests

        Our partnership agreement authorizes us to issue an unlimited number of additional partnership interests for the consideration and on the terms and conditions determined by our general partner without the approval of the unitholders.

        It is possible that we will fund acquisitions through the issuance of additional common units, subordinated units or other partnership interests. Holders of any additional common units we issue will be entitled to share equally with the then-existing common unitholders in our distributions. In addition,

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the issuance of additional common units or other partnership interests may dilute the value of the interests of the then-existing common unitholders in our net assets.

        In accordance with Delaware law and the provisions of our partnership agreement, we may also issue additional partnership interests that, as determined by our general partner, may have rights to distributions or special voting rights to which the common units are not entitled. In addition, our partnership agreement does not prohibit our subsidiaries from issuing equity interests, which may effectively rank senior to the common units.

        Our general partner will have the right, which it may from time to time assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates, to purchase common units, subordinated units or other partnership interests whenever, and on the same terms that, we issue partnership interests to persons other than our general partner and its affiliates, to the extent necessary to maintain the percentage interest of our general partner and its affiliates, including such interest represented by common and subordinated units, that existed immediately prior to each issuance. The common unitholders will not have preemptive rights under our partnership agreement to acquire additional common units or other partnership interests.

Amendment of the Partnership Agreement

General

        Amendments to our partnership agreement may be proposed only by our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to propose any amendment and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interests of us or the limited partners. In order to adopt a proposed amendment, other than the amendments discussed below, our general partner is required to seek written approval of the holders of the number of units required to approve the amendment or to call a meeting of the limited partners to consider and vote upon the proposed amendment. Except as described below, an amendment must be approved by a unit majority.

Prohibited Amendments

        No amendment may be made that would:

•

enlarge the obligations of any limited partner without his consent, unless approved by at least a majority of the type or class of limited partner interests so affected; or



•

enlarge the obligations of, restrict in any way any action by or rights of, or reduce in any way the amounts distributable, reimbursable or otherwise payable by us to our general partner or any of its affiliates without the consent of our general partner, which consent may be given or withheld in its sole discretion.

        The provision of our partnership agreement preventing the amendments having the effects described in the clauses above can be amended upon the approval of the holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units, voting as a single class (including units owned by our general partner and its affiliates). Antero Resources owns approximately 66.3% of our outstanding units, including all of our subordinated units.

No Unitholder Approval

        Our general partner may generally make amendments to our partnership agreement without the approval of any limited partner to reflect:

•

a change in our name, the location of our principal place of business, our registered agent or our registered office;

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•

the admission, substitution, withdrawal or removal of partners in accordance with our partnership agreement;



•

a change that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate to qualify or continue our qualification as a limited partnership or other entity in which the limited partners have limited liability under the laws of any state or to ensure that neither we nor any of our subsidiaries will be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxed as an entity for federal income tax purposes (to the extent not already so treated or taxed);



•

an amendment that is necessary, in the opinion of our counsel, to prevent us or our general partner or its directors, officers, agents or trustees from in any manner being subjected to the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 or "plan asset" regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), whether or not substantially similar to plan asset regulations currently applied or proposed;



•

an amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate in connection with the creation, authorization or issuance of additional partnership interests or the right to acquire partnership interests;



•

any amendment expressly permitted in our partnership agreement to be made by our general partner acting alone;



•

an amendment effected, necessitated or contemplated by a merger agreement that has been approved under the terms of our partnership agreement;



•

any amendment that our general partner determines to be necessary or appropriate for the formation by us of, or our investment in, any corporation, partnership or other entity, as otherwise permitted by our partnership agreement;



•

a change in our fiscal year or taxable year and related changes;



•

conversions into, mergers with or conveyances to another limited liability entity that is newly formed and has no assets, liabilities or operations at the time of the conversion, merger or conveyance other than those it receives by way of the conversion, merger or conveyance; or



•

any other amendments substantially similar to any of the matters described in the clauses above.

        In addition, our general partner may make amendments to our partnership agreement, without the approval of any limited partner, if our general partner determines that those amendments:

•

do not adversely affect the limited partners, considered as a whole, or any particular class of partnership interests as compared to other classes of partnership interests in any material respect;



•

are necessary or appropriate to satisfy any requirements, conditions or guidelines contained in any opinion, directive, order, ruling or regulation of any federal or state agency or judicial authority or contained in any federal or state statute;



•

are necessary or appropriate to facilitate the trading of limited partner interests or to comply with any rule, regulation, guideline or requirement of any securities exchange on which the limited partner interests are or will be listed for trading;



•

are necessary or appropriate for any action taken by our general partner relating to splits or combinations of units under the provisions of our partnership agreement; or



•

are required to effect the intent expressed in this prospectus or the intent of the provisions of our partnership agreement or are otherwise contemplated by our partnership agreement.

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Opinion of Counsel and Unitholder Approval

        Any amendment that our general partner determines adversely affects in any material respect one or more particular classes of limited partners, and is not permitted to be adopted by our general partner without limited partner approval, will require the approval of at least a majority of the class or classes so affected, but no vote will be required by any class or classes of limited partners that our general partner determines are not adversely affected in any material respect. Any such amendment that would have a material adverse effect on the rights or preferences of any type or class of outstanding units in relation to other classes of units will require the approval of at least a majority of the type or class of units so affected. Any such amendment that would reduce the voting percentage required to take any action other than to remove the general partner or call a meeting of unitholders is required to be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the voting requirement sought to be reduced. Any such amendment that would increase the percentage of units required to remove the general partner or call a meeting of unitholders must be approved by the affirmative vote of limited partners whose aggregate outstanding units constitute not less than the percentage sought to be increased. For amendments of the type not requiring unitholder approval, our general partner will not be required to obtain an opinion of counsel that an amendment will neither result in a loss of limited liability to the limited partners nor result in our being treated as a taxable entity for federal income tax purposes in connection with any of the amendments. No other amendments to our partnership agreement will become effective without the approval of holders of at least 90% of the outstanding units, voting as a single class, unless we first obtain an opinion of counsel to the effect that the amendment will not affect the limited liability under applicable law of any of our limited partners.

Merger, Consolidation, Conversion, Sale or Other Disposition of Assets

        A merger, consolidation or conversion of us requires the prior consent of our general partner. However, our general partner will have no duty or obligation to consent to any merger, consolidation or conversion and may decline to do so free of any duty or obligation whatsoever to us or the limited partners, including any duty to act in the best interest of us or the limited partners.

        In addition, our partnership agreement generally prohibits our general partner, without the prior approval of the holders of a unit majority, from causing us to sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets in a single transaction or a series of related transactions, including by way of merger, consolidation or other combination. Our general partner may, however, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or grant a security interest in all or substantially all of our assets without such approval. Our general partner may also sell all or substantially all of our assets under a foreclosure or other realization upon those encumbrances without such approval. Finally, our general partner may consummate any merger without the prior approval of our unitholders if we are the surviving entity in the transaction, our general partner has received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters, the transaction would not result in a material amendment to the partnership agreement (other than an amendment that the general partner could adopt without the consent of other partners), each of our units will be an identical unit of our partnership following the transaction and the partnership interests to be issued do not exceed 20% of our outstanding partnership interests (other than incentive distribution rights) immediately prior to the transaction.

        If the conditions specified in our partnership agreement are satisfied, our general partner may convert us or any of our subsidiaries into a new limited liability entity or merge us or any of our subsidiaries into, or convey all of our assets to, a newly formed entity, if the sole purpose of that conversion, merger or conveyance is to effect a mere change in our legal form into another limited liability entity, we have received an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters and the governing instruments of the new entity provide the limited partners and our general partner with the same rights and obligations as contained in our partnership agreement. Our unitholders are not

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entitled to dissenters' rights of appraisal under our partnership agreement or applicable Delaware law in the event of a conversion, merger or consolidation, a sale of substantially all of our assets or any other similar transaction or event.

Dissolution

        We will continue as a limited partnership until dissolved under our partnership agreement. We will dissolve upon:

•

the election of our general partner to dissolve us, if approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority;



•

there being no limited partners, unless we are continued without dissolution in accordance with applicable Delaware law;



•

the entry of a decree of judicial dissolution of our partnership; or



•

the withdrawal or removal of our general partner or any other event that results in its ceasing to be our general partner other than by reason of a transfer of its general partner interest in accordance with our partnership agreement or its withdrawal or removal following the approval and admission of a successor.

        Upon a dissolution under the last clause above, the holders of a unit majority may also elect, within specific time limitations, to continue our business on the same terms and conditions described in our partnership agreement by appointing as a successor general partner an entity approved by the holders of units representing a unit majority, subject to our receipt of an opinion of counsel to the effect that:

•

the action would not result in the loss of limited liability under Delaware law of any limited partner; and



•

neither our partnership nor any of our subsidiaries would be treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise be taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes upon the exercise of that right to continue (to the extent not already so treated or taxed).

Liquidation and Distribution of Proceeds

        Upon our dissolution, unless our business is continued, the liquidator authorized to wind up our affairs will, acting with all of the powers of our general partner that are necessary or appropriate, liquidate our assets and apply the proceeds of the liquidation as described in "How We Make Distributions To Our Partners—Distributions of Cash Upon Liquidation." The liquidator may defer liquidation or distribution of our assets for a reasonable period of time or distribute assets to partners in kind if it determines that a sale would be impractical or would cause undue loss to our partners.

Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner

        Our general partner may withdraw as general partner in compliance with our partnership agreement after giving 90 days' written notice to our unitholders.

        Upon withdrawal of our general partner under any circumstances, other than as a result of a transfer by our general partner of all or a part of its general partner interest in us, the holders of a unit majority may select a successor to that withdrawing general partner. If a successor is not elected, or is elected but an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters cannot be obtained, we will be dissolved, wound up and liquidated, unless within a specified period after that withdrawal the holders of a unit majority agree in writing to continue our business and to appoint a successor general partner. Please read "—Dissolution."

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        Our general partner may not be removed unless that removal is for cause and is approved by the vote of the holders of not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding units, voting together as a single class, including units held by our general partner and its affiliates, and we receive an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters. Any removal of our general partner is also subject to the approval of a successor general partner by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding common units, voting as a class, and the outstanding subordinated units, voting as a class. The ownership of more than 33 1/3% of the outstanding units by our general partner and its affiliates gives them the ability to prevent our general partner's removal. Antero Resources owns approximately 66.3% of our outstanding units, including all of our subordinated units.

