Filed Pursuant to Rule 497

Registration No. 333-225373

PROSPECTUS

Owl Rock Capital Corporation

5.250% Notes Due 2024

 

 

We are offering $400,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of 5.250% notes due 2024, which we refer to as the Notes. The Notes will mature on April 15, 2024. We will pay interest on the Notes on April 15 and October 15 of each year, beginning October 15, 2019. We may redeem the Notes in whole or in part at any time or from time to time at the redemption price discussed under the caption “Description of the Notes—Optional Redemption” in this prospectus. In addition, holders of the Notes can require us to repurchase the Notes at 100% of their principal amount upon the occurrence of a Change of Control Repurchase Event (as defined herein). The Notes will be issued in minimum denominations of $2,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof.

The Notes will be our direct unsecured obligations and rank pari passu, or equal, in right of payment with all outstanding and future unsecured unsubordinated indebtedness issued by us. As of December 31, 2018, we had $2.6 billion of debt outstanding of which $150.0 million is unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness outstanding and $2.4 billion of indebtedness outstanding that was secured by our assets, assets of our subsidiaries, or the capital commitments of our investors and, therefore, will be effectively and/or structurally senior to the Notes.

We are a specialty finance company focused on lending to U.S. middle-market companies. We define “middle market companies” to generally mean companies with earnings before interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) between $10 million and $250 million annually, and/or annual revenue of $50 million to $2.5 billion at the time of investment. We may on occasion invest in smaller or larger companies if an attractive opportunity presents itself, especially when there are dislocations in the capital markets, including the high yield and syndicated loan markets.

We invest in senior secured or unsecured loans, subordinated loans or mezzanine loans and, to a lesser extent, equity-related securities including warrants, preferred stock and similar forms of senior equity, which may or may not be convertible into a portfolio company’s common equity. Our investment objective is to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation by targeting investment opportunities with favorable risk-adjusted returns. While we believe that current market conditions favor extending credit to middle market companies in the United States, our investment strategy is intended to generate favorable returns across credit cycles with an emphasis on preserving capital.

We are an externally managed, closed-end management investment company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company (“BDC”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. We have elected to be treated, and intend to qualify annually, as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a BDC and a RIC, we are required to comply with certain regulatory requirements.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements.

 

 

Investing in the Notes involves a high degree of risk. Before buying any Notes, you should read the discussion of the material risks of investing in the Notes, including the risk of leverage, in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 21 of this prospectus.

This prospectus contains important information you should know before investing in the Notes. Please read this prospectus before investing and keep it for future reference. We also file periodic and current reports, proxy statements and other information about us with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). This information is available free of charge by contacting us at 399 Park Avenue, 38th floor, New York, NY 10022, calling us at (212) 419-3000 or visiting our corporate website located at www.owlrock.com. Information on our website is not incorporated into or a part of this prospectus. The SEC also maintains a website at http://www.sec.gov that contains this information.

THE NOTES ARE NOT DEPOSITS OR OTHER OBLIGATIONS OF A BANK AND ARE NOT INSURED BY THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION OR ANY OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCY.

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

 

		Per Note				Total
Public offering price(1)			99.179	%		$	396,716,000
Underwriting discount (sales load)			1.25	%		$	5,000,000
Proceeds to us, before expenses(2)			97.929	%		$	391,716,000

 

(1)	The public offering price set forth above does not include accrued interest, if any. Interest on the Notes must be paid by the purchaser if the Notes are delivered after April 10, 2019.

(2)	We estimate that we will incur offering expenses of approximately $850 thousand in connection with this offering.

 

 

Delivery of the Notes in book-entry only form through The Depository Trust Company will be made on or about April 10, 2019.

 

		Joint Book-Running Managers
BofA Merrill Lynch		Credit Suisse			Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
RBC Capital Markets		SOCIETE GENERALE			SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
Deutsche Bank Securities		ING			Wells Fargo Securities

 

Co-Managers:
Janney Montgomery Scott		JMP Securities		Keefe, Bruyette & Woods			Ladenburg Thalmann
				A Stifel Company

 

Morgan Stanley		MUFG					Raymond James

The date of this prospectus is April 5, 2019.

We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to give you any information other than in this prospectus, and we take no responsibility for any other information that others may give you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date. We will update these documents to reflect material changes only as required by law.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY			1
SPECIFIC TERMS OF THE NOTES AND THE OFFERING			16
SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA AND OTHER INFORMATION			20
RISK FACTORS			21
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS			59
USE OF PROCEEDS			61
CAPITALIZATION			62
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS			64
THE COMPANY			103
SENIOR SECURITIES			121
PORTFOLIO COMPANIES			122
MANAGEMENT			130
MANAGEMENT AND OTHER AGREEMENTS			144
RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS AND CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS			154
CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDERS			158
DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE			160
DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN			163
CERTAIN U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS			164
DESCRIPTION OF THE NOTES			173
DESCRIPTION OF OUR CAPITAL STOCK			188
REGULATION			198
UNDERWRITING			205
CUSTODIAN, TRANSFER AND DIVIDEND PAYING AGENT AND REGISTRAR			211
BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES			212
LEGAL MATTERS			213
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM			214
AVAILABLE INFORMATION			215
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS			F-1

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in the Notes involves a number of significant risks. Before you purchase the Notes, you should be aware of various risks associated with the investment, including those described below. You should carefully consider these risk factors, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus, before you decide whether to make an investment in the Notes. The risks set out below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or not presently deemed material by us may also impair our operations and performance. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In such case, you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to the Notes

The Notes will be unsecured and therefore will be effectively subordinated to any secured indebtedness we have currently incurred or may incur in the future.

The Notes will not be secured by any of our assets or any of the assets of our subsidiaries. As a result, the Notes will be effectively subordinated, or junior, to any secured indebtedness or other obligations we or our subsidiaries have currently incurred and may incur in the future (or any indebtedness that is initially unsecured that we later secure) to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness. Substantially all of our assets are currently pledged as collateral under the Revolving Credit Facility, the SPV Asset Facility I, the SPV Asset Facility II or the SPV Asset Facility III. In any liquidation, dissolution, bankruptcy or other similar proceeding, the holders of any of our existing or future secured indebtedness and the secured indebtedness of our subsidiaries may assert rights against the assets pledged to secure that indebtedness in order to receive full payment of their indebtedness before the assets may be used to pay other creditors, including the holders of the Notes. In this regard, we note that our Board of Directors will use its commercially reasonable efforts to wind down and/or liquidate and dissolve the Company in an orderly manner (subject to any necessary shareholder approvals and applicable requirements of the 1940 Act) if we have not listed our common stock on a national securities exchange by the five-year anniversary of the Initial Closing (March 3, 2016), subject to extension for two additional one-year periods, in the sole discretion of our Board of Directors. If such a liquidation were to commence prior to the maturity or redemption of the Notes, the value of the Notes and our ability to repay the Notes in such a liquidation may be adversely affected, as the holders of our secured indebtedness would be entitled to full repayment of their indebtedness before our assets could be used in liquidation to pay holders of the Notes. As of December 31, 2018 our total indebtedness was approximately $2.6 billion aggregate principal amount outstanding, of which approximately $2.4 billion was secured by our assets, assets of our subsidiaries, or the capital commitments of our investors and, therefore, will be effectively senior to the Notes. Secured indebtedness is effectively senior to the Notes to the extent of the value of such assets.

The Notes will be structurally subordinated to the indebtedness and other liabilities of our subsidiaries.

The Notes are obligations exclusively of Owl Rock Capital Corporation and not of any of our subsidiaries. None of our subsidiaries are a guarantor of the Notes and the Notes are not required to be guaranteed by any subsidiaries we may acquire or create in the future. Except to the extent we are a creditor with recognized claims against our subsidiaries, all claims of creditors (including trade creditors) and holders of preferred stock, if any, of our subsidiaries will have priority over our equity interests in such subsidiaries (and therefore the claims of our creditors, including holders of the Notes) with respect to the assets of such subsidiaries. Even if we are recognized as a creditor of one or more of our subsidiaries, our claims would still be effectively subordinated to any security interests in the assets of any such subsidiary and to any indebtedness or other liabilities of any such subsidiary senior to our claims. Consequently, the Notes will be structurally subordinated, or junior, to the SPV Asset Facility I, the SPV Asset Facility II or the SPV Asset Facility III and all existing and future indebtedness and other obligations (including trade payables) incurred by any of our subsidiaries, financing vehicles or similar facilities and any subsidiaries, financing vehicles or similar facilities that we may in the future acquire or

 

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establish. As of December 31, 2018, our subsidiaries had $1,250.0 million indebtedness outstanding under the SPV Asset Facility I, the SPV Asset Facility II and the SPV Asset Facility III; in addition, our subsidiaries may incur additional indebtedness in the future, all of which would be structurally senior to the Notes.

Our current indebtedness could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to meet our payment obligations under the Notes and our other debt.

As of December 31, 2018, our total consolidated indebtedness was approximately $2.6 billion aggregate principal amount outstanding, of which approximately $2.4 billion was indebtedness secured by our assets or the capital commitments of our investors, of which our subsidiaries had $1,250 million indebtedness outstanding under the SPV Asset Facility I, the SPV Asset Facility II and the SPV Asset Facility III, and of which approximately $150.0 million aggregate principal amount was unsecured indebtedness.

