Viper Energy Partners LP is a publicly traded Delaware limited partnership taxed as a corporation since May 2018 that was formed by Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG) prior to the 2014 VNOM IPO in order to get a higher valuation for mineral rights on oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin of Texas.
In 2019, Viper Energy Partners acquired additional energy royalties from Diamondback via a drop-down acquisition and from other companies.
Similar to other royalty companies, common shares of VNOM provide ownership in an operating partnership (Viper Energy Partners LLC, the "OpCo") where Diamondback has a 55% ownership stake via 90,709,946 class B units in Viper Energy Partners LP. Share count figures have been updated to reflect the dilution from Diamondback's ownership in the class B units which can be converted 1-for-1 into common units of VNOM.
The advantage of this structure is that VNOM shareholders receive dividends reported on a 1099 while the other partner in the private OpCo (Diamondback) avoids double taxation of dividends paid by the OpCo.
Free historical financial statements for Viper Energy Inc..
See how revenue, income, cash flow, and balance sheet financials have changed over 42 quarters since 2014. Compare with VNOM stock chart to see long term trends.