        In the event of the removal of our general partner or withdrawal of our general partner where that withdrawal violates our partnership agreement, a successor general partner will have the option to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and its affiliates for a cash payment equal to the fair market value of that interest. Under all other circumstances where our general partner withdraws, the departing general partner will have the option to require the successor general partner to purchase the general partner interest of the departing general partner and its affiliates for fair market value. In each case, this fair market value will be determined by agreement between the departing general partner and the successor general partner. If no agreement is reached, an independent investment banking firm or other independent expert selected by the departing general partner and the successor general partner will determine the fair market value. Or, if the departing general partner and the successor general partner cannot agree upon an expert, then an expert chosen by agreement of the experts selected by each of them will determine the fair market value.

        If the option described above is not exercised by either the departing general partner or the successor general partner, the departing general partner's general partner interest automatically converts into common units equal to the fair market value of those interests as determined by an investment banking firm or other independent expert selected in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.

        In addition, we will be required to reimburse the departing general partner for all amounts due the departing general partner, including, without limitation, all employee-related liabilities, including severance liabilities, incurred as a result of the termination of any employees employed for our benefit by the departing general partner or its affiliates.

Transfer of General Partner Interest

        At any time, our general partner may transfer all or any of its general partner interest to another person without the approval of our common unitholders. As a condition of this transfer, the transferee must, among other things, assume the rights and duties of our general partner, agree to be bound by the provisions of our partnership agreement and furnish an opinion of counsel regarding limited liability and tax matters.

Transfer of Ownership Interests in the General Partner

        At any time, the owner of our general partner may sell or transfer all or part of its ownership interests in our general partner to an affiliate or third party without the approval of our unitholders.

Transfer of Subordinated Units and Incentive Distribution Rights

        By transfer of subordinated units or incentive distribution rights in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of subordinated units or incentive distribution rights will be admitted as a

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limited partner with respect to the subordinated units or incentive distribution rights transferred when such transfer and admission is reflected in our books and records. Each transferee:

•

represents that the transferee has the capacity, power and authority to become bound by our partnership agreement;



•

automatically becomes bound by the terms and conditions of our partnership agreement; and



•

gives the consents, waivers and approvals contained in our partnership agreement, such as the approval of all transactions and agreements we entered into in connection with our formation and our IPO.

        Our general partner will cause any transfers to be recorded on our books and records no less frequently than quarterly.

        We may, at our discretion, treat the nominee holder of subordinated units or incentive distribution rights as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holder's rights are limited solely to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.

        Subordinated units and incentive distribution rights are securities and any transfers are subject to the laws governing transfer of securities. In addition to other rights acquired upon transfer, the transferor gives the transferee the right to become a limited partner for the transferred subordinated units or incentive distribution rights.

        Until a subordinated unit or incentive distribution right has been transferred on our books, we and the transfer agent may treat the record holder of the unit or right as the absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law.

Change of Management Provisions

        Our partnership agreement contains specific provisions that are intended to discourage a person or group from attempting to remove Antero Resources Midstream Management LLC as our general partner or from otherwise changing our management. Please read "—Withdrawal or Removal of Our General Partner" for a discussion of certain consequences of the removal of our general partner. If any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, acquires beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units, that person or group loses voting rights on all of its units. This loss of voting rights does not apply to any person or group that acquires the units from our general partner or its affiliates or any transferees of that person or group who are notified by our general partner that they will not lose their voting rights or to any person or group who acquires the units with the prior approval of the board of directors of our general partner. Please read "—Meetings; Voting."

Limited Call Right

        If at any time our general partner and its affiliates own more than 80% of the then-issued and outstanding limited partner interests of any class, our general partner will have the right, which it may assign in whole or in part to any of its affiliates or to us, to acquire all, but not less than all, of the limited partner interests of the class held by unaffiliated persons, as of a record date to be selected by our general partner, on at least 10, but not more than 60, days' notice.

        The purchase price in the event of this purchase is the greater of:

•

the highest price paid by our general partner or any of its affiliates for any limited partner interests of the class purchased within the 90 days preceding the date on which our general partner first mails notice of its election to purchase those limited partner interests; and

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•

the average of the daily closing prices of the partnership securities of such class over the 20 trading days preceding the date that is three days before the date the notice is mailed.

        As a result of our general partner's right to purchase outstanding limited partner interests, a holder of limited partner interests may have his limited partner interests purchased at an undesirable time or at a price that may be lower than market prices at various times prior to such purchase or lower than a unitholder may anticipate the market price to be in the future. The tax consequences to a unitholder of the exercise of this call right are the same as a sale by that unitholder of his common units in the market. Please read "Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences—Disposition of Units."

Non-Taxpaying Holders; Redemption

        To avoid any adverse effect on the maximum applicable rates chargeable to customers by us or any of our future subsidiaries, or in order to reverse an adverse determination that has occurred regarding such maximum rate, our partnership agreement provides our general partner the power to amend our partnership agreement. If our general partner, with the advice of counsel, determines that our not being treated as an association taxable as a corporation or otherwise taxable as an entity for federal income tax purposes, coupled with the tax status (or lack of proof thereof) of one or more of our limited partners (or their owners, to the extent relevant), has, or is reasonably likely to have, a material adverse effect on the maximum applicable rates chargeable to customers by us or our subsidiaries, then our general partner may adopt such amendments to our partnership agreement as it determines necessary or advisable to:

•

obtain proof of the federal income tax status of our limited partners (and their owners, to the extent relevant); and



•

permit us to redeem the units held by any person whose tax status has or is reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the maximum applicable rates or who fails to comply with the procedures instituted by our general partner to obtain proof of such person's federal income tax status. The redemption price in the case of such a redemption will be the average of the daily closing prices per unit for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately prior to the date set for redemption.

Non-Citizen Assignees; Redemption

        If our general partner, with the advice of counsel, determines we are subject to federal, state or local laws or regulations that, in the reasonable determination of our general partner, create a substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property that we have an interest in because of the nationality, citizenship or other related status of any limited partner (or its owners, to the extent relevant), then our general partner may adopt such amendments to our partnership agreement as it determines necessary or advisable to:

•

obtain proof of the nationality, citizenship or other related status of our limited partners (or their owners, to the extent relevant); and



•

permit us to redeem the units held by any person whose nationality, citizenship or other related status creates substantial risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any property or who fails to comply with the procedures instituted by the general partner to obtain proof of the nationality, citizenship or other related status. The redemption price in the case of such a redemption will be the average of the daily closing prices per unit for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately prior to the date set for redemption.

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Meetings; Voting

        Except as described below regarding a person or group owning 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, record holders of units on the record date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, meetings of our limited partners and to act upon matters for which approvals may be solicited.

        Our general partner does not anticipate that any meeting of our unitholders will be called in the foreseeable future. Any action that is required or permitted to be taken by the unitholders may be taken either at a meeting of the unitholders or without a meeting if consents in writing describing the action so taken are signed by holders of the number of units necessary to authorize or take that action at a meeting. Meetings of the unitholders may be called by our general partner or by unitholders owning at least 20% of the outstanding units of the class for which a meeting is proposed. Unitholders may vote either in person or by proxy at meetings. The holders of a majority of the outstanding units of the class or classes for which a meeting has been called, represented in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum, unless any action by the unitholders requires approval by holders of a greater percentage of the units, in which case the quorum will be the greater percentage. Our general partner may postpone any meeting of unitholders one or more times for any reason by giving notice to the unitholders entitled to vote at such meeting. Our general partner may also adjourn any meeting of unitholders one or more times for any reason, including the absence of a quorum, without a vote of the unitholders.

        Each record holder of a unit has a vote according to his percentage interest in us, although additional limited partner interests having special voting rights could be issued. Please read "—Issuance of Additional Interests." However, if at any time any person or group, other than our general partner and its affiliates, or a direct or subsequently approved transferee of our general partner or its affiliates and purchasers specifically approved by our general partner, acquires, in the aggregate, beneficial ownership of 20% or more of any class of units then outstanding, that person or group will lose voting rights on all of its units and the units may not be voted on any matter and will not be considered to be outstanding when sending notices of a meeting of unitholders, calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum or for other similar purposes. Common units held in nominee or street name account will be voted by the broker or other nominee in accordance with the instruction of the beneficial owner unless the arrangement between the beneficial owner and his nominee provides otherwise. Except as our partnership agreement otherwise provides, subordinated units will vote together with common units, as a single class.

        Any notice, demand, request, report or proxy material required or permitted to be given or made to record common unitholders under our partnership agreement will be delivered to the record holder by us or by the transfer agent.

Voting Rights of Incentive Distribution Rights

        If a majority of the incentive distribution rights are held by our general partner, the holders of the incentive distribution rights will have no right to vote in respect of such rights on any matter, unless otherwise required by law, and the holders of the incentive distribution rights shall be deemed to have approved any matter approved by our general partner.

        If less than a majority of the incentive distribution rights are held by our general partner, the incentive distribution rights will be entitled to vote on all matters submitted to a vote of unitholders, other than amendments and other matters that our general partner determines do not adversely affect the holders of the incentive distribution rights in any material respect. On any matter in which the holders of incentive distribution rights are entitled to vote, such holders will vote together with the subordinated units, prior to the end of the subordination period, or together with the common units, thereafter, in either case as a single class, and such incentive distribution rights shall be treated in all respects as subordinated units or common units, as applicable, when sending notices of a meeting of

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our limited partners to vote on any matter (unless otherwise required by law), calculating required votes, determining the presence of a quorum or for other similar purposes under our partnership agreement. The relative voting power of the holders of the incentive distribution rights and the subordinated units or common units, depending on which class the holders of incentive distribution rights are voting with, will be set in the same proportion as cumulative cash distributions, if any, in respect of the incentive distribution rights for the four consecutive quarters prior to the record date for the vote bears to the cumulative cash distributions in respect of such class of units for such four quarters.

Status as Limited Partner

        By transfer of common units in accordance with our partnership agreement, each transferee of common units shall be admitted as a limited partner with respect to the common units transferred when such transfer and admission are reflected in our books and records. Except as described under "—Limited Liability," the common units will be fully paid, and unitholders will not be required to make additional contributions.

Indemnification

        Under our partnership agreement, in most circumstances, we will indemnify the following persons, to the fullest extent permitted by law, from and against all losses, claims, damages or similar events:

•

our general partner;



•

any departing general partner;



•

any person who is or was an affiliate of our general partner or any departing general partner;



•

any person who is or was a manager, managing member, general partner, director, officer, fiduciary or trustee of our partnership, our subsidiaries, our general partner, any departing general partner or any of their affiliates;



•

any person who is or was serving as a manager, managing member, general partner, director, officer, employee, agent, fiduciary or trustee of another person owing a fiduciary duty to us or our subsidiaries;



•

any person who controls our general partner or any departing general partner; and



•

any person designated by our general partner.