The use of debt could have significant consequences on our future operations, including:

 

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making it more difficult for us to meet our payment and other obligations under the Notes and our other outstanding indebtedness;

 

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resulting in an event of default if we fail to comply with the financial and other restrictive covenants contained in our debt agreements, which event of default could result in substantially all of our debt becoming immediately due and payable;

 

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reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund investments, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes, and limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for these purposes;

 

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subjecting us to the risk of increased sensitivity to interest rate increases on our indebtedness with variable interest rates; and

 

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limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, and increasing our vulnerability to, changes in our business, the industry in which we operate and the general economy.

Any of the above-listed factors could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to meet our payment obligations under the Notes and our other debt.

Our ability to meet our payment and other obligations under our debt instruments depends on our ability to generate significant cash flow in the future. This, to some extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative and regulatory factors as well as other factors that are beyond our control.

We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us under our financing arrangements or otherwise in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness, including the Notes, or to fund our other liquidity needs. We may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness, including the Notes, on or before its maturity. The conditions of the financial markets and prevailing interest rates have fluctuated in the past and are likely to fluctuate in the future. We cannot assure you that we will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we cannot service our indebtedness, we may have to take actions such as selling assets or seeking additional equity. We cannot assure you that any such actions, if necessary, could be effected on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or on terms that would not be disadvantageous to our shareholders or on terms that would not require us to breach the terms and conditions of our existing or future debt agreements, including our payment obligations under the Notes.

A downgrade, suspension or withdrawal of the credit rating assigned by a rating agency to us or the Notes, if any, or change in the debt markets, could cause the liquidity or market value of the Notes to decline significantly.

Our credit ratings are an assessment by rating agencies of our ability to pay our debts when due. Consequently, real or anticipated changes in our credit ratings will generally affect the market value of the Notes.

 

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These credit ratings may not reflect the potential impact of risks relating to the structure or marketing of the Notes. Credit ratings are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, and may be revised or withdrawn at any time by the issuing organization in its sole discretion. Neither we nor any underwriter undertakes any obligation to maintain our credit ratings or to advise holders of Notes of any changes in our credit ratings.

The indenture will contain limited protection for holders of the Notes.

The indenture offers limited protection to holders of the Notes. The terms of the indenture and the Notes do not restrict our or any of our subsidiaries’ ability to engage in, or otherwise be a party to, a variety of corporate transactions, circumstances or events that could have an adverse impact on your investment in the Notes. In particular, the terms of the indenture and the Notes will not place any restrictions on our or our subsidiaries’ ability to:

 

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issue securities or otherwise incur additional indebtedness or other obligations, including (1) any indebtedness or other obligations that would be pari passu, or equal, in right of payment to the Notes, (2) any indebtedness or other obligations that would be secured and therefore rank effectively senior in right of payment to the Notes to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness, (3) indebtedness or other obligations of ours that are guaranteed by one or more of our subsidiaries and which therefore are structurally senior to the Notes and (4) securities, indebtedness or other obligations incurred by our subsidiaries that would be senior to our equity interests in our subsidiaries and therefore rank structurally senior to the Notes with respect to the assets of those subsidiaries, in each case other than an incurrence of indebtedness or other obligations that would cause a violation of Section 18(a)(1)(A) as modified by Section 61(a) of the 1940 Act or any successor provisions of the 1940 Act, but giving effect, in either case, to any exemptive relief granted to us by the SEC. Currently, these provisions generally prohibit us from incurring additional borrowings, including through the issuance of additional debt securities, unless our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, equals at least 200% (or 150% if certain conditions are met) after such borrowings;

 

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pay dividends on, or purchase or redeem or make any payments in respect of, capital stock or other securities ranking junior in right of payment to the Notes;

 

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sell assets (other than certain limited restrictions on our ability to consolidate, merge or sell all or substantially all of our assets);

 

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create liens (including liens on the shares of our subsidiaries) or enter into sale and leaseback transactions;

 

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enter into transactions with affiliates;

 

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make investments; or

 

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create restrictions on the payment of dividends or other amounts to us from our subsidiaries.

Furthermore, the terms of the indenture and the Notes do not protect holders of the Notes in the event that we experience changes (including significant adverse changes) in our financial condition, results of operations or credit ratings, as they do not require that we or our subsidiaries adhere to any financial tests or ratios or specified levels of net worth, revenues, income, cash flow or liquidity.

Our ability to recapitalize, incur additional debt and take a number of other actions that are not limited by the terms of the Notes may have important consequences for you as a holder of the Notes, including making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to the Notes or negatively affecting the trading value of the Notes.

Certain of our current debt instruments include more protections for their holders than the indenture and the Notes. In addition, other debt we issue or incur in the future could contain more protections for its holders than

 

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the indenture and the Notes, including additional covenants and events of default. The issuance or incurrence of any such debt with incremental protections could affect the market for and trading levels and prices of the Notes.

The optional redemption provision may materially adversely affect your return on the Notes.

The Notes are redeemable in whole or in part at any time or from time to time at our option. We may choose to redeem the Notes at times when prevailing interest rates are lower than the interest rate paid on the Notes. In this circumstance, you may not be able to reinvest the redemption proceeds in a comparable security at an effective interest rate as high as that of the Notes being redeemed.

If we default on our obligations to pay our other indebtedness, we may not be able to make payments on the Notes.

Any default under the agreements governing our indebtedness or under other indebtedness to which we may be a party, that is not waived by the required lenders or holders and the remedies sought by the holders of such indebtedness could make us unable to pay principal, premium, if any, and interest on the Notes and substantially decrease the market value of the Notes.

If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow and are otherwise unable to obtain funds necessary to meet required payments of principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness, or if we otherwise fail to comply with the various covenants, including financial and operating covenants, in the instruments governing our indebtedness, we could be in default under the terms of the agreements governing such indebtedness. In the event of such default, the holders of such indebtedness could elect to declare all the funds borrowed thereunder to be due and payable, together with accrued and unpaid interest, the lenders under our current indebtedness or other debt we may incur in the future could elect to terminate their commitments, cease making further loans and institute foreclosure proceedings against our assets, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

If our operating performance declines, we may in the future need to seek to obtain waivers from the required lenders or holders under the agreements governing our indebtedness, or other indebtedness that we may incur in the future, to avoid being in default. If we breach our covenants under the agreements governing our indebtedness and seek a waiver, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the required lenders or holders. If this occurs, we would be in default and our lenders or debt holders could exercise their rights as described above, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

If we are unable to repay debt, lenders having secured obligations, including the lenders under certain of our credit facilities, could proceed against the collateral securing the debt. Because our credit facilities and the 2023 Notes have, the indenture will have, and any future debt will likely have, customary cross-default provisions, if the indebtedness thereunder, hereunder or under any future credit facility is accelerated, we may be unable to repay or finance the amounts due. See “Description of the Notes” in this prospectus.

We may not be able to repurchase the Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event.

Upon the occurrence of a Change of Control Repurchase Event, as defined in the indenture that governs the Notes, as supplemented, subject to certain conditions, we will be required to offer to repurchase all outstanding Notes at 100% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest. The source of funds for that purchase of Notes will be our available cash or cash generated from our operations or other potential sources, including borrowings, investment repayments, sales of assets or sales of equity. We cannot assure you that sufficient funds from such sources will be available at the time of any Change of Control Repurchase Event to make required repurchases of Notes tendered. Before making any such repurchase of Notes, we would also have to comply with certain requirements under our Revolving Credit Facility, to the extent such requirements remain in effect at such time, or otherwise obtain consent from the lenders under the Revolving Credit Facility. Our future debt instruments also may contain similar restrictions and provisions. If the holders of the Notes exercise their right to

 

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require us to repurchase all the Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event, the financial effect of this repurchase could cause a default under our existing or future debt instruments, even if the Change of Control Repurchase Event itself would not cause a default. It is possible that we will not have sufficient funds at the time of the Change of Control Repurchase Event to make the required repurchase of the Notes or our other debt. See “Description of the Notes — Offer to Repurchase Upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event”.

If an active trading market does not develop for the Notes, you may not be able to resell them.

The Notes are a new issue of debt securities and there currently is no trading market for the Notes. We do not intend to apply for listing of the Notes on any securities exchange or for quotation of the Notes on any automated dealer quotation system. If no active trading market develops, you may not be able to resell the Notes at their fair market value or at all. If the Notes are traded after their initial issuance, they may trade at a discount from their initial offering price depending on prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities, our credit ratings, general economic conditions, our financial condition, performance and prospects and other factors. Certain of the underwriters have advised us that they currently intend to make a market in the Notes after the offering, but they are not obligated to do so. Such underwriters may discontinue any market-making in the Notes at any time at their sole discretion. In addition, any market-making activity will be subject to limits imposed by law. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that a liquid trading market will develop for the Notes, that you will be able to sell the Notes at a particular time or that the price you receive when you sell will be favorable. To the extent an active trading market does not develop, the liquidity and trading price for the Notes may be harmed. Accordingly, you may be required to bear the financial risk of an investment in the Notes for an indefinite period of time.

