Effect of merger.

(a) When a merger takes effect: (1) the separate existence of every partnership or limited partnership that is a party to the merger, other than the surviving entity, ceases; (2) all property owned by each of the merged partnerships or limited partnerships vests in the surviving entity; (3) all obligations of every partnership or limited partnership that is a party to the merger become the obligations of the surviving entity; and (4) an action or proceeding pending against a partnership or limited partnership that is a party to the merger may be continued as if the merger had not occurred or the surviving entity may be substituted as a party to the action or proceeding. (b) The secretary of state of this state is the agent for service of process in an action or proceeding against a surviving foreign partnership or limited partnership to enforce an obligation of a domestic partnership or limited partnership that is a party to a merger. The surviving entity shall promptly notify the secretary of state of the mailing address of its chief executive office and of any change of address. Upon receipt of process, the secretary of state shall mail a copy of the process to the surviving foreign partnership or limited partnership. (c) A partner of the surviving partnership or limited partnership is liable for: (1) all obligations of a party to the merger for which the partner was personally liable before the merger; (2) all other obligations of the surviving entity incurred before the merger by a party to the merger, but those obligations may be satisfied only out of property of the entity; and (3) except as otherwise provided in Section 54-1A-306 NMSA 1978, all obligations of the surviving entity incurred after the merger takes effect, but those obligations may be satisfied only out of property of the entity if the partner is a limited partner. (d) If the obligations incurred before the merger by a party to the merger are not satisfied out of the property of the surviving partnership or limited partnership, the general partners of that party immediately before the effective date of the merger shall contribute the amount necessary to satisfy that party's obligations to the surviving entity, in the manner provided in Section 54-1A-807 NMSA 1978 or in the limited partnership act of the jurisdiction in which the party was formed, as the case may be, as if the merged party were dissolved. (e) A partner of a party to a merger who does not become a partner of the surviving partnership or limited partnership is dissociated from the entity, of which that partner was a partner, as of the date the merger takes effect. The surviving entity shall cause the partner's interest in the entity to be purchased under Section 54-1A-701 NMSA 1978 or another statute specifically applicable to that party's interest with respect to a merger. The surviving entity is bound under Section 54-1A-702 NMSA 1978 by an act of a general partner dissociated under this subsection, and the partner is liable under Section 54-1A-703 NMSA 1978 for transactions entered into by the surviving entity after the merger takes effect.