        Any indemnification under these provisions will only be out of our assets. Unless our general partner otherwise agrees, it will not be personally liable for, or have any obligation to contribute or lend funds or assets to us to enable us to effectuate, indemnification. We may purchase insurance against liabilities asserted against and expenses incurred by persons for our activities, regardless of whether we would have the power to indemnify the person against liabilities under our partnership agreement.

Reimbursement of Expenses

        Our partnership agreement requires us to reimburse our general partner for all direct and indirect expenses it incurs or payments it makes on our behalf and all other expenses allocable to us or otherwise incurred by our general partner in connection with operating our business. Our partnership agreement does not set a limit on the amount of expenses for which our general partner and its affiliates may be reimbursed. These expenses include salary, bonus, incentive compensation and other amounts paid to persons who perform services for us or on our behalf and expenses allocated to our

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general partner by its affiliates. Our general partner is entitled to determine in good faith the expenses that are allocable to us.

Books and Reports

        Our general partner is required to keep appropriate books of our business at our principal offices. These books will be maintained for both tax and financial reporting purposes on an accrual basis. For tax and fiscal reporting purposes, our fiscal year is the calendar year.

        We will furnish or make available to record holders of our common units, within 105 days after the close of each fiscal year, an annual report containing audited financial statements and a report on those financial statements by our independent public accountants. Except for our fourth quarter, we will also furnish or make available summary financial information within 50 days after the close of each quarter. We will be deemed to have made any such report available if we file such report with the SEC on EDGAR or make the report available on a publicly available website that we maintain.

        We will furnish each record holder with information reasonably required for federal and state tax reporting purposes within 90 days after the close of each calendar year. This information is expected to be furnished in summary form so that some complex calculations normally required of partners can be avoided. Our ability to furnish this summary information to our unitholders will depend on their cooperation in supplying us with specific information. Every unitholder will receive information to assist him in determining his federal and state tax liability and in filing his federal and state income tax returns, regardless of whether he supplies us with the necessary information.

Right to Inspect Our Books and Records

        Our partnership agreement provides that a limited partner can, for a purpose reasonably related to his interest as a limited partner, upon reasonable written demand stating the purpose of such demand and at his own expense, have furnished to him:

•

a current list of the name and last known address of each record holder; and



•

copies of our partnership agreement, our certificate of limited partnership, related amendments and powers of attorney under which they have been executed.

        Under our partnership agreement, however, each of our limited partners and other persons who acquire interests in our partnership interests, do not have rights to receive information from us or any of the persons we indemnify as described above under "—Indemnification" for the purpose of determining whether to pursue litigation or assist in pending litigation against us or those indemnified persons relating to our affairs, except pursuant to the applicable rules of discovery relating to the litigation commenced by the person seeking information.

        Our general partner may, and intends to, keep confidential from the limited partners trade secrets or other information the disclosure of which our general partner determines is not in our best interests or that we are required by law or by agreements with third parties to keep confidential. Our partnership agreement limits the rights to information that a limited partner would otherwise have under Delaware law.

Registration Rights

        Under our partnership agreement, we have agreed to register for resale under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws any common units, subordinated units or other limited partner interests proposed to be sold by our general partner or any of its affiliates or their assignees if an exemption from the registration requirements is not otherwise available. These registration rights

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continue for two years following any withdrawal or removal of our general partner. We are obligated to pay all expenses incidental to the registration, excluding underwriting discounts.

        In addition, in connection with the completion of our IPO, we entered into a registration rights agreement with Antero Resources. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement, we are required to file a registration statement to register the common units and subordinated units issued to Antero Resources and the common units issuable upon the conversion of the subordinated units upon request of Antero Resources. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement and our partnership agreement, we may be required to undertake a future public or private offering and use the proceeds (net of underwriting or placement agency discounts, fees and commissions, as applicable) to redeem an equal number of common units from them. In addition, the registration rights agreement gives Antero Resources "piggyback" registration rights under certain circumstances. The registration rights agreement also includes provisions dealing with holdback agreements, indemnification and contribution and allocation of expenses. These registration rights are transferable to affiliates of Antero Resources and, in certain circumstances, to third parties.

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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

        This section is a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to prospective unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and, unless otherwise noted in the following discussion, is the opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP, counsel to our general partner and us, insofar as it relates to legal conclusions with respect to matters of U.S. federal income tax law. This section is based upon current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Internal Revenue Code"), existing and proposed Treasury regulations promulgated under the Internal Revenue Code (the "Treasury Regulations") and current administrative rulings and court decisions, all of which are subject to change. Later changes in these authorities may cause the tax consequences to vary substantially from the consequences described below. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this section to "us" or "we" are references to Antero Midstream Partners LP and our operating subsidiaries.

        The following discussion does not comment on all federal income tax matters affecting us or our unitholders and does not describe the application of the alternative minimum tax that may be applicable to certain unitholders. Moreover, the discussion focuses on unitholders who are individual citizens or residents of the United States and has only limited application to corporations, estates, entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, trusts, nonresident aliens, U.S. expatriates and former citizens or long-term residents of the United States or other unitholders subject to specialized tax treatment, such as banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, tax-exempt institutions, foreign persons (including, without limitation, controlled foreign corporations, passive foreign investment companies and foreign persons eligible for the benefits of an applicable income tax treaty with the United States), individual retirement accounts ("IRAs"), real estate investment trusts ("REITs") or mutual funds, dealers in securities or currencies, traders in securities, U.S. persons whose "functional currency" is not the U.S. dollar, persons holding their units as part of a "straddle," "hedge," "conversion transaction" or other risk reduction transaction, and persons deemed to sell their units under the constructive sale provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, the discussion only comments, to a limited extent, on state, local, and foreign tax consequences. Accordingly, we encourage each prospective unitholder to consult his own tax advisor in analyzing the state, local and foreign tax consequences particular to him of the ownership or disposition of common units and potential changes in applicable laws.

        We have requested and received a private letter ruling from the IRS to the effect that certain of our income constitutes qualifying income, as described further below. In addition, we will rely on opinions of Latham & Watkins LLP. Unlike a ruling, an opinion of counsel represents only that counsel's best legal judgment and does not bind the IRS or the courts. Accordingly, the opinions and statements made herein may not be sustained by a court if contested by the IRS. Any contest of this sort with the IRS may materially and adversely impact the market for our common units, including the prices at which our common units trade. In addition, the costs of any contest with the IRS, principally legal, accounting and related fees, will result in a reduction in cash available for distribution to our unitholders and thus will be borne indirectly by our unitholders. Furthermore, the tax treatment of us, or of an investment in us, may be significantly modified by future legislative or administrative changes or court decisions. Any modifications may or may not be retroactively applied.

        All statements as to matters of federal income tax law and legal conclusions with respect thereto, but not as to factual matters, contained in this section, unless otherwise noted, are the opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP and are based on the accuracy of the representations made by us and our general partner.

        Notwithstanding the above, and for the reasons described below, Latham & Watkins LLP has not rendered an opinion with respect to the following specific federal income tax issues: (i) the treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units (please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales"); (ii) whether all

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aspects of our method for allocating taxable income and losses is permitted by existing Treasury Regulations (please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees"); and (iii) whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable in certain cases (please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election" and "—Uniformity of Units").

Partnership Status

        A partnership is not a taxable entity and incurs no federal income tax liability. Instead, each partner of a partnership is required to take into account his share of items of income, gain, loss and deduction of the partnership in computing his federal income tax liability, regardless of whether cash distributions are made to him by the partnership. Distributions by a partnership to a partner are generally not taxable to the partnership or the partner unless the amount of cash distributed to him is in excess of the partner's adjusted basis in his partnership interest. Section 7704 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that publicly traded partnerships will, as a general rule, be taxed as corporations. However, an exception, referred to as the "Qualifying Income Exception," exists with respect to publicly traded partnerships of which 90% or more of the gross income for every taxable year consists of "qualifying income." Qualifying income includes income and gains derived from the transportation, storage and processing of certain minerals and natural resources, including crude oil, natural gas and other products of a type that are produced in a petroleum refinery or natural gas processing plant, the retail and wholesale marketing of propane, the transportation of propane and natural gas liquids, certain related hedging activities, certain activities that are intrinsic to other qualifying activities, including certain fluid handling activities, and our allocable share of our subsidiaries' income from these sources. Other types of qualifying income include interest (other than from a financial business), dividends, gains from the sale of real property and gains from the sale or other disposition of capital assets held for the production of income that otherwise constitutes qualifying income. We estimate that less than 2% of our current gross income is not qualifying income; however, this estimate could change from time to time. Based upon and subject to this estimate, the factual representations made by us and our general partner and a review of the applicable legal authorities, Latham & Watkins LLP is of the opinion that at least 90% of our current gross income constitutes qualifying income. The portion of our income that is qualifying income may change from time to time.

        The IRS has made no determination as to our status or the status of our operating subsidiaries for federal income tax purposes. Instead, we will rely on the opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP on such matters. It is the opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP that, based upon the Internal Revenue Code, its regulations, published revenue rulings and court decisions and the representations described below that:

•

We will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; and



•

Each of our operating subsidiaries will, except as otherwise identified to Latham & Watkins LLP, be disregarded as an entity separate from us or will be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.

        In rendering its opinion, Latham & Watkins LLP has relied on factual representations made by us and our general partner. The representations made by us and our general partner upon which Latham & Watkins LLP has relied include:

•

Neither we nor any of our partnership or limited liability company subsidiaries, other than those identified as such to Latham & Watkins LLP, have elected or intends to elect to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes;



•

All of the information submitted and representations made to the IRS in connection with our private letter ruling were true, correct and complete in all respects when made and continue to be true; and

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•

For each taxable year, more than 90% of our gross income has been and will be income of the type that Latham & Watkins LLP has opined or will opine is "qualifying income" within the meaning of Section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code.

        We believe that these representations have been true in the past and expect that these representations will continue to be true in the future.

        If we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery (in which case the IRS may also require us to make adjustments with respect to our unitholders or pay other amounts), we will be treated as if we had transferred all of our assets, subject to liabilities, to a newly formed corporation, on the first day of the year in which we fail to meet the Qualifying Income Exception, in return for stock in that corporation, and then distributed that stock to the unitholders in liquidation of their interests in us. This deemed contribution and liquidation should be tax-free to unitholders and us so long as we, at that time, do not have liabilities in excess of the tax basis of our assets. Thereafter, we would be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes.