Risks Related to Our Business

We have a limited operating history.

We were formed on October 15, 2015 and are subject to all of the business risks and uncertainties associated with any new business, including the risk that we will not achieve or sustain our investment objective and that we may not be able to meet our payment obligations under the Notes and other debt.

The lack of liquidity in our investments may adversely affect our business.

We may acquire a significant percentage of our portfolio company investments from privately held companies in directly negotiated transactions. Substantially all of these investments are subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or are otherwise less liquid than exchange-listed securities or other securities for which there is an active trading market. We typically would be unable to exit these investments unless and until the portfolio company has a liquidity event such as a sale, refinancing, or initial public offering.

The illiquidity of our investments may make it difficult or impossible for us to sell such investments if the need arises. In addition, if we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio quickly, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we have previously recorded our investments, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Moreover, investments purchased by us that are liquid at the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquid due to events relating to the issuer, market events, economic conditions or investor perceptions.

Defaults under our borrowings or any future borrowing facility or notes may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our borrowings may include customary covenants, including certain limitations on our incurrence of additional indebtedness and on our ability to make distributions to our shareholders, or redeem, repurchase or

 

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retire shares of stock, upon the occurrence of certain events and certain financial covenants related to asset coverage and liquidity and other maintenance covenants, as well as customary events of default. In the event we default under the terms of our current or future borrowings, our business could be adversely affected as we may be forced to sell a portion of our investments quickly and prematurely at what may be disadvantageous prices to us in order to meet our outstanding payment obligations and/or support working capital requirements under the terms of our current or future borrowings, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. An event of default under the terms of our current or any future borrowings could result in an accelerated maturity date for all amounts outstanding thereunder, and in some instances, lead to a cross-default under other borrowings. This could reduce our liquidity and cash flow and impair our ability to grow our business. Collectively, substantially all of our assets are currently pledged as collateral under our credit facilities. If we were to default on our obligations under the terms of our credit facilities or any future secured debt instrument the agent for the applicable creditors would be able to assume control of the disposition of any or all of our assets securing such debt, including the selection of such assets to be disposed and the timing of such disposition, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Defaults under the Subscription Credit Facility could require shareholders to fund their remaining Capital Commitments without regard to the underlying value of their investment.

The Subscription Credit Facility is secured by a perfected first priority security interest in our right, title, and interest in and to the Capital Commitments of our investors, including our right to make capital calls, receive and apply capital contributions, enforce remedies and claims related thereto together with capital call proceeds and related rights, and a pledge of the collateral account into which capital call proceeds are deposited. To the extent an event of default under the Subscription Credit Facility does occur, shareholders could be required to fund any shortfall up to their remaining Capital Commitments, without regard to the underlying value of their investment.

Provisions in our borrowings or any other future borrowings may limit discretion in operating our business.

Any security interests and/or negative covenants required by a credit facility we enter into or notes we issue may limit our ability to create liens on assets to secure additional debt and may make it difficult for us to restructure or refinance indebtedness at or prior to maturity or obtain additional debt or equity financing.

A credit facility may be backed by all or a portion of our loans and securities on which the lenders will have a security interest. We may pledge up to 100% of our assets and may grant a security interest in all of our assets under the terms of any debt instrument we enter into with lenders. We expect that any security interests we grant will be set forth in a pledge and security agreement and evidenced by the filing of financing statements by the agent for the lenders. In addition, we expect that the custodian for our securities serving as collateral for such loan would include in its electronic systems notices indicating the existence of such security interests and, following notice of occurrence of an event of default, if any, and during its continuance, will only accept transfer instructions with respect to any such securities from the lender or its designee. If we were to default under the terms of any debt instrument, the agent for the applicable lenders would be able to assume control of the timing of disposition of any or all of our assets securing such debt, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

In addition, any security interests and/or negative covenants required by a credit facility may limit our ability to create liens on assets to secure additional debt and may make it difficult for us to restructure or refinance indebtedness at or prior to maturity or obtain additional debt or equity financing. In addition, if our borrowing base under a credit facility were to decrease, we may be required to secure additional assets in an amount sufficient to cure any borrowing base deficiency. In the event that all of our assets are secured at the time of such a borrowing base deficiency, we could be required to repay advances under a credit facility or make deposits to a collection account, either of which could have a material adverse impact on our ability to fund future investments and to make distributions.

 

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In addition, we may be subject to limitations as to how borrowed funds may be used, which may include restrictions on geographic and industry concentrations, loan size, payment frequency and status, average life, collateral interests and investment ratings, as well as regulatory restrictions on leverage which may affect the amount of funding that may be obtained. There may also be certain requirements relating to portfolio performance, including required minimum portfolio yield and limitations on delinquencies and charge-offs, a violation of which could limit further advances and, in some cases, result in an event of default. An event of default under a credit facility could result in an accelerated maturity date for all amounts outstanding thereunder, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition and could lead to cross default under other credit facilities. This could reduce our liquidity and cash flow and impair our ability to manage our business.

Under the terms of the Revolving Credit Facility, we have agreed not to incur any additional secured indebtedness other than in certain limited circumstances in which the incurrence is permitted under the Revolving Credit Facility. In addition, if our borrowing base under the Revolving Credit Facility were to decrease, we would be required to secure additional assets or repay advances under the Revolving Credit Facility which could have a material adverse impact on our ability to fund future investments and to make distributions.

In addition, under the terms of our credit facilities we are subject to limitations as to how borrowed funds may be used, as well as regulatory restrictions on leverage which may affect the amount of funding that we may obtain. There may also be certain requirements relating to portfolio performance, a violation of which could limit further advances and, in some cases, result in an event of default. This could reduce our liquidity and cash flow and impair our ability to grow our business.

The Note Purchase Agreement, pursuant to which the 2023 Notes were issued, includes prohibitions on certain fundamental changes at the Company or any subsidiary guarantor.

We borrow money, which may magnify the potential for gain or loss and may increase the risk of investing in us.

As part of our business strategy, we may borrow from and issue senior debt securities to banks, insurance companies and other lenders or investors. Holders of these senior securities will have fixed-dollar claims on our assets that are superior to the claims of our common shareholders. If the value of our assets decreases, leverage would cause our net asset value to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have if we did not employ leverage. Similarly, any decrease in our income would cause net income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not borrowed. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to make common stock dividend payments.

Our ability to service any borrowings that we incur will depend largely on our financial performance and will be subject to prevailing economic conditions and competitive pressures. Moreover, the management fee will be payable based on our average gross assets excluding cash and cash equivalents but including assets purchased with borrowed amounts, which may give our Investment Adviser an incentive to use leverage to make additional investments. See “— Our fee structure may create incentives for our Adviser to make speculative investments or use substantial leverage.” The amount of leverage that we employ will depend on our Investment Adviser’s and our Board’s assessment of market and other factors at the time of any proposed borrowing. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain credit at all or on terms acceptable to us, which could affect our return on capital.

In addition to having fixed-dollar claims on our assets that superior to the claims of our common shareholders, obligations to lenders may be secured by a first priority security interest in our portfolio of investments and cash.

The following table illustrates the effect of leverage on returns from an investment in our common stock assuming various annual returns on our portfolio, net of expenses. Leverage generally magnifies the return of

 

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shareholders when the portfolio return is positive and magnifies their losses when the portfolio return is negative. The calculations in the table below are hypothetical, and actual returns may be higher or lower than those appearing in the table below.

 

		Assumed Return on Our Portfolio (Net of Expenses)
		-10%				-5%				0%				5%				10%
Corresponding return to common shareholder(1)			-21.62	%			-12.51	%			-3.39	%			5.72	%			14.84	%

 

(1)	Assumes, as of December 31, 2018, (i) $5.9 billion in total assets, (ii) $2.6 billion in outstanding indebtedness, (iii) $3.3 billion in net assets and (iv) weighted average interest rate, excluding fees (such as fees on undrawn amounts and amortization of financing costs), of 4.3%.

See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources” for more information regarding our borrowings.

Price declines in the corporate leveraged loan market may adversely affect the fair value of our portfolio, reducing our net asset value through increased net unrealized depreciation and the incurrence of realized losses.

Conditions in the U.S. corporate debt market may experience disruption or deterioration in the future, which may cause pricing levels to decline or be volatile. As a result, our net asset value could decline through an increase in unrealized depreciation and incurrence of realized losses in connection with the sale or other disposition of our investments, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to obtain additional debt financing, or if our borrowing capacity is materially reduced, our business could be materially adversely affected.

We may want to obtain additional debt financing, or need to do so upon maturity of our credit facilities, in order to obtain funds which may be made available for investments. The revolving period under the Revolving Credit Facility ends on January 31, 2020, and the Revolving Credit Facility matures on March 29, 2023. The Subscription Credit Facility, the SPV Asset Facility I, the 2023 Notes, the SPV Asset Facility II, and the SPV Asset Facility III mature on August 1, 2019, December 21, 2022, June 21, 2023, October 10, 2026 and December 14, 2023, respectively. If we are unable to renew or replace any such facilities and enter into new debt financing facilities or other debt financing on commercially reasonable terms, our liquidity may be reduced significantly. In addition, if we are unable to repay amounts outstanding under any such facilities and are declared in default or are unable to renew or refinance these facilities, we may not be able to make new investments or operate our business in the normal course. These situations may arise due to circumstances that we may be unable to control, such as lack of access to the credit markets, a severe decline in the value of the U.S. dollar, an economic downturn or an operational problem that affects us or third parties, and could materially damage our business operations, results of operations and financial condition.

To the extent that we borrow money, the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested in us will be magnified and may increase the risk of investing in us. Borrowed money may also adversely affect the return on our assets, reduce cash available to service our debt or for distribution to our shareholders, and result in losses.

The use of borrowings, also known as leverage, increases the volatility of investments by magnifying the potential for gain or loss on invested equity capital. To the extent that we use leverage to partially finance our investments through borrowing from banks and other lenders, you will experience increased risks of investing in our securities. If the value of our assets decreases, leverage would cause our net asset value to decline more sharply than it otherwise would if we had not borrowed and employed leverage. Similarly, any decrease in our

 

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income would cause net income to decline more sharply than it would have if we had not borrowed and employed leverage. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to service our debt or make distributions to our shareholders. In addition, our shareholders will bear the burden of any increase in our expenses as a result of our use of leverage, including interest expenses.

The amount of leverage that we employ will depend on our Adviser’s and our Board’s assessment of market and other factors at the time of any proposed borrowing. There can be no assurance that leveraged financing will be available to us on favorable terms or at all. Moreover, we may not be able to meet our financing obligations and, to the extent that we cannot, we risk the loss of some or all of our assets to liquidation or sale to satisfy the obligations. In such an event, we may be forced to sell assets at significantly depressed prices due to market conditions or otherwise, which may result in losses.

As a business development company, generally, we are currently required to meet a coverage ratio of total assets to total borrowings and other senior securities, which include all of our borrowings and any preferred stock that we may issue in the future, of at least 200%; however, legislation enacted in March 2018 has modified the 1940 Act by allowing a BDC to increase the maximum amount of leverage it may incur from an asset coverage ratio of 200% to an asset coverage ratio of 150%, if certain requirements are met. The reduced asset coverage requirement would permit a BDC to double the amount of leverage it could incur. For additional information about the asset coverage requirements, see “Regulation — Senior Securities”. If this ratio declines below 200% (or 150% if certain requirements are met), we cannot incur additional debt and could be required to sell a portion of our investments to repay some indebtedness when it may be disadvantageous to do so. This could have a material adverse effect on our operations, and we may not be able to service our debt or make distributions.

Global economic, political and market conditions may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, including our revenue growth and profitability.

The current worldwide financial market situation, as well as various social and political tensions in the United States and around the world, may contribute to increased market volatility, may have long-term effects on the United States and worldwide financial markets, and may cause economic uncertainties or deterioration in the United States and worldwide. We monitor developments and seek to manage our investments in a manner consistent with achieving our investment objective, but there can be no assurance that we will be successful in doing so.

In August 2011 and then affirmed in August 2013, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the U.S. from “AAA” to “AA+”. Additionally, in January of 2012, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating for several large European countries. These ratings negatively impacted global markets and economic conditions. Although U.S. lawmakers have taken steps to avoid further downgrades, U.S. budget deficit concerns and similar conditions in Europe, China and elsewhere have increased the possibility of additional credit-rating downgrades and worsening global economic and market conditions. There can be no assurance that current or future governmental measures to mitigate these conditions will be effective. These conditions, government actions and future developments may cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise, which may adversely affect our ability to access debt financing on favorable terms and may increase the interest costs of our borrowers, hampering their ability to repay us. Continued or future adverse economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In October 2014, the Federal Reserve announced that it was concluding its bond-buying program, or quantitative easing, which was designed to stimulate the economy and expand the Federal Reserve’s holdings of long-term securities, suggesting that key economic indicators, such as the unemployment rate, had showed signs of improvement since the inception of the program. It is possible that, without quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve, these developments, along with the United States government’s credit and deficit concerns and other global economic conditions, could cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise, which may negatively impact

 

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our ability to access the debt markets on favorable terms. Additionally, in December 2016, the Federal Reserve raised its federal funds target rate. However, if key economic indicators, such as the unemployment rate or inflation, do not progress at a rate consistent with the Federal Reserve’s objectives, the target range for the federal funds rate may further increase and cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise, which may negatively impact our ability to access the debt markets on favorable terms and may also increase the costs of our borrowers, hampering their ability to repay us.

Economic recessions or downturns could impair our portfolio companies and harm our operating results.

Many of our portfolio companies may be susceptible to economic slowdowns or recessions and may be unable to repay our debt investments during these periods. Therefore, our non-performing assets may increase, and the value of our portfolio is likely to decrease during these periods. Adverse economic conditions may also decrease the value of any collateral securing our loans. A severe recession may further decrease the value of such collateral and result in losses of value in our portfolio and a decrease in our revenues, net income, assets and net worth.

Unfavorable economic conditions also could increase our funding costs, limit our access to the capital markets or result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to us on terms we deem acceptable. These events could prevent us from increasing investments and harm our operating results.

The occurrence of recessionary conditions and/or negative developments in the domestic and international credit markets may significantly affect the markets in which we do business, the value of our investments, and our ongoing operations, costs and profitability. Any such unfavorable economic conditions, including rising interest rates, may also increase our funding costs, limit our access to capital markets or negatively impact our ability to obtain financing, particularly from the debt markets. In addition, any future financial market uncertainty could lead to financial market disruptions and could further impact our ability to obtain financing. These events could limit our investment originations, limit our ability to grow and negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.

Our ability to achieve our investment objective depends on our Adviser’s ability to manage and support our investment process. If our Adviser were to lose a significant number of its key professionals, or terminate the Advisory Agreement, our ability to achieve our investment objective could be significantly harmed.

We do not have any employees. Additionally, we have no internal management capacity other than our appointed executive officers and will be dependent upon the investment expertise, skill and network of business contacts of our Adviser to achieve our investment objective. Our Adviser will evaluate, negotiate, structure, execute, monitor, and service our investments. Our success will depend to a significant extent on the continued service and coordination of our Adviser, including its key professionals. The departure of a significant number of key professionals from our Adviser could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective.

Our ability to achieve our investment objective also depends on the ability of our Adviser to identify, analyze, invest in, finance, and monitor companies that meet our investment criteria. Our Adviser’s capabilities in structuring the investment process, providing competent, attentive and efficient services to us, and facilitating access to financing on acceptable terms depend on the involvement of investment professionals of adequate number and sophistication to match the corresponding flow of transactions. To achieve our investment objective, our Adviser may need to retain, hire, train, supervise, and manage new investment professionals to participate in our investment selection and monitoring process. Our Adviser may not be able to find qualified investment professionals in a timely manner or at all. Any failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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In addition, the Investment Advisory Agreement has a termination provision that allows the agreement to be terminated by us on 60 days’ notice without penalty by the vote of a Majority of the Outstanding Shares of our common stock or by the vote of our independent directors. Furthermore, the Investment Advisory Agreement automatically terminates in the event of its assignment, as defined in the 1940 Act, by the Adviser. If the Adviser resigns or is terminated, or if we do not obtain the requisite approvals of shareholders and our Board to approve an agreement with the Adviser after an assignment, we may not be able to find a new investment adviser or hire internal management with similar expertise and ability to provide the same or equivalent services on acceptable terms prior to the termination of the Investment Advisory Agreement, or at all. If we are unable to do so quickly, our operations are likely to experience a disruption and costs under any new agreements that we enter into could increase. Our financial condition, business and results of operations, as well as our ability to meet our payment obligations under the Notes and other indebtedness may decline.

Because our business model depends to a significant extent upon the Adviser’s relationships with corporations, financial institutions and investment firms, the inability of our Adviser to maintain or develop these relationships, or the failure of these relationships to generate investment opportunities, could adversely affect our business.

Our Adviser depends on its relationships with corporations, financial institutions and investment firms, and we will rely to a significant extent upon these relationships to provide us with potential investment opportunities. If our Adviser fails to maintain its existing relationships or develop new relationships or sources of investment opportunities, we may not be able to grow our investment portfolio. In addition, individuals with whom our Adviser has relationships are not obligated to provide us with investment opportunities, and, therefore, there is no assurance that such relationships will generate investment opportunities for us.

We may face increasing competition for investment opportunities, which could delay further deployment of our capital, reduce returns and result in losses.

We may compete for investments with other business development companies and investment funds (including registered investment companies, private equity funds and mezzanine funds), including Owl Rock Capital Corporation II, Owl Rock Technology Finance Corp., Owl Rock First Lien Master Fund, L.P. and other clients of the Adviser or its affiliates, as well as traditional financial services companies such as commercial banks and other sources of funding. Moreover, alternative investment vehicles, such as hedge funds, continue to increase their investment focus in our target market of privately owned U.S. companies. We may experience increased competition from banks and investment vehicles who may continue to lend to the middle market. Additionally, the Federal Reserve and other bank regulators may periodically provide incentives to U.S. commercial banks to originate more loans to U.S. middle market private companies. As a result of these market participants and regulatory incentives, competition for investment opportunities in privately owned U.S. companies is strong and may intensify. Many of our competitors are substantially larger and have considerably greater financial, technical, and marketing resources than we do. For example, some competitors may have a lower cost of capital and access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, some competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments than us. These characteristics could allow our competitors to consider a wider variety of investments, establish more relationships and offer better pricing and more flexible structuring than we are able to do.