        If we were treated as an association taxable as a corporation in any taxable year, either as a result of a failure to meet the Qualifying Income Exception or otherwise, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction would be reflected only on our tax return rather than being passed through to our unitholders, and our net income would be taxed to us at corporate rates. In addition, any distribution made to a unitholder would be treated as taxable dividend income, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, or, in the absence of earnings and profits, a nontaxable return of capital, to the extent of the unitholder's tax basis in his common units, or taxable capital gain, after the unitholder's tax basis in his common units is reduced to zero. Accordingly, taxation as a corporation would result in a material reduction in a unitholder's cash flow and after-tax return and thus would likely result in a substantial reduction of the value of the units.

        The discussion below is based on Latham & Watkins LLP's opinion that we will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes.

Limited Partner Status

        Unitholders of Antero Midstream Partners LP will be treated as partners of Antero Midstream Partners LP for federal income tax purposes. Also, unitholders whose common units are held in street name or by a nominee and who have the right to direct the nominee in the exercise of all substantive rights attendant to the ownership of their common units will be treated as partners of Antero Midstream Partners LP for federal income tax purposes.

        A beneficial owner of common units whose units have been transferred to a short seller to complete a short sale would appear to lose his status as a partner with respect to those units for federal income tax purposes. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Treatment of Short Sales."

        Income, gains, losses or deductions would not appear to be reportable by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes, and any cash distributions received by a unitholder who is not a partner for federal income tax purposes would therefore appear to be fully taxable as ordinary income. These holders are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences to them of holding common units in Antero Midstream Partners LP. The references to "unitholders" in the discussion that follows are to persons who are treated as partners in Antero Midstream Partners LP for federal income tax purposes.

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Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership

Flow-Through of Taxable Income

        Subject to the discussion below under "—Entity-Level Collections," we will not pay any federal income tax. Instead, each unitholder will be required to report on his income tax return his share of our income, gains, losses and deductions without regard to whether we make cash distributions to him. Consequently, we may allocate income to a unitholder even if he has not received a cash distribution. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his allocable share of our income, gains, losses and deductions for our taxable year ending with or within his taxable year. Our taxable year ends on December 31.

Treatment of Distributions

        Distributions by us to a unitholder generally will not be taxable to the unitholder for federal income tax purposes, except to the extent the amount of any such cash distribution exceeds his tax basis in his common units immediately before the distribution. Our cash distributions in excess of a unitholder's tax basis generally will be considered to be gain from the sale or exchange of the common units, taxable in accordance with the rules described under "—Disposition of Common Units." Any reduction in a unitholder's share of our liabilities for which no partner, including the general partner, bears the economic risk of loss, known as "nonrecourse liabilities," will be treated as a distribution by us of cash to that unitholder. To the extent our distributions cause a unitholder's "at-risk" amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year, he must recapture any losses deducted in previous years. Please read "—Limitations on Deductibility of Losses."

        A decrease in a unitholder's percentage interest in us because of our issuance of additional common units will decrease his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, and thus will result in a corresponding deemed distribution of cash. This deemed distribution may constitute a non-pro rata distribution. A non-pro rata distribution of money or property may result in ordinary income to a unitholder, regardless of his tax basis in his common units, if the distribution reduces the unitholder's share of our "unrealized receivables," including depreciation, recapture and/or substantially appreciated "inventory items," each as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, and collectively, "Section 751 Assets." To that extent, the unitholder will be treated as having been distributed his proportionate share of the Section 751 Assets and then having exchanged those assets with us in return for the non-pro rata portion of the actual distribution made to him. This latter deemed exchange will generally result in the unitholder's realization of ordinary income, which will equal the excess of (i) the non-pro rata portion of that distribution over (ii) the unitholder's tax basis (often zero) for the share of Section 751 Assets deemed relinquished in the exchange.

Ratio of Taxable Income to Distributions

        We estimate that a purchaser of common units in this offering who owns those common units from the date of closing of this offering through the record date for distributions for the period ending December 31, 2019, will be allocated, on a cumulative basis, an amount of federal taxable income for that period that will be 20% or less of the cash distributed with respect to that period. Thereafter, we anticipate that the ratio of allocable taxable income to cash distributions to the unitholders will increase. Our estimate is based upon many assumptions regarding our business operations, including assumptions as to our revenues, capital expenditures, cash flow, net working capital and anticipated cash distributions. These estimates and assumptions are subject to, among other things, numerous business, economic, regulatory, legislative, competitive and political uncertainties beyond our control. Further, the estimates are based on current tax law and tax reporting positions that we will adopt and with which the IRS could disagree. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that these estimates will prove to be correct.

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        The actual ratio of allocable taxable income to cash distributions could be higher or lower than expected, and any differences could be material and could materially affect the value of the common units. For example, the ratio of allocable taxable income to cash distributions to a purchaser of common units in this offering will be higher, and perhaps substantially higher, than our estimate with respect to the period described above if:

•

gross income from operations exceeds the amount required to make minimum quarterly distributions on all units, yet we only distribute the minimum quarterly distributions on all units; or



•

we make a future offering of common units and use the proceeds of the offering in a manner that does not produce substantial additional deductions during the period described above, such as to repay indebtedness outstanding at the time of this offering or to acquire property that is not eligible for depreciation or amortization for federal income tax purposes or that is depreciable or amortizable at a rate significantly slower than the rate applicable to our assets at the time of this offering.

Basis of Common Units

        A unitholder's initial tax basis for his common units will be the amount he paid for the common units plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be increased by his share of our income and by any increases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. That basis will be decreased, but not below zero, by distributions from us, by the unitholder's share of our losses, by any decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities and by his share of our expenditures that are not deductible in computing taxable income and are not required to be capitalized. Please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss."

Limitations on Deductibility of Losses

        The deduction by a unitholder of his share of our losses will be limited to the tax basis in his units and, in the case of an individual unitholder, estate, trust, or corporate unitholder (if more than 50% of the value of the corporate unitholder's stock is owned directly or indirectly by or for five or fewer individuals or some tax-exempt organizations), to the amount for which the unitholder is considered to be "at risk" with respect to our activities, if that is less than his tax basis. A common unitholder subject to these limitations must recapture losses deducted in previous years to the extent that distributions cause his at-risk amount to be less than zero at the end of any taxable year. Losses disallowed to a unitholder or recaptured as a result of these limitations will carry forward and will be allowable as a deduction to the extent that his at-risk amount is subsequently increased, provided such losses do not exceed such common unitholder's tax basis in his common units. Upon the taxable disposition of a common unit, any gain recognized by a unitholder can be offset by losses that were previously suspended by the at-risk limitation but may not be offset by losses suspended by the basis limitation. Any loss previously suspended by the at-risk limitation in excess of that gain would no longer be utilizable.

        In general, a unitholder will be at risk to the extent of the tax basis of his units, excluding any portion of that basis attributable to his share of our nonrecourse liabilities, reduced by (i) any portion of that basis representing amounts otherwise protected against loss because of a guarantee, stop loss agreement or other similar arrangement and (ii) any amount of money he borrows to acquire or hold his units, if the lender of those borrowed funds owns an interest in us, is related to the unitholder or can look only to the units for repayment. A unitholder's at-risk amount will increase or decrease as the tax basis of the unitholder's units increases or decreases, other than tax basis increases or decreases attributable to increases or decreases in his share of our nonrecourse liabilities.

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        In addition to the basis and at-risk limitations on the deductibility of losses, the passive loss limitations generally provide that individuals, estates, trusts and some closely-held corporations and personal service corporations can deduct losses from passive activities, which are generally trade or business activities in which the taxpayer does not materially participate, only to the extent of the taxpayer's income from those passive activities. The passive loss limitations are applied separately with respect to each publicly traded partnership. Consequently, any passive losses we generate will only be available to offset our passive income generated in the future and will not be available to offset income from other passive activities or investments, including our investments or a unitholder's investments in other publicly traded partnerships, or the unitholder's salary, active business or other income. Passive losses that are not deductible because they exceed a unitholder's share of passive income we generate may be deducted in full when he disposes of his entire investment in us in a fully taxable transaction with an unrelated party. The passive loss limitations are applied after other applicable limitations on deductions, including the at-risk rules and the basis limitation.

        A unitholder's share of our net income may be offset by any of our suspended passive losses, but it may not be offset by any other current or carryover losses from other passive activities, including those attributable to other publicly traded partnerships.

Limitations on Interest Deductions

        The deductibility of a non-corporate taxpayer's "investment interest expense" is generally limited to the amount of that taxpayer's "net investment income." Investment interest expense includes:

•

interest on indebtedness properly allocable to property held for investment;



•

our interest expense attributed to portfolio income; and



•

the portion of interest expense incurred to purchase or carry an interest in a passive activity to the extent attributable to portfolio income.

        The computation of a unitholder's investment interest expense will take into account interest on any margin account borrowing or other loan incurred to purchase or carry a unit. Net investment income includes gross income from property held for investment and amounts treated as portfolio income under the passive loss rules, less deductible expenses, other than interest, directly connected with the production of investment income, but generally does not include gains attributable to the disposition of property held for investment or (if applicable) qualified dividend income. The IRS has indicated that the net passive income earned by a publicly traded partnership will be treated as investment income to its unitholders. In addition, the unitholder's share of our portfolio income will be treated as investment income for the purposes of the investment interest expense limitation.

Entity-Level Collections

        If we are required or elect under applicable law to pay any federal, state, local or foreign income tax on behalf of any unitholder or our general partner or any former unitholder, we are authorized to pay those taxes from our funds. That payment, if made, will be treated as a distribution of cash to the general partner or the unitholder on whose behalf the payment was made. If the payment is made on behalf of a person whose identity cannot be determined, we are authorized to treat the payment as a distribution to all current unitholders. We are authorized to amend our partnership agreement in the manner necessary to maintain uniformity of intrinsic tax characteristics of units and to adjust later distributions, so that after giving effect to these distributions, the priority and characterization of distributions otherwise applicable under our partnership agreement is maintained as nearly as is practicable. Payments by us as described above could give rise to an overpayment of tax on behalf of a unitholder in which event the unitholder would be required to file a claim in order to obtain a credit or refund.

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Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction

        If we have a net profit, our items of income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated among all common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us. At any time that distributions are made to the common units in excess of distributions to the subordinated units, or incentive distributions are made to the holder of our incentive distribution rights, gross income will be allocated to the recipients to the extent of these distributions. If we have a net loss, that loss will be allocated to all common unitholders in accordance with their percentage interests in us to the extent of their positive capital accounts, as adjusted for certain items in accordance with applicable Treasury Regulations.