We may lose investment opportunities if we do not match our competitors’ pricing, terms, and investment structure criteria. If we are forced to match these competitors’ investment terms criteria, we may not be able to achieve acceptable returns on our investments or may bear substantial risk of capital loss. A significant increase in the number and/or the size of our competitors in our target market could force us to accept less attractive investment terms. Furthermore, many competitors are not subject to the regulatory restrictions that the 1940 Act imposes on us as a business development company or the source of income, asset diversification and distribution requirements we must satisfy to maintain our RIC tax treatment. The competitive pressures we face, and the manner in which we react or adjust to competitive pressures, may have a material adverse effect on our business,

 

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financial condition, results of operations, effective yield on investments, investment returns, leverage ratio, and cash flows. As a result of this competition, we may not be able to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time. Also, we may not be able to identify and make investments that are consistent with our investment objective.

Our investment portfolio will be recorded at fair value as determined in good faith in accordance with procedures established by our Board and, as a result, there is and will be uncertainty as to the value of our portfolio investments.

Under the 1940 Act, we are required to carry our portfolio investments at market value or, if there is no readily available market value, at fair value as determined in accordance with procedures established by our Board. There is not a public market or active secondary market for many of the types of investments in privately held companies that we hold and intend to make. Our investments may not be publicly traded or actively traded on a secondary market but, instead, may be traded on a privately negotiated over-the-counter secondary market for institutional investors, if at all. As a result, we will value these investments quarterly at fair value as determined in good faith in accordance with valuation policy and procedures approved by our Board.

The determination of fair value, and thus the amount of unrealized appreciation or depreciation we may recognize in any reporting period, is to a degree subjective, and our Adviser has a conflict of interest in making recommendations of fair value. We will value our investments quarterly at fair value as determined in good faith by our Board, based on, among other things, input of the Adviser, our Audit Committee and independent third-party valuation firm(s) engaged at the direction of the Board. The types of factors that may be considered in determining the fair values of our investments include the nature and realizable value of any collateral, the portfolio company’s ability to make payments and its earnings, the markets in which the portfolio company does business, comparison to publicly traded companies, discounted cash flow, current market interest rates and other relevant factors. Because such valuations, and particularly valuations of private securities and private companies, are inherently uncertain, the valuations may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time due to changes in current market conditions. The determinations of fair value in accordance with procedures established by our Board may differ materially from the values that would have been used if an active market and market quotations existed for such investments. Our net asset value could be adversely affected if the determinations regarding the fair value of the investments were materially higher than the values that we ultimately realize upon the disposal of such investments.

Our Board may change our operating policies and strategies without prior notice or shareholder approval, the effects of which may be adverse to holders of our debt.

Our Board has the authority to modify or waive current operating policies, investment criteria and strategies without prior notice and without shareholder approval. We cannot predict the effect any changes to current operating policies, investment criteria and strategies would have on our business, net asset value, operating results and the value of our securities. However, the effects might be adverse, which could negatively impact our ability to pay you distributions and cause you to lose all or part of your investment. Moreover, we will have significant flexibility in investing the net proceeds of our private offering and may use the net proceeds from our private offering in ways with which our investors may not agree.

Changes in laws or regulations governing our operations may adversely affect our business or cause us to alter our business strategy.

We and our portfolio companies will be subject to regulation at the local, state, and federal levels. Changes to the laws and regulations governing our permitted investments may require a change to our investment strategy. Such changes could differ materially from our strategies and plans as set forth in this prospectus and may shift our investment focus from the areas of expertise of our Adviser. Thus, any such changes, if they occur, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our ability to meet our payment obligations under the Notes and other debt.

 

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Changes to United States tariff and import/export regulations may have a negative effect on our portfolio companies and, in turn, harm us.

Significant changes to U.S. trade policy, including changes to current legislation and trade agreements and the imposition of tariffs have been discussed by the current U.S. presidential administration and certain members of Congress. Recently, the administration has imposed tariffs on a range of goods imported into the U.S., and a few countries have retaliated with tariffs against the United States. These retaliatory actions could trigger extended “trade wars” between the U.S. and its trading partners, resulting in additional barriers to the international market, inclusive of customers, vendors, and potential investors. Under these circumstances, the cost of goods for some portfolio companies could increase, resulting in lower consumer demand for their goods and reduced cash flows. While it is unknown whether and to what extent new legislation will be enacted into law, the enactment or amendment of trade legislation and/or renegotiation of trade agreements may impose additional compliance costs on portfolio companies, restrict their ability to participate in international markets and otherwise disrupt their current operations.

We are an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act, and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are and we will remain an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act until the earlier of (a) the last day of the fiscal year (i) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering of common equity securities, (ii) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (iii) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (b) the date on which we have issued more than$1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. For so long as we remain an “emerging growth company” we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock and debt less attractive because we will rely on some or all of these exemptions.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of such extended transition periods.

Our status as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act may make it more difficult to raise capital as and when we need it.

Because of the exemptions from various reporting requirements provided to us as an “emerging growth company” and because we will have an extended transition period for complying with new or revised financial accounting standards, we may be less attractive to investors and it may be difficult for us to raise additional capital as and when we need it. Investors may be unable to compare our business with other companies in our industry if they believe that our financial accounting is not as transparent as other companies in our industry. If we are unable to raise additional capital as and when we need it, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We expend significant financial and other resources to comply with the requirements of being a public entity.

As a public entity, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the 1934 Act and requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The 1934 Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our

 

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business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting, which are discussed below. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls, significant resources and management oversight are required. We have implemented procedures, processes, policies and practices for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies. These activities may divert management’s attention from other business concerns, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The systems and resources necessary to comply with public company reporting requirements will increase further once we cease to be an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act. As long as we remain an emerging growth company, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We expect to remain an emerging growth company for up to five years following the completion of our initial public offering of common equity securities or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenues exceed $1.07 billion, (ii) December 31 of the fiscal year that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the 1934 Act which would occur if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter and we have been publicly reporting for at least 12 months or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the preceding three-year period.

We may experience fluctuations in our operating results.

We may experience fluctuations in our operating results due to a number of factors, including our ability or inability to make investments in companies that meet our investment criteria, interest rates and default rates on the debt investments we make, the level of our expenses, variations in and the timing of the recognition of realized gains or losses, unrealized appreciation or depreciation, the degree to which we encounter competition in our markets, and general economic conditions. These occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, the value of the Notes in us and our ability to meet our payment obligations under the Notes and other debt.

Any unrealized depreciation we experience on our portfolio may be an indication of future realized losses, which could reduce our income available for distribution.

As a business development company, we are required to carry our investments at market value or, if no market value is ascertainable, at the fair value as determined in good faith in accordance with procedures established by our Board. Decreases in the market values or fair values of our investments relative to amortized cost will be recorded as unrealized depreciation. Any unrealized losses in our portfolio could be an indication of a portfolio company’s inability to meet its repayment obligations to us with respect to the affected loans. This could result in realized losses in the future and ultimately in reductions of our income available for distribution in future periods. In addition, decreases in the market value or fair value of our investments will reduce our net asset value. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Policies — Investments at Fair Value.”

We are only subject to certain limitations with respect to the proportion of our assets that may be invested in a single issuer.

We intend to operate as a non-diversified management investment company; however, we are currently and may, from time to time, in the future, be considered a diversified management investment company pursuant to the definitions set forth in the Investment Company Act. In addition, we are subject to the asset diversification requirements associated with our qualification as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. While we are not targeting any specific industries, our investments may be focused on relatively few industries. To the extent that

 

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we hold large positions in a small number of issuers, or within a particular industry, our net asset value may be subject to greater fluctuation. We may also be more susceptible to any single economic or regulatory occurrence or a downturn in particular industry.

We are dependent on information systems and systems failures could significantly disrupt our business, which may, in turn, negatively affect our liquidity, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business is dependent on our and third parties’ communications and information systems. Any failure or interruption of those systems, including as a result of the termination of an agreement with any third-party service providers, could cause delays or other problems in our activities. Our financial, accounting, data processing, portfolio monitoring, backup or other operating systems and facilities may fail to operate properly or become disabled or damaged as a result of a number of factors including events that are wholly or partially beyond our control. There could be:

 

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sudden electrical or telecommunications outages;

 

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natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes;

 

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disease pandemics;

 

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events arising from local or larger scale political or social matters, including terrorist acts;

 

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outages due to idiosyncratic issues at specific service providers; and

 

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cyber-attacks.

These events, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and negatively affect the value of the Notes and our ability to meet our payment obligations under the Notes and other debt.

Internal and external cyber threats, as well as other disasters, could impair our ability to conduct business effectively.

The occurrence of a disaster, such as a cyber-attack against us or against a third-party that has access to our data or networks, a natural catastrophe, an industrial accident, failure of our disaster recovery systems, or consequential employee error, could have an adverse effect on our ability to communicate or conduct business, negatively impacting our operations and financial condition. This adverse effect can become particularly acute if those events affect our electronic data processing, transmission, storage, and retrieval systems, or impact the availability, integrity, or confidentiality of our data.