        Specified items of our income, gain, loss and deduction will be allocated to account for any difference between the tax basis and fair market value of any property contributed to us that exists at the time of such contribution, referred to in this discussion as the "Contributed Property." The effect of these allocations, referred to as Section 704(c) Allocations, to a unitholder purchasing common units from us in an offering will be essentially the same as if the tax bases of our assets were equal to their fair market values at the time of the offering. In the event we issue additional common units or engage in certain other transactions in the future, "reverse Section 704(c) Allocations," similar to the Section 704(c) Allocations described above, will be made to all of our unitholders immediately prior to such issuance or other transactions to account for the difference between the "book" basis for purposes of maintaining capital accounts and the fair market value of all property held by us at the time of such issuance or future transaction. In addition, items of recapture income will be allocated to the extent possible to the unitholder who was allocated the deduction giving rise to the treatment of that gain as recapture income in order to minimize the recognition of ordinary income by some unitholders. Finally, although we do not expect that our operations will result in the creation of negative capital accounts (subject to certain adjustments), if negative capital accounts (subject to certain adjustments) nevertheless result, items of our income and gain will be allocated in an amount and manner sufficient to eliminate such negative balance as quickly as possible.

        An allocation of items of our income, gain, loss or deduction, other than an allocation required by the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the difference between a partner's "book" capital account, credited with the fair market value of Contributed Property, and "tax" capital account, credited with the tax basis of Contributed Property, referred to in this discussion as the "Book-Tax Disparity," will generally be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a partner's share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction only if the allocation has "substantial economic effect." In any other case, a partner's share of an item will be determined on the basis of his interest in us, which will be determined by taking into account all the facts and circumstances, including:

•

his relative contributions to us;



•

the interests of all the partners in profits and losses;



•

the interest of all the partners in cash flow; and



•

the rights of all the partners to distributions of capital upon liquidation.

        Latham & Watkins LLP is of the opinion that, with the exception of the issues described in "—Section 754 Election," and "—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees," allocations under our partnership agreement will be given effect for federal income tax purposes in determining a partner's share of an item of income, gain, loss or deduction.

Treatment of Short Sales

        A unitholder whose units are loaned to a "short seller" to cover a short sale of units may be considered as having disposed of those units. If so, he would no longer be treated for tax purposes as a

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partner with respect to those units during the period of the loan and may recognize gain or loss from the disposition. As a result, during this period:

•

any of our income, gain, loss or deduction with respect to those units would not be reportable by the unitholder;



•

any cash distributions received by the unitholder as to those units would be fully taxable; and



•

while not entirely free from doubt, all of these distributions would appear to be ordinary income.

        Because there is no direct or indirect controlling authority on the issue relating to partnership interests, Latham & Watkins LLP has not rendered an opinion regarding the tax treatment of a unitholder whose common units are loaned to a short seller to cover a short sale of common units; therefore, unitholders desiring to assure their status as partners and avoid the risk of gain recognition from a loan to a short seller are urged to consult a tax advisor to discuss whether it is advisable to modify any applicable brokerage account agreements to prohibit their brokers from borrowing and loaning their units. The IRS has previously announced that it is studying issues relating to the tax treatment of short sales of partnership interests. Please also read "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss."

Tax Rates

        Currently, the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to ordinary income of individuals is 39.6% and the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains (generally, capital gains on certain assets held for more than twelve months) of individuals is 20%. Such rates are subject to change by new legislation at any time.

        In addition, a 3.8% net investment income tax (NIIT) is imposed on certain net investment income earned by individuals, estates and trusts. For these purposes, net investment income generally includes a unitholder's allocable share of our income and gain realized by a unitholder from a sale of units. In the case of an individual, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) the unitholder's net investment income or (ii) the amount by which the unitholder's modified adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing jointly or a surviving spouse), $125,000 (if the unitholder is married and filing separately) or $200,000 (in any other case). In the case of an estate or trust, the tax will be imposed on the lesser of (i) undistributed net investment income, or (ii) the excess adjusted gross income over the dollar amount at which the highest income tax bracket applicable to an estate or trust begins for such taxable year. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS have issued Treasury Regulations that provide guidance regarding the NIIT. Prospective unitholders are urged to consult with their tax advisors as to the impact of the NIIT on an investment in our common units.

Section 754 Election

        We have made the election permitted by Section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code. That election is irrevocable without the consent of the IRS unless there is a constructive termination of the partnership. Please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Constructive Termination." The election generally permits us to adjust a common unit purchaser's tax basis in our assets ("inside basis") under Section 743(b) of the Internal Revenue Code to reflect his purchase price. This election does not apply with respect to a person who purchases common units directly from us. The Section 743(b) adjustment belongs to the purchaser and not to other unitholders. For purposes of this discussion, the inside basis in our assets with respect to a unitholder will be considered to have two components: (i) his share of our tax basis in our assets ("common basis") and (ii) his Section 743(b) adjustment to that basis.

        We have adopted the remedial allocation method as to all our properties. Where the remedial allocation method is adopted, the Treasury Regulations under Section 743 of the Internal Revenue

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Code require a portion of the Section 743(b) adjustment that is attributable to recovery property that is subject to depreciation under Section 168 of the Internal Revenue Code and whose book basis is in excess of its tax basis to be depreciated over the remaining cost recovery period for the property's unamortized Book-Tax Disparity. Under Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to property subject to depreciation under Section 167 of the Internal Revenue Code, rather than cost recovery deductions under Section 168, is generally required to be depreciated using either the straight-line method or the 150% declining balance method. Under our partnership agreement, our general partner is authorized to take a position to preserve the uniformity of units even if that position is not consistent with these and any other Treasury Regulations. Please read "—Uniformity of Units."

        We depreciate the portion of a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to unrealized appreciation in the value of Contributed Property, to the extent of any unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, using a rate of depreciation or amortization derived from the depreciation or amortization method and useful life applied to the property's unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, or treat that portion as non-amortizable to the extent attributable to property that is not amortizable. This method is consistent with the methods employed by other publicly traded partnerships but is arguably inconsistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), which is not expected to directly apply to a material portion of our assets. To the extent this Section 743(b) adjustment is attributable to appreciation in value in excess of the unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, we will apply the rules described in the Treasury Regulations and legislative history. If we determine that this position cannot reasonably be taken, we may take a depreciation or amortization position under which all purchasers acquiring units in the same month would receive depreciation or amortization, whether attributable to common basis or a Section 743(b) adjustment, based upon the same applicable rate as if they had purchased a direct interest in our assets. This kind of aggregate approach may result in lower annual depreciation or amortization deductions than would otherwise be allowable to some unitholders. Please read "—Uniformity of Units." A unitholder's tax basis for his common units is reduced by his share of our deductions (whether or not such deductions were claimed on an individual's income tax return) so that any position we take that understates deductions will overstate such unitholder's basis in his common units, which may cause the unitholder to understate gain or overstate loss on any sale of such units. Please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss." Latham & Watkins LLP is unable to opine as to whether our method for taking into account Section 743 adjustments is sustainable for property subject to depreciation under Section 167 of the Internal Revenue Code or if we use an aggregate approach as described above, as there is no direct or indirect controlling authority addressing the validity of these positions. Moreover, the IRS may challenge our position with respect to depreciating or amortizing the Section 743(b) adjustment we take to preserve the uniformity of the units. If such a challenge were sustained, the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions.

        A Section 754 election is advantageous if the transferee's tax basis in his units is higher than the units' share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. Conversely, a Section 754 election is disadvantageous if the transferee's tax basis in his units is lower than those units' share of the aggregate tax basis of our assets immediately prior to the transfer. Thus, the fair market value of the units may be affected either favorably or unfavorably by the election. A basis adjustment is required regardless of whether a Section 754 election is made in the case of a transfer of an interest in us if we have a substantial built-in loss immediately after the transfer, or if we distribute property and have a substantial basis reduction. Generally, a built-in loss or a basis reduction is substantial if it exceeds $250,000.

        The calculations involved in the Section 754 election are complex and will be made on the basis of assumptions as to the value of our assets and other matters. For example, the allocation of the Section 743(b) adjustment among our assets must be made in accordance with the Internal Revenue

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Code. The IRS could seek to reallocate some or all of any Section 743(b) adjustment allocated by us to our tangible assets to goodwill instead. Goodwill, as an intangible asset, is generally nonamortizable or amortizable over a longer period of time or under a less accelerated method than our tangible assets. We cannot assure you that the determinations we make will not be successfully challenged by the IRS and that the deductions resulting from them will not be reduced or disallowed altogether. Should the IRS require a different basis adjustment to be made, and should, in our opinion, the expense of compliance exceed the benefit of the election, we may seek permission from the IRS to revoke our Section 754 election. If permission is granted, a subsequent purchaser of units may be allocated more income than he would have been allocated had the election not been revoked.

Tax Treatment of Operations

Accounting Method and Taxable Year

        We use the year ending December 31 as our taxable year and the accrual method of accounting for federal income tax purposes. Each unitholder will be required to include in income his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our taxable year ending within or with his taxable year. In addition, a unitholder who has a taxable year ending on a date other than December 31 and who disposes of all of his units following the close of our taxable year but before the close of his taxable year must include his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction in income for his taxable year, with the result that he will be required to include in income for his taxable year his share of more than twelve months of our income, gain, loss and deduction. Please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees."

Tax Basis, Depreciation and Amortization

        The tax basis of our assets will be used for purposes of computing depreciation and cost recovery deductions and, ultimately, gain or loss on the disposition of these assets. The federal income tax burden associated with the difference between the fair market value of our assets and their tax basis immediately prior to an offering will be borne by our unitholders holding interests in us prior to any such offering. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction."

        To the extent allowable, we may elect to use the depreciation and cost recovery methods, including bonus depreciation to the extent available, that will result in the largest deductions being taken in the early years after assets subject to these allowances are placed in service. Please read "—Uniformity of Units." Property we subsequently acquire or construct may be depreciated using accelerated methods permitted by the Internal Revenue Code.

        If we dispose of depreciable property by sale, foreclosure or otherwise, all or a portion of any gain, determined by reference to the amount of depreciation previously deducted and the nature of the property, may be subject to the recapture rules and taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gain. Similarly, a unitholder who has taken cost recovery or depreciation deductions with respect to property we own will likely be required to recapture some or all of those deductions as ordinary income upon a sale of his interest in us. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Allocation of Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction" and "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss."

        The costs we incur in selling our units (called "syndication expenses") must be capitalized and cannot be deducted currently, ratably or upon our termination. There are uncertainties regarding the classification of costs as organization expenses, which may be amortized by us, and as syndication expenses, which may not be amortized by us. The underwriting discounts and commissions we incur will be treated as syndication expenses.