We depend heavily upon computer systems to perform necessary business functions. Despite our implementation of a variety of security measures, our computer systems, networks, and data, like those of other companies, could be subject to cyber-attacks and unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction, such as from physical and electronic break-ins or unauthorized tampering. If one or more of these events occurs, it could potentially jeopardize the confidential, proprietary, and other information processed, stored in, and transmitted through our computer systems and networks. Such an attack could cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations, which could result in financial losses, litigation, regulatory penalties, client dissatisfaction or loss, reputational damage, and increased costs associated with mitigation of damages and remediation.

Third parties with which we do business may also be sources of cybersecurity or other technological risk. We outsource certain functions and these relationships allow for the storage and processing of our information, as well as client, counterparty, employee, and borrower information. While we engage in actions to reduce our exposure resulting from outsourcing, ongoing threats may result in unauthorized access, loss, exposure, destruction, or other cybersecurity incidents that adversely affects our data, resulting in increased costs and other consequences as described above.

 

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Cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents may adversely affect our business or the business of our portfolio companies by causing a disruption to our operations or the operations of our portfolio companies, a compromise or corruption of our confidential information or the confidential information of our portfolio companies and/or damage to our business relationships or the business relationships of our portfolio companies, all of which could negatively impact the business, financial condition and operating results of us or our portfolio companies.

A cyber incident is considered to be any adverse event that threatens the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the information resources of us or our portfolio companies. These incidents may be an intentional attack or an unintentional event and could involve gaining unauthorized access to our information systems or those of our portfolio companies for purposes of misappropriating assets, stealing confidential information, corrupting data or causing operational disruption. The result of these incidents may include disrupted operations, misstated or unreliable financial data, liability for stolen assets or information, increased cybersecurity protection and insurance costs, litigation and damage to business relationships. As our and our portfolio companies’ reliance on technology has increased, so have the risks posed to our information systems, both internal and those provided by third-party service providers, and the information systems of our portfolio companies. We have implemented processes, procedures and internal controls to help mitigate cybersecurity risks and cyber intrusions, but these measures, as well as our increased awareness of the nature and extent of a risk of a cyber-incident, do not guarantee that a cyber-incident will not occur and/or that our financial results, operations or confidential information will not be negatively impacted by such an incident.

We are exposed to risks associated with changes in interest rates.

Because we borrow money to make investments, our net investment income will depend, in part, upon the difference between the rate at which we borrow funds and the rate at which we invest those funds. As a result, we can offer no assurance that a significant change in market interest rates will not have a material adverse effect on our net investment income.

A reduction in the interest rates on new investments relative to interest rates on current investments could have an adverse impact on our net investment income. However, an increase in interest rates could decrease the value of any investments we hold which earn fixed interest rates and also could increase our interest expense, thereby decreasing our net income. Also, an increase in interest rates available to investors could make an investment in our common stock less attractive if we are not able to increase our dividend rate, which could reduce the value of our common stock. Further, rising interest rates could also adversely affect our performance if such increases cause our borrowing costs to rise at a rate in excess of the rate that our investments yield.

In periods of rising interest rates, to the extent we borrow money subject to a floating interest rate, our cost of funds would increase, which could reduce our net investment income. Further, rising interest rates could also adversely affect our performance if we hold investments with floating interest rates, subject to specified minimum interest rates (such as a LIBOR floor), while at the same time engaging in borrowings subject to floating interest rates not subject to such minimums. In such a scenario, rising interest rates may increase our interest expense, even though our interest income from investments is not increasing in a corresponding manner as a result of such minimum interest rates.

If general interest rates rise, there is a risk that the portfolio companies in which we hold floating rate securities will be unable to pay escalating interest amounts, which could result in a default under their loan documents with us. Rising interest rates could also cause portfolio companies to shift cash from other productive uses to the payment of interest, which may have a material adverse effect on their business and operations and could, over time, lead to increased defaults. In addition, rising interest rates may increase pressure on us to provide fixed rate loans to our portfolio companies, which could adversely affect our net investment income, as increases in our cost of borrowed funds would not be accompanied by increased interest income from such fixed-rate investments.

 

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The interest rates of our term loans to our portfolio companies that extend beyond 2021 might be subject to change based on recent regulatory changes

LIBOR, the London Interbank Offered Rate, is the basic rate of interest used in lending transactions between banks on the London interbank market and is widely used as a reference for setting the interest rate on loans globally. We typically use LIBOR as a reference rate in term loans we extend to portfolio companies such that the interest due to us pursuant to a term loan extended to a portfolio company is calculated using LIBOR. The terms of our debt investments generally include minimum interest rate floors which are calculated based on LIBOR.

On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. It is unclear if at that time whether LIBOR will cease to exist or if new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist after 2021. The U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, is considering replacing U.S. dollar LIBOR with a new index calculated by short term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities. The future of LIBOR at this time is uncertain. If LIBOR ceases to exist, we may need to renegotiate the credit agreements extending beyond 2021 with our portfolio companies that utilize LIBOR as a factor in determining the interest rate to replace LIBOR with the new standard that is established, which may have an adverse effect on our ability to receive attractive returns.

The United Kingdom referendum decision to leave the European Union may create significant risks and uncertainty for global markets and our investments.

The decision made in the United Kingdom referendum to leave the European Union has led to volatility in global financial markets, and in particular in the markets of the United Kingdom and across Europe, and may also lead to weakening in consumer, corporate and financial confidence in the United Kingdom and Europe. The extent and process by which the United Kingdom will exit the European Union, and the longer term economic, legal, political and social framework to be put in place between the United Kingdom and the European Union are unclear at this stage and are likely to lead to ongoing political and economic uncertainty and periods of exacerbated volatility in both the United Kingdom and in wider European markets for some time. In particular, the decision made in the United Kingdom referendum may lead to a call for similar referenda in other European jurisdictions which may cause increased economic volatility and uncertainty in the European and global markets. This volatility and uncertainty may have an adverse effect on the economy generally and on our ability, and the ability of our portfolio companies, to execute our respective strategies and to receive attractive returns.

In particular, currency volatility may mean that our returns and the returns of our portfolio companies will be adversely affected by market movements and may make it more difficult, or more expensive, for us to implement appropriate currency hedging. Potential declines in the value of the British Pound and/or the euro against other currencies, along with the potential downgrading of the United Kingdom’s sovereign credit rating, may also have an impact on the performance of any of our portfolio companies located in the United Kingdom or Europe.

Risks Related to Our Adviser and Its Affiliates

The Adviser and its affiliates have limited experience managing a business development company.

Our Adviser and its affiliates have limited experience managing a vehicle regulated as a business development company and may not be able to operate our business successfully or achieve our investment objective. As a result, an investment in our securities may entail more risk than the securities of a comparable company with a substantial operating history.

 

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The 1940 Act and the Code impose numerous constraints on the operations of business development companies and RICs that do not apply to the other types of investment vehicles previously managed by the personnel of our Adviser and its affiliates. For example, under the 1940 Act, business development companies are generally required to invest at least 70% of their total assets primarily in securities of qualifying U.S. private or thinly traded companies. Moreover, qualification for RIC tax treatment under Subchapter M of the Code requires satisfaction of source-of-income, asset diversification and other requirements. Any failure by us to comply with these provisions could prevent us from maintaining our qualification as a business development company or tax treatment as a RIC or could force us to pay unexpected taxes and penalties, which could be material. Our Adviser’s and its affiliates’ limited experience in managing a portfolio of assets under such constraints may hinder their ability to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities and, as a result, make it more difficult for us to achieve our investment objective.

The Adviser and its affiliates, including our officers and some of our directors, may face conflicts of interest caused by compensation arrangements with us and our affiliates, which could result in increased risk-taking by us.

The Adviser and its affiliates will receive substantial fees from us in return for their services. In the event of an Exchange Listing, these fees may include certain incentive fees based on the amount of appreciation of our investments. These fees could influence the advice provided to us. Generally, the more equity we sell in public offerings and the greater the risk assumed by us with respect to our investments, including through the use of leverage, the greater the potential for growth in our assets and profits, and, correlatively, the fees payable by us to our Adviser. These compensation arrangements could affect our Adviser’s or its affiliates’ judgment with respect to public offerings of equity and investments made by us, which allow our Adviser to earn increased asset management fees.

The time and resources that individuals associated with our Adviser devote to us may be diverted, and we may face additional competition due to the fact that neither our Adviser nor its affiliates is prohibited from raising money for or managing another entity that makes the same types of investments that we target.

The Adviser and its affiliates currently manage Owl Rock Capital Corporation II, Owl Rock Technology Finance Corp. and Owl Rock First Lien Master Fund and are not prohibited from raising money for and managing future investment entities that make the same or similar types of investments as those we target. As a result, the time and resources that our Adviser devotes to us may be diverted, and during times of intense activity in other investment programs they may devote less time and resources to our business than is necessary or appropriate. In addition, we may compete with any such investment entity also managed by the Adviser or its affiliates for the same investors and investment opportunities.

The Adviser and its affiliates may face conflicts of interest with respect to services performed for issuers in which we invest.

Our Adviser and its affiliates may provide a broad range of financial services to companies in which we invest, including providing arrangement, syndication, origination structuring and other services to our borrowers, in compliance with applicable law, and will generally be paid fees for such services. In addition, affiliates of our Adviser may act as placement agents or in similar capacities in connection with an offering of securities by one of the companies in our portfolio. Any compensation received by our Adviser or its affiliates for providing these services will not be shared with us and may be received before we realize a return on our investment. Our Adviser and its affiliates may face conflicts of interest with respect to services performed for these companies, on the one hand, and investments recommended to us, on the other hand.

 

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The Adviser or its affiliates may have incentives to favor their respective other accounts and clients over us, which may result in conflicts of interest that could be harmful to us.

Because our Adviser and its affiliates manage assets for, or may in the future manage assets for, other investment companies, pooled investment vehicles and/or other accounts (including institutional clients, pension plans, co-invest vehicles and certain high net worth individuals), certain conflicts of interest are present. For instance, the Adviser and its affiliates may receive asset management performance-based, or other fees from certain accounts that are higher than the fees received by our Adviser from us. In those instances, a portfolio manager for our Adviser has an incentive to favor the higher fee and/or performance-based fee accounts over us.

In addition, a conflict of interest exists to the extent our Adviser, its affiliates, or any of their respective executives, portfolio managers or employees have proprietary or personal investments in other investment companies or accounts or when certain other investment companies or accounts are investment options in our Adviser’s or its affiliates’ employee benefit plans. In these circumstances, our Adviser has an incentive to favor these other investment companies or accounts over us. Our Board will seek to monitor these conflicts but there can be no assurances that such monitoring will fully mitigate any such conflicts.

Our fee structure may create incentives for our Adviser to make speculative investments or use substantial leverage.

The incentive fee payable by us to our Adviser after an Exchange Listing may create an incentive for our Adviser to make investments on our behalf that are risky or more speculative than would be the case in the absence of such compensation arrangements. The way in which the incentive fee is determined may encourage our Adviser to use leverage to increase the leveraged return on our investment portfolio.

In addition, the fact that our base management fee is payable based upon our average gross assets (which includes any borrowings for investment purposes) may encourage our Adviser to use leverage to make additional investments. Such a practice could make such investments more risky than would otherwise be the case, which could result in higher investment losses, particularly during cyclical economic downturns. Under certain circumstances, the use of substantial leverage (up to the limits prescribed by the 1940 Act) may increase the likelihood of our defaulting on our borrowings, which would be detrimental to holders of our securities.

We may compete for capital and investment opportunities with other entities managed by our Adviser or its affiliates, subjecting our Adviser to certain conflicts of interests.

Our Adviser will experience conflicts of interest in connection with the management of our business affairs relating to and arising from a number of matters, including: the allocation of investment opportunities by our Adviser and its affiliates; compensation to our Adviser; services that may be provided by our Adviser and its affiliates to issuers in which we invest; investments by us and other clients of our Adviser, subject to the limitations of the 1940 Act; the formation of additional investment funds managed by our Adviser; differing recommendations given by our Adviser to us versus other clients; our Adviser’s use of information gained from issuers in our portfolio for investments by other clients, subject to applicable law; and restrictions on our Adviser’s use of “inside information” with respect to potential investments by us.

Specifically, we may compete for investments with affiliated business development companies or funds that are also advised by our Adviser, such as Owl Rock Capital Corporation II and Owl Rock Technology Finance Corp., subjecting our Adviser and its affiliates to certain conflicts of interest in evaluating the suitability of investment opportunities and making or recommending investments on our behalf. To mitigate these conflicts, our Adviser and its affiliates will seek to execute such transactions for all of the participating investment accounts, including us, on a fair and equitable basis and in accordance with Owl Rock’s allocation policy, taking into account such factors as the relative amounts of capital available for new investments; cash on hand; existing commitments and reserves; the investment programs and portfolio positions of the participating investment accounts, including portfolio construction, diversification and concentration considerations; the investment

 

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objectives, guidelines and strategies of each client; the clients for which participation is appropriate’ each client’s life cycle; targeted leverage level; targeted asset mix and any other factors deemed appropriate.

We may be prohibited under the 1940 Act from participating in certain transactions with our affiliates without the prior approval of our directors who are not interested persons and, in some cases, the prior approval of the SEC. We, our Adviser and certain affiliates have been granted exemptive relief by the SEC to permit us to co-invest with other funds managed by our Adviser or certain of its affiliates, including Owl Rock Capital Corporation II and Owl Rock Technology Finance Corp., in a manner consistent with our investment objective, positions, policies, strategies and restrictions as well as regulatory requirements and other pertinent factors. Pursuant to such exemptive relief, we generally are permitted to co-invest with certain of our affiliates if a “required majority” (as defined in Section 57(o) of the 1940 Act) of our independent directors make certain conclusions in connection with a co-investment transaction, including that (1) the terms of the transaction, including the consideration to be paid, are reasonable and fair to us and our shareholders and do not involve overreaching of us or our shareholders on the part of any person concerned, (2) the transaction is consistent with the interests of our shareholders and is consistent with our investment objective and strategies, and (3) the investment by our affiliates would not disadvantage us, and our participation would not be on a basis different from or less advantageous than that on which our affiliates are investing. Owl Rock’s investment allocation policy seeks to ensure equitable allocation of investment opportunities between us, and/or other funds managed by our Adviser or its affiliates. As a result of the exemptive relief, there could be significant overlap in our investment portfolio and the investment portfolio of other funds established by the Adviser or its affiliates that could avail themselves of the exemptive relief.

We may co-invest with investment funds, accounts and vehicles managed by the Adviser, where doing so is consistent with our investment strategy as well as applicable law and SEC staff interpretations. We generally will be permitted to co-invest with such investment funds, accounts and vehicles where the only term that is negotiated is price. However, we, the Adviser and certain of our affiliates have applied for and been granted exemptive relief by the SEC to co-invest with other funds managed by the Adviser or certain of its affiliates in transactions in which terms other than price are negotiated in a manner consistent with our investment objective, positions, policies, strategies and restrictions as well as regulatory requirements and other pertinent factors. Pursuant to such exemptive relief, we are generally permitted to co invest with certain of our affiliates if a “required majority” (as defined in Section 57(o) of the 1940 Act) of our independent directors makes certain conclusions in connection with a co investment transactions, including that (1) the terms of the transaction, including the consideration to be paid, are reasonable and fair to us and our shareholders and do not involve overreaching of us or our shareholders on the part of any person concerned, (2) the transaction is consistent with the interests of our shareholders and is consistent with our investment objective and strategies, and (3) the investments by our affiliates would not disadvantage us, and our participation would not be on a basis different from or less advantageous than that on which our affiliates are investing.

Actions by the Adviser or its affiliates on behalf of their other accounts and clients may be adverse to us and our investments and harmful to us.

Our Adviser and its affiliates manage assets for accounts other than us, including private funds (for purposes of this section, “Adviser Funds”) including, but not limited to, Owl Rock Capital Corporation II, Owl Rock Technology Finance Corp. and Owl Rock First Lien Master Fund. Actions taken by our Adviser or its affiliates on behalf of its Adviser Funds may be adverse to us and our investments, which could harm our performance. For example, we may invest in the same credit obligations as other Adviser Funds, although, to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act, our investments may include different obligations of the same issuer. Decisions made with respect to the securities held by one Adviser Fund may cause (or have the potential to cause) harm to the different class of securities of the issuer held by other Adviser Funds (including us).

 

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Our access to confidential information may restrict our ability to take action with respect to some investments, which, in turn, may negatively affect our results of operations.

We, directly or through our Adviser, may obtain confidential information about the companies in which we have invested or may invest or be deemed to have such confidential information. Our Adviser may come into possession of material, non-public information through its members, officers, directors, employees, principals or affiliates. The possession of such information may, to our detriment, limit the ability of us and our Adviser to buy or sell a security or otherwise to participate in an investment opportunity. In certain circumstances, employees of our Adviser may serve as board members or in other capacities for portfolio or potential portfolio companies, which could restrict our ability to trade in the securities of such companies. For example, if personnel of our Adviser come into possession of material non-public information with respect to our investments, such personnel will be restricted by our Adviser’s information-sharing policies and procedures or by law or contract from sharing such information with our management team, even where the disclosure of such information would be in our best interests or would otherwise influence decisions taken by the members of the management team with respect to that investment. This conflict and these procedures and practices may limit the freedom of our Adviser to enter into or exit from potentially profitable investments for us, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will be able to fully leverage the resources and industry expertise of our Adviser in the course of its duties. Additionally, there may be circumstances in which one or more individuals associated with our Adviser will be precluded from providing services to us because of certain confidential information available to those individuals or to other parts of our Adviser.

We may be obligated to pay our Adviser incentive fees even if we incur a net loss due to a decline in the value of our portfolio and even if our earned interest income is not payable in cash.

Upon an Exchange Listing, the Investment Advisory Agreement entitles our Adviser to receive an incentive fee based on our pre-incentive fee net investment income regardless of any capital losses. In such case, we may be required to pay our Adviser an incentive fee for a fiscal quarter even if there is a decline in the value of our portfolio or if we incur a net loss for that quarter.