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Valuation and Tax Basis of Our Properties

        The federal income tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of units will depend in part on our estimates of the relative fair market values, and the initial tax bases, of our assets. Although we may from time to time consult with professional appraisers regarding valuation matters, we will make many of the relative fair market value estimates ourselves. These estimates and determinations of basis are subject to challenge and will not be binding on the IRS or the courts. If the estimates of fair market value or determinations of basis are later found to be incorrect, the character and amount of items of income, gain, loss or deductions previously reported by unitholders might change, and unitholders might be required to adjust their tax liability for prior years and incur interest and penalties with respect to those adjustments.

Disposition of Common Units

Recognition of Gain or Loss

        Gain or loss will be recognized on a sale of units equal to the difference between the amount realized and the unitholder's tax basis for the units sold. A unitholder's amount realized will be measured by the sum of the cash or the fair market value of other property received by him plus his share of our nonrecourse liabilities. Because the amount realized includes a unitholder's share of our nonrecourse liabilities, the gain recognized on the sale of units could result in a tax liability in excess of any cash received from the sale.

        Prior distributions from us that in the aggregate were in excess of cumulative net taxable income for a common unit and, therefore, decreased a unitholder's tax basis in that common unit will, in effect, become taxable income if the common unit is sold at a price greater than the unitholder's tax basis in that common unit, even if the price received is less than his original cost.

        Except as noted below, gain or loss recognized by a unitholder, other than a "dealer" in units, on the sale or exchange of a unit will generally be taxable as capital gain or loss. Capital gain recognized by an individual on the sale of units held for more than twelve months will generally be taxed at the U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains. However, a portion of this gain or loss, which will likely be substantial, will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss under Section 751 of the Internal Revenue Code to the extent attributable to assets giving rise to "unrealized receivables," including potential recapture items such as depreciation recapture, or to "inventory items" we own. Ordinary income attributable to unrealized receivables and inventory items may exceed net taxable gain realized upon the sale of a unit and may be recognized even if there is a net taxable loss realized on the sale of a unit. Thus, a unitholder may recognize both ordinary income and a capital loss upon a sale of units. Capital losses may offset capital gains and no more than $3,000 of ordinary income, in the case of individuals, and may only be used to offset capital gains in the case of corporations. Both ordinary income and capital gain recognized on a sale of units may be subject to the NIIT in certain circumstances. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Tax Rates."

        The IRS has ruled that a partner who acquires interests in a partnership in separate transactions must combine those interests and maintain a single adjusted tax basis for all those interests. Upon a sale or other disposition of less than all of those interests, a portion of that tax basis must be allocated to the interests sold using an "equitable apportionment" method, which generally means that the tax basis allocated to the interest sold equals an amount that bears the same relation to the partner's tax basis in his entire interest in the partnership as the value of the interest sold bears to the value of the partner's entire interest in the partnership. Treasury Regulations under Section 1223 of the Internal Revenue Code allow a selling unitholder who can identify common units transferred with an ascertainable holding period to elect to use the actual holding period of the common units transferred. Thus, according to the ruling discussed above, a common unitholder will be unable to select high or low basis common units to sell as would be the case with corporate stock, but, according to the

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Treasury Regulations, he may designate specific common units sold for purposes of determining the holding period of units transferred. A unitholder electing to use the actual holding period of common units transferred must consistently use that identification method for all subsequent sales or exchanges of common units. A unitholder considering the purchase of additional units or a sale of common units purchased in separate transactions is urged to consult his tax advisor as to the possible consequences of this ruling and application of the Treasury Regulations.

        Specific provisions of the Internal Revenue Code affect the taxation of some financial products and securities, including partnership interests, by treating a taxpayer as having sold an "appreciated" partnership interest, one in which gain would be recognized if it were sold, assigned or terminated at its fair market value, if the taxpayer or related persons enter(s) into:

•

a short sale;



•

an offsetting notional principal contract; or



•

a futures or forward contract;

in each case, with respect to the partnership interest or substantially identical property.

        Moreover, if a taxpayer has previously entered into a short sale, an offsetting notional principal contract or a futures or forward contract with respect to the partnership interest, the taxpayer will be treated as having sold that position if the taxpayer or a related person then acquires the partnership interest or substantially identical property. The Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized to issue regulations that treat a taxpayer that enters into transactions or positions that have substantially the same effect as the preceding transactions as having constructively sold the financial position.

Allocations Between Transferors and Transferees

        In general, our taxable income and losses will be determined annually, will be prorated on a monthly basis in proportion to the number of days in each month and will be subsequently apportioned among our unitholders in proportion to the number of units owned by each of them as of the opening of the applicable exchange on the first business day of the month, which we refer to in this prospectus as the "Allocation Date." However, gain or loss realized on a sale or other disposition of our assets other than in the ordinary course of business will be allocated among our unitholders on the Allocation Date in the month in which that gain or loss is recognized. As a result, a unitholder transferring units may be allocated income, gain, loss and deduction realized after the date of transfer.

        The U.S. Department of Treasury and the IRS have issued Treasury Regulations that permit publicly traded partnerships to use a monthly simplifying convention that is similar to ours, but they do not specifically authorize all aspects of the proration method we have adopted. Accordingly, Latham & Watkins LLP is unable to opine on the validity of this method of allocating income and deductions between transferor and transferee unitholders. If this method is not allowed under the Treasury Regulations, our taxable income or losses might be reallocated among the unitholders. We are authorized to revise our method of allocation between transferor and transferee unitholders, as well as unitholders whose interests vary during a taxable year.

        A unitholder who owns units at any time during a quarter and who disposes of them prior to the record date set for a cash distribution for that quarter will be allocated items of our income, gain, loss and deductions attributable to that quarter through the month of disposition but will not be entitled to receive that cash distribution.

Notification Requirements

        A unitholder who sells any of his units is generally required to notify us in writing of that sale within 30 days after the sale (or, if earlier, January 15 of the year following the sale). A purchaser of

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units who purchases units from another unitholder is also generally required to notify us in writing of that purchase within 30 days after the purchase. Upon receiving such notifications, we are required to notify the IRS of that transaction and to furnish specified information to the transferor and transferee. Failure to notify us of a purchase may, in some cases, lead to the imposition of penalties. However, these reporting requirements do not apply to a sale by an individual who is a citizen of the United States and who effects the sale or exchange through a broker who will satisfy such requirements.

Constructive Termination

        We will be considered to have technically terminated our partnership for federal income tax purposes if there is a sale or exchange of 50% or more of the total interests in our capital and profits within a twelve-month period. For purposes of determining whether the 50% threshold has been met, multiple sales of the same interest will be counted only once. Our technical termination would, among other things, result in the closing of our taxable year for all unitholders, which would result in us filing two tax returns (and our unitholders could receive two Schedules K-1 if relief was not available, as described below) for one fiscal year and could result in a deferral of depreciation deductions allowable in computing our taxable income. In the case of a unitholder reporting on a taxable year other than a fiscal year ending December 31, the closing of our taxable year may also result in more than twelve months of our taxable income or loss being includable in his taxable income for the year of termination. Our termination currently would not affect our classification as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, but instead we would be treated as a new partnership for federal income tax purposes. If treated as a new partnership, we must make new tax elections, including a new election under Section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code, and could be subject to penalties if we are unable to determine that a termination occurred. Moreover, a technical termination may either accelerate the application of, or subject us to, any tax legislation enacted before the technical termination that would not otherwise have been applied to us as a continuing partnership as opposed to a terminating partnership. The IRS has announced a publicly traded partnership technical termination relief program whereby, if a publicly traded partnership that technically terminated requests publicly traded partnership technical termination relief and such relief is granted by the IRS, among other things, the partnership will only have to provide one Schedule K-1 to unitholders for the year notwithstanding two partnership tax years.

Uniformity of Units

        Because we cannot match transferors and transferees of units, we must maintain uniformity of the economic and tax characteristics of the units to a purchaser of these units. In the absence of uniformity, we may be unable to completely comply with a number of federal income tax requirements, both statutory and regulatory. A lack of uniformity can result from a literal application of Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6). Any non-uniformity could have a negative impact on the value of the units. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election." We depreciate the portion of a Section 743(b) adjustment attributable to unrealized appreciation in the value of Contributed Property, to the extent of any unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, using a rate of depreciation or amortization derived from the depreciation or amortization method and useful life applied to the property's unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, or treat that portion as nonamortizable, to the extent attributable to property the common basis of which is not amortizable, consistent with the regulations under Section 743 of the Internal Revenue Code, even though that position may be inconsistent with Treasury Regulation Section 1.167(c)-1(a)(6), which is not expected to directly apply to a material portion of our assets. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election." To the extent that the Section 743(b) adjustment is attributable to appreciation in value in excess of the unamortized Book-Tax Disparity, we will apply the rules described in the Treasury Regulations and legislative history. If we determine that this position cannot reasonably be taken, we may adopt a depreciation and amortization position under which all purchasers acquiring units in the same month

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would receive depreciation and amortization deductions, whether attributable to common basis or a Section 743(b) adjustment, based upon the same applicable rate as if they had purchased a direct interest in our assets. If this position is adopted, it may result in lower annual depreciation and amortization deductions than would otherwise be allowable to some unitholders and risk the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions not taken in the year that these deductions are otherwise allowable. This position will not be adopted if we determine that the loss of depreciation and amortization deductions will have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. If we choose not to utilize this aggregate method, we may use any other reasonable depreciation and amortization method to preserve the uniformity of the intrinsic tax characteristics of any units that would not have a material adverse effect on the unitholders. In either case, and as stated above under "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Section 754 Election," Latham & Watkins LLP has not rendered an opinion with respect to these methods. Moreover, the IRS may challenge any method of depreciating the Section 743(b) adjustment described in this paragraph. If this challenge were sustained, the uniformity of units might be affected, and the gain from the sale of units might be increased without the benefit of additional deductions. Please read "—Disposition of Common Units—Recognition of Gain or Loss."

Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors

        Ownership of units by employee benefit plans, other tax-exempt organizations, non-resident aliens, foreign corporations and other foreign persons raises issues unique to those investors and, as described below to a limited extent, may have substantially adverse tax consequences to them. If you are a tax-exempt entity or a foreign person, you should consult your tax advisor before investing in our common units. Employee benefit plans and most other organizations exempt from federal income tax, including IRAs and other retirement plans, are subject to federal income tax on unrelated business taxable income. Virtually all of our income allocated to a unitholder that is a tax-exempt organization will be unrelated business taxable income and will be taxable to it.

        Non-resident aliens and foreign corporations, trusts or estates that own units will be considered to be engaged in business in the United States because of the ownership of units. As a consequence, they will be required to file federal tax returns to report their share of our income, gain, loss or deduction and pay federal income tax at regular rates on their share of our net income or gain. Moreover, under rules applicable to publicly traded partnerships, our quarterly distribution to foreign unitholders will be subject to withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate. Each foreign unitholder must obtain a taxpayer identification number from the IRS and submit that number to our transfer agent on a Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or applicable substitute form in order to obtain credit for these withholding taxes. A change in applicable law may require us to change these procedures.

        In addition, because a foreign corporation that owns units will be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business, that corporation may be subject to the U.S. branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, in addition to regular federal income tax, on its share of our earnings and profits, as adjusted for changes in the foreign corporation's "U.S. net equity," that is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. That tax may be reduced or eliminated by an income tax treaty between the United States and the country in which the foreign corporate unitholder is a "qualified resident." In addition, this type of unitholder is subject to special information reporting requirements under Section 6038C of the Internal Revenue Code.

        A foreign unitholder who sells or otherwise disposes of a common unit will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized from the sale or disposition of that unit to the extent the gain is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the foreign unitholder. Under a ruling published by the IRS, interpreting the scope of "effectively connected income," a foreign unitholder would be considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the United States by virtue of the U.S. activities of the partnership, and part or all of that unitholder's gain would be effectively connected with that unitholder's indirect U.S. trade or business. Moreover, under the Foreign Investment in Real Property

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Tax Act, a foreign common unitholder (other than certain "qualified foreign pension funds" (or an entity all of the interests of which are held by such a qualified foreign pension fund), which generally are entities or arrangements that are established and regulated by foreign law to provide retirement or other pension benefits to employees, do not have a single participant or beneficiary that is entitled to more than 5% of the assets or income of the entity or arrangement and are subject to certain preferential tax treatment under the laws of the applicable foreign country), generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax upon the sale or disposition of a common unit if (i) he owned (directly or constructively applying certain attribution rules) more than 5% of our common units at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of such disposition and (ii) 50% or more of the fair market value of all of our assets consisted of U.S. real property interests at any time during the shorter of the period during which such unitholder held the common units or the five-year period ending on the date of disposition. Currently, more than 50% of our assets consist of U.S. real property interests and we do not expect that to change in the foreseeable future. Therefore, foreign unitholders may be subject to federal income tax on gain from the sale or disposition of their units. Recent changes in law may affect certain foreign unitholders. Please read "—Administrative Matters—Additional Withholding Requirements."

Administrative Matters

Information Returns and Audit Procedures

        We intend to furnish to each unitholder, within 90 days after the close of each calendar year, specific tax information, including a Schedule K-1, which describes his share of our income, gain, loss and deduction for our preceding taxable year. In preparing this information, which will not be reviewed by counsel, we will take various accounting and reporting positions, some of which have been mentioned earlier, to determine each unitholder's share of income, gain, loss and deduction. We cannot assure you that those positions will yield a result that conforms to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations or administrative interpretations of the IRS. Neither we nor Latham & Watkins LLP can assure prospective unitholders that the IRS will not successfully contend in court that those positions are impermissible. Any challenge by the IRS could negatively affect the value of the units.

        The IRS may audit our federal income tax information returns. Adjustments resulting from an IRS audit may require each unitholder to adjust a prior year's tax liability, and possibly may result in an audit of his return. Any audit of a unitholder's return could result in adjustments not related to our returns as well as those related to our returns.

        Partnerships generally are treated as separate entities for purposes of federal tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS and tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss and deduction are determined in a partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings with the partners. The Internal Revenue Code requires that one partner be designated as the "Tax Matters Partner" for these purposes. Our partnership agreement names our general partner as our Tax Matters Partner.

        The Tax Matters Partner has made and will make some elections on our behalf and on behalf of unitholders. In addition, the Tax Matters Partner can extend the statute of limitations for assessment of tax deficiencies against unitholders for items in our returns. The Tax Matters Partner may bind a unitholder with less than a 1% profits interest in us to a settlement with the IRS unless that unitholder elects, by filing a statement with the IRS, not to give that authority to the Tax Matters Partner. The Tax Matters Partner may seek judicial review, by which all the unitholders are bound, of a final partnership administrative adjustment and, if the Tax Matters Partner fails to seek judicial review, judicial review may be sought by any unitholder having at least a 1% interest in profits or by any group of unitholders having in the aggregate at least a 5% interest in profits. However, only one action for judicial review will go forward, and each unitholder with an interest in the outcome may participate.

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        A unitholder must file a statement with the IRS identifying the treatment of any item on his federal income tax return that is not consistent with the treatment of the item on our return. Intentional or negligent disregard of this consistency requirement may subject a unitholder to substantial penalties.

        Pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to our income tax returns, it may assess and collect any taxes (including any applicable penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from us. Similarly, for such taxable years, if the IRS makes audit adjustments to income tax returns filed by an entity in which we are a member or partner, it may assess and collect any taxes (including penalties and interest) resulting from such audit adjustment directly from such entity. Generally, we expect to elect to have our unitholders take any such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, but there can be no assurance that such election will be effective in all circumstances. With respect to audit adjustments as to an entity in which we are a member or partner, the Joint Committee of Taxation has stated that we would not be able to have our unitholders take such audit adjustment into account. If we are unable to have our unitholders take such audit adjustment into account in accordance with their interests in us during the taxable year under audit, our current unitholders may bear some or all of the tax liability resulting from such audit adjustment, even if such unitholders did not own our common units during the taxable year under audit. If, as a result of any such audit adjustment, we are required to make payments of taxes, penalties, and interest, our cash available for distribution to our common unitholders might be substantially reduced. These rules are not applicable to us for taxable years beginning on or prior to December 31, 2017.

        Additionally, pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the Internal Revenue Code will no longer require that we designate a Tax Matters Partner. Instead, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, we will be required to designate a partner, or other person, with a substantial presence in the United States as the partnership representative ("Partnership Representative"). The Partnership Representative will have the sole authority to act on our behalf for purposes of, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS. If we do not make such a designation, the IRS can select any person as the Partnership Representative. We currently anticipate that we will designate our general partner as the Partnership Representative. Further, any actions taken by us or by the Partnership Representative on our behalf with respect to, among other things, U.S. federal income tax audits and judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS, will be binding on us and all of the unitholders. These rules are not applicable to us for taxable years beginning on or prior to December 31, 2017.

Additional Withholding Requirements

        Withholding taxes may apply to certain types of payments made to "foreign financial institutions" (as specially defined in the Internal Revenue Code) and certain other foreign entities. Specifically, a 30% withholding tax may be imposed on interest, dividends and other fixed or determinable annual or periodical gains, profits and income from sources within the United States ("FDAP Income"), or gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of any property of a type that can produce interest or dividends from sources within the United States ("Gross Proceeds") paid to a foreign financial institution or to a "non-financial foreign entity" (as specially defined in the Internal Revenue Code), unless (i) the foreign financial institution undertakes certain diligence and reporting, (ii) the non-financial foreign entity either certifies it does not have any substantial U.S. owners or furnishes identifying information regarding each substantial U.S. owner or (iii) the foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity otherwise qualifies for an exemption from these rules. If the payee is a foreign financial institution and is subject to the diligence and reporting requirements in clause (i) above, it must enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury requiring, among

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other things, that it undertake to identify accounts held by certain U.S. persons or U.S.-owned foreign entities, annually report certain information about such accounts, and withhold 30% on payments to noncompliant foreign financial institutions and certain other account holders. Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing these requirements may be subject to different rules.

        These rules generally apply to payments of FDAP Income currently and generally will apply to payments of relevant Gross Proceeds made on or after January 1, 2019. Thus, to the extent we have FDAP Income or have Gross Proceeds on or after January 1, 2019 that are not treated as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (please read "—Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Investors"), unitholders who are foreign financial institutions or certain other foreign entities, or persons that hold their common units through such foreign entities, may be subject to withholding on distributions they receive from us, or their distributive share of our income, pursuant to the rules described above.

        Prospective unitholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the potential application of these withholding provisions to their investment in our common units.

Nominee Reporting

        Persons who hold an interest in us as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us:

•

the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee;



•

whether the beneficial owner is:



•

a person that is not a U.S. person;



•

a foreign government, an international organization or any wholly owned agency or instrumentality of either of the foregoing; or



•

a tax-exempt entity;



•

the amount and description of units held, acquired or transferred for the beneficial owner; and



•

specific information including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers, and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from dispositions.

        Brokers and financial institutions are required to furnish additional information, including whether they are U.S. persons and specific information on units they acquire, hold or transfer for their own account. A penalty of $250 per failure, up to a maximum of $3,000,000 per calendar year, is imposed by the Internal Revenue Code for failure to report that information to us. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of the units with the information furnished to us.

Accuracy-Related Penalties

        Certain penalties may be imposed on taxpayers as a result of an underpayment of tax that is attributable to one or more specified causes, including: (i) negligence or disregard of rules or regulations, (ii) substantial understatements of income tax, (iii) substantial valuation misstatements and (iv) the disallowance of claimed tax benefits by reason of a transaction lacking economic substance or failing to meet the requirements of any similar rule of law. Except with respect to the disallowance of claimed tax benefits by reason of a transaction lacking economic substance or failing to meet the requirements of any similar rule of law, however, no penalty will be imposed for any portion of any such underpayment if it is shown that there was a reasonable cause for the underpayment of that portion and that the taxpayer acted in good faith regarding the underpayment of that portion. With respect to substantial understatements of income tax, the amount of any understatement subject to

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penalty generally is reduced by that portion of the understatement which is attributable to a position adopted on the return (A) for which there is, or was, "substantial authority" or (B) as to which there is a reasonable basis and the relevant facts of that position are adequately disclosed on the return. If any item of income, gain, loss or deduction included in the distributive shares of unitholders might result in that kind of an "understatement" of income for which no "substantial authority" exists, we must adequately disclose the relevant facts on our return. In addition, we will make a reasonable effort to furnish sufficient information for unitholders to make adequate disclosure on their returns and to take other actions as may be appropriate to permit unitholders to avoid liability for this penalty.

Recent Legislative Developments

        The present federal income tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships, including us, or an investment in our common units may be modified by administrative, legislative or judicial interpretation at any time. For example, from time to time, members of Congress and the President propose and consider substantive changes to the existing federal income tax laws that would affect the tax treatment of certain publicly traded partnerships. Any modification to the federal income tax laws and interpretations thereof may or may not be retroactively applied and could make it more difficult or impossible to meet the exception for us to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. Please read "—Partnership Status." We are unable to predict whether any such changes will ultimately be enacted. However, it is possible that a change in law could affect us, and any such changes could negatively impact the value of an investment in our common units.

State, Local, Foreign and Other Tax Considerations

        In addition to federal income taxes, you will likely be subject to other taxes, such as state, local and foreign income taxes, unincorporated business taxes, and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which we do business or own property or in which you are a resident. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not presented here, each prospective unitholder should consider their potential impact on his investment in us. We currently own property or do business in in Colorado, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, each of which imposes a personal income tax on individuals. In addition, we may also own property or do business in other states in the future that impose income or similar taxes on nonresident individuals, corporations and other entities. We may also own property or do business in other jurisdictions in the future. Although you may not be required to file a return and pay taxes in some jurisdictions because your income from that jurisdiction falls below the filing and payment requirement, you will be required to file income tax returns and to pay income taxes in many of these jurisdictions in which we do business or own property and may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with those requirements. In some jurisdictions, tax losses may not produce a tax benefit in the year incurred and may not be available to offset income in subsequent taxable years. Some of the jurisdictions may require us, or we may elect, to withhold a percentage of income from amounts to be distributed to a unitholder who is not a resident of the jurisdiction. Withholding, the amount of which may be greater or less than a particular unitholder's income tax liability to the jurisdiction, generally does not relieve a nonresident unitholder from the obligation to file an income tax return. Amounts withheld will be treated as if distributed to unitholders for purposes of determining the amounts distributed by us. Please read "—Tax Consequences of Unit Ownership—Entity-Level Collections." Based on current law and our estimate of our future operations, our general partner anticipates that any amounts required to be withheld will not be material.

        It is the responsibility of each unitholder to investigate the legal and tax consequences, under the laws of pertinent states, localities and foreign jurisdictions, of his investment in us. Accordingly, each prospective unitholder is urged to consult his own tax counsel or other advisor with regard to those matters. Further, it is the responsibility of each unitholder to file all state, local and foreign, as well as U.S. federal tax returns, that may be required of him. Latham & Watkins LLP has not rendered an opinion on the state tax, local tax, alternative minimum tax or foreign tax consequences of an investment in us.

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UNDERWRITING

        Barclays Capital Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are acting as joint book-running managers of this offering. Under the terms of an underwriting agreement, which we will file as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K, which will be incorporated by reference in this prospectus, each of the underwriters named below has severally agreed to purchase from us the number of common units shown opposite its name below:

        The underwriting agreement will provide that the underwriters' obligation to purchase common units depends on the satisfaction of the conditions contained in the underwriting agreement, including:

•

the obligation to purchase all of the common units offered hereby (other than those common units covered by its option to purchase additional common units as described below), if any of the common units are purchased;



•

the representations and warranties made by us to the underwriters being true;



•

there having been no material change in our business or the financial markets; and



•

our delivery of customary closing documents to the underwriters.

Commissions and Expenses

        The following table summarizes the underwriting discounts and commissions we will pay to the underwriters. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional units. The underwriting fee is the difference between the price to the public and the amount the underwriters pay to us for the units.

        The underwriters have advised us that they propose to offer the common units directly to the public at the public offering price on the cover page of this prospectus and to selected dealers at such offering price less a selling concession not in excess of $0.30 per unit. After this offering, the underwriters may change the offering price and other selling terms. Sales of units made outside of the United States may be made by affiliates of the underwriters.

Option to Purchase Additional Common Units

        We have granted the underwriters an option exercisable for 30 days after the date of this prospectus, to purchase, from time to time, in whole or in part, up to an aggregate of 900,000 common units from us at the public offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions.

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Lock-Up Agreements

        We and certain significant unitholders have agreed that, subject to certain exceptions, without the prior written consent of Barclays Capital Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC we and certain significant unitholders will not directly or indirectly, (1) offer for sale, sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of (or enter into any transaction or device that is designed to, or could be expected to, result in the disposition by any person at any time in the future of) any common units (other than common units issued pursuant to employee benefit plans, qualified stock option plans or other employee compensation plans existing on the date of this prospectus or described herein) or sell or grant options, rights or warrants with respect to any common units, (2) enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic benefits or risks of ownership of the common units, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or clause (2) is to be settled by delivery of the common units or other securities, in cash or otherwise, (3) file or cause to be filed a registration statement, including any amendments thereto, with respect to the registration of any common units or securities convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into common units or any of our other securities (other than any registration statement on Form S-8), or (4) publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing for a period of 60 days after the date of this prospectus.

        Barclays Capital Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC in their sole discretion, may release the common units and other securities subject to the lock-up agreements described above in whole or in part at any time with or without notice. When determining whether or not to release common units and other securities from lock-up agreements, Barclays Capital Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC will consider, among other factors, the holder's reasons for requesting the release, the number of common units and other securities for which the release is being requested and market conditions at the time.

Indemnification

        We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, and to contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make for these liabilities.

Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids

        The underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, short sales and purchases to cover positions created by short sales, and penalty bids or purchases for the purpose of pegging, fixing or maintaining the price of the common units, in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

•

Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.



•

A short position involves a sale by the underwriters of common units in excess of the number of common units the underwriters are obligated to purchase in this offering, which creates the syndicate short position. This short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of common units involved in the sales made by the underwriters in excess of the number of common units they are obligated to purchase is not greater than the number of common units that they may purchase by exercising their option to purchase additional common units. In a naked short position, the number of common units involved is greater than the number of common units in their option to purchase additional common units. The underwriters may close out any short position by either exercising their option to purchase additional common units and/or purchasing common units in the open market. In determining the source of common units to close out the short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of common units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase common units through

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their option to purchase additional common units. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there could be downward pressure on the price of the common units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering.

•

Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the common units in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions.



•

Penalty bids permit the underwriters to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the common units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.

        These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our common units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the common units. As a result, the price of the common units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. These transactions may be effected on the NYSE or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

        Neither we nor the underwriters make any representation or prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of the common units. In addition, neither we nor the underwriters make any representation that the underwriters will engage in these stabilizing transactions or that any transaction, once commenced, will not be discontinued without notice.

Electronic Distribution

        A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the Internet sites or through other online services maintained by the underwriters, or by their respective affiliates. In those cases, prospective investors may view offering terms online and prospective investors may be allowed to place orders online. The underwriters may agree to allocate a specific number of common units for sale to online brokerage account holders. Any such allocation for online distributions will be made by the underwriters on the same basis as other allocations.

        Other than the prospectus in electronic format, the information on any underwriter's web site and any information contained in any other web site maintained by the underwriters is not part of the prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or the underwriters in their capacity as underwriter and should not be relied upon by investors.

New York Stock Exchange

        Our common units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "AM."

Stamp Taxes

        If you purchase common units offered in this prospectus, you may be required to pay stamp taxes and other charges under the laws and practices of the country of purchase, in addition to the offering price listed on the cover page of this prospectus.

Direct Participation Program Requirement

        Because the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. views our common units as interests in a direct participation program, any offering of common units under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part will be made in compliance with Rule 2310 of the FINRA Rules.

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Other Relationships

        The underwriters and their respective affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include securities trading, commercial and investment banking, financial advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, financing and brokerage activities. The underwriters and their respective affiliates have, from time to time, performed, and may in the future perform, various financial advisory and investment banking services for us, for which they received or will receive customary fees and expenses. In particular, affiliates of Barclays Capital Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are lenders under our credit facility.

        In the ordinary course of their various business activities, the underwriters and their respective affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments, including serving as counterparties to certain derivative and hedging arrangements, and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers, and such investment and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of us. The underwriters and their respective affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or instruments and may at any time hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.

Selling Restrictions

Hong Kong

        The common units offered hereby may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong, by means of any document, other than (a) to "professional investors" as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made under that Ordinance, or (b) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a "prospectus" as defined in the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that Ordinance. No advertisement, invitation or document relating to the common units offered hereby may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of the issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere, which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to the common units offered hereby which are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to "professional investors" as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) or any rules made under that Ordinance.

Singapore

        This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the common units offered hereby may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the common units be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Future Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore, which we refer to as the SFA, (ii) to a "relevant person" as defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or any person pursuant to Section 275 (1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA.

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        Where the common units offered hereby are subscribed and purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is:

(a)

a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or



(b)

a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) whose sole whole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries' rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferable within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares under Section 275 of the SFA except (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the SFA or to a relevant person (as defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA) and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA; (ii) (in the case of a corporation) where the transfer arises from an offer referred to in Section 275(1A) of the SFA, or (in the case of a trust) where the transfer arises from an offer that is made on terms that such rights or interests are acquired at a consideration of not less than $200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets; (iii) where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or (iv) where the transfer is by operation of law.

        By accepting this prospectus, the recipient hereof represents and warrants that he is entitled to receive it in accordance with the restrictions set forth above and agrees to be bound by limitations contained herein. Any failure to comply with these limitations may constitute a violation of law.

Australia

        No prospectus or other disclosure document (as defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) of Australia, or the Corporations Act) in relation to the common units has been or will be lodged with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, or ASIC. This document has not been lodged with ASIC and is only directed to certain categories of exempt persons. Accordingly, if you receive this document in Australia:

        (a)   you confirm and warrant that you are either:

          (i)  a "sophisticated investor" under section 708(8)(a) or (b) of the Corporations Act;

         (ii)  a "sophisticated investor" under section 708(8)(c) or (d) of the Corporations Act and that you have provided an accountant's certificate to us which complies with the requirements of section 708(8)(c)(i) or (ii) of the Corporations Act and related regulations before the offer has been made;

        (iii)  a person associated with the company under section 708(12) of the Corporations Act; or

        (iv)  a "professional investor" within the meaning of section 708(11)(a) or (b) of the Corporations Act, and to the extent that you are unable to confirm or warrant that you are an exempt sophisticated investor, associated person or professional investor under the Corporations Act any offer made to you under this document is void and incapable of acceptance; and

        (b)   you warrant and agree that you will not offer any of the common units for resale in Australia within 12 months of the common units being sold unless any such resale offer is exempt from the requirement to issue a disclosure document under section 708 of the Corporations Act.

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LEGAL MATTERS

        The validity of our common units will be passed upon for us by Latham & Watkins LLP, Houston, Texas. Certain legal matters in connection with this offering will be passed upon for the underwriters by Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., Houston, Texas.

EXPERTS

        The combined consolidated financial statements of Antero Midstream Partners LP and its accounting predecessor as of December 31, 2014 and 2015, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2015, and management's assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2015 have been incorporated by reference herein and in the registration statement in reliance upon the reports of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

        As discussed in Note 2 to the combined consolidated financial statements of Antero Midstream Partners LP, the balance sheets, and the related combined consolidated statements of operations, partners' capital, and cash flows have been prepared on a combined basis of accounting.

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Antero Midstream Partners LP

6,000,000 Common Units
Representing Limited Partner Interests

Prospectus

February 6, 2017

Barclays

Wells Fargo Securities