Any incentive fee payable by us that relates to the pre-incentive fee net investment income may be computed and paid on income that may include interest that has been accrued but not yet received or interest in the form of securities received rather than cash (“payment-in-kind” or “PIK” income”). PIK income will be included in the pre-incentive fee net investment income used to calculate the incentive fee to our Adviser even though we do not receive the income in the form of cash. If a portfolio company defaults on a loan that is structured to provide accrued interest income, it is possible that accrued interest income previously included in the calculation of the incentive fee will become uncollectible. Our Adviser is not obligated to reimburse us for any part of the incentive fee it received that was based on accrued interest income that we never receive as a result of a subsequent default.

The quarterly incentive fee on income is recognized and paid without regard to: (i) the trend of pre-incentive fee net investment income as a percent of adjusted capital over multiple quarters in arrears which may in fact be consistently less than the quarterly preferred return, or (ii) the net income or net loss in the current calendar quarter, the current year or any combination of prior periods.

For federal income tax purposes, we may be required to recognize taxable income in some circumstances in which we do not receive a corresponding payment in cash and to make distributions with respect to such income to maintain our tax treatment as a RIC and/or minimize excise tax. Under such circumstances, we may have difficulty distributing to our shareholders, for each taxable year, at least 90% of our “investment company taxable income,” which is generally our ordinary income plus the excess of realized net short-term capital gains over realized net long-term capital losses (the “Annual Distribution Requirement”) necessary to maintain RIC tax treatment under the Code. This difficulty in making the required distribution may be amplified to the extent that we are required to pay the incentive fee on income with respect to such accrued income. As a result, we may have to sell some of our investments at times and/or at prices we would not consider advantageous, raise

 

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additional debt or equity capital, or forgo new investment opportunities for this purpose. If we are not able to obtain cash from other sources, we may fail to qualify for RIC tax treatment and thus become subject to corporate-level income tax.

Our ability to enter into transactions with our affiliates is restricted.

We are prohibited under the 1940 Act from participating in certain transactions with certain of our affiliates without the prior approval of a majority of our independent directors and, in some cases, the SEC. Any person that owns, directly or indirectly, 5% or more of our outstanding voting securities will be our affiliate for purposes of the 1940 Act, and we will generally be prohibited from buying or selling any securities from or to such affiliate on a principal basis, absent the prior approval of our Board and, in some cases, the SEC. The 1940 Act also prohibits certain “joint” transactions with certain of our affiliates, including other funds or clients advised by the Adviser or its affiliates, which in certain circumstances could include investments in the same portfolio company (whether at the same or different times to the extent the transaction involves a joint investment), without prior approval of our Board and, in some cases, the SEC. If a person acquires more than 25% of our voting securities, we will be prohibited from buying or selling any security from or to such person or certain of that person’s affiliates, or entering into prohibited joint transactions with such persons, absent the prior approval of the SEC. Similar restrictions limit our ability to transact business with our officers or directors or their affiliates or anyone who is under common control with us. The SEC has interpreted the business development company regulations governing transactions with affiliates to prohibit certain joint transactions involving entities that share a common investment adviser. As a result of these restrictions, we may be prohibited from buying or selling any security from or to any portfolio company that is controlled by a fund managed by either of our Adviser or its affiliates without the prior approval of the SEC, which may limit the scope of investment or disposition opportunities that would otherwise be available to us.

On February 7, 2017, we, the Adviser and certain of our affiliates received exemptive relief from the SEC to permit us to co-invest with other funds managed by the Adviser or its affiliates in a manner consistent with our investment objective, positions, policies, strategies and restrictions as well as regulatory requirements and other pertinent factors. Pursuant to such exemptive relief, we generally are permitted to co-invest with certain of our affiliates if a “required majority” (as defined in Section 57(o) of the 1940 Act) of our independent directors make certain conclusions in connection with a co-investment transaction, including that (1) the terms of the transaction, including the consideration to be paid, are reasonable and fair to us and our shareholders and do not involve overreaching of us or our shareholders on the part of any person concerned, (2) the transaction is consistent with the interests of our shareholders and is consistent with our investment objective and strategies, and (3) the investment by our affiliates would not disadvantage us, and our participation would not be on a basis different from or less advantageous than that on which our affiliates are investing.

In situations when co-investment with the Adviser’s or its affiliates’ other clients is not permitted under the 1940 Act and related rules, existing or future staff guidance, or the terms and conditions of the exemptive relief granted to us by the SEC, our Adviser will need to decide which client or clients will proceed with the investment. Generally, we will not be entitled to make a co-investment in these circumstances and, to the extent that another client elects to proceed with the investment, we will not be permitted to participate. Moreover, except in certain circumstances, we will not invest in any issuer in which an affiliate’s other client holds a controlling interest.

We may make investments that could give rise to a conflict of interest.

We do not expect to invest in, or hold securities of, companies that are controlled by an affiliate’s other clients. However, our Adviser or an affiliate’s other clients may invest in, and gain control over, one of our portfolio companies. If our Adviser or an affiliate’s other client, or clients, gains control over one of our portfolio companies, it may create conflicts of interest and may subject us to certain restrictions under the 1940 Act. As a result of these conflicts and restrictions our Adviser may be unable to implement our investment strategies as effectively as they could have in the absence of such conflicts or restrictions. For example, as a result of a conflict or restriction, our Adviser may be unable to engage in certain transactions that it would otherwise

 

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pursue. In order to avoid these conflicts and restrictions, our Adviser may choose to exit such investments prematurely and, as a result, we may forego any positive returns associated with such investments. In addition, to the extent that an affiliate’s other client holds a different class of securities than us as a result of such transactions, our interests may not be aligned.

The recommendations given to us by our Adviser may differ from those rendered to their other clients.

Our Adviser and its affiliates may give advice and recommend securities to other clients which may differ from advice given to, or securities recommended or bought for, us even though such other clients’ investment objectives may be similar to ours, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our Adviser’s liability is limited under the Investment Advisory Agreement, and we are required to indemnify our Adviser against certain liabilities, which may lead our Adviser to act in a riskier manner on our behalf than it would when acting for its own account.

Our Adviser has not assumed any responsibility to us other than to render the services described in the Investment Advisory Agreement (and, separately, under the Administration Agreement), and it will not be responsible for any action of our Board in declining to follow our Adviser’s advice or recommendations. Pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement, our Adviser and its directors, officers, shareholders, members, agents, employees, controlling persons, and any other person or entity affiliated with, or acting on behalf of our Adviser will not be liable to us for their acts under the Investment Advisory Agreement, absent willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard in the performance of their duties. We have also agreed to indemnify, defend and protect our Adviser and its directors, officers, shareholders, members, agents, employees, controlling persons and any other person or entity affiliated with, or acting on behalf of our Adviser with respect to all damages, liabilities, costs and expenses resulting from acts of our Adviser not arising out of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard in the performance of their duties. These protections may lead our Adviser to act in a riskier manner when acting on our behalf than it would when acting for its own account.

The Adviser’s failure to comply with pay-to-play laws, regulations and policies could have an adverse effect on the Adviser, and thus, us.

A number of U.S. states and municipal pension plans have adopted so-called “pay-to-play” laws, regulations or policies which prohibit, restrict or require disclosure of payments to (and/or certain contacts with) state officials by individuals and entities seeking to do business with state entities, including those seeking investments by public retirement funds. The SEC has adopted a rule that, among other things, prohibits an investment adviser from providing advisory services for compensation to a government client for two years after the adviser or certain of its executives or employees makes a contribution to certain elected officials or candidates. If the Adviser, any of its employees or affiliates or any service provider acting on its behalf, fails to comply with such laws, regulations or policies, such non-compliance could have an adverse effect on the Adviser, and thus, us.

Risks Related to Business Development Companies

The requirement that we invest a sufficient portion of our assets in qualifying assets could preclude us from investing in accordance with our current business strategy; conversely, the failure to invest a sufficient portion of our assets in qualifying assets could result in our failure to maintain our status as a business development company.

As a business development company, the 1940 Act prohibits us from acquiring any assets other than certain qualifying assets unless, at the time of and after giving effect to such acquisition, at least 70% of our total assets are qualifying assets. Therefore, we may be precluded from investing in what we believe are attractive investments if such investments are not qualifying assets. Conversely, if we fail to invest a sufficient portion of

 

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our assets in qualifying assets, we could lose our status as a business development company, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, these rules could prevent us from making additional investments in existing portfolio companies, which could result in the dilution of our position, or could require us to dispose of investments at an inopportune time to comply with the 1940 Act. If we were forced to sell non-qualifying investments in the portfolio for compliance purposes, the proceeds from such sale could be significantly less than the current value of such investments.

Failure to maintain our status as a business development company would reduce our operating flexibility.

If we do not remain a business development company, we might be regulated as a closed-end investment company under the 1940 Act, which would subject us to substantially more regulatory restrictions and correspondingly decrease our operating flexibility.

Regulations governing our operation as a business development company and RIC affect our ability to raise capital and the way in which we raise additional capital or borrow for investment purposes, which may have a negative effect on our growth. As a business development company, the necessity of raising additional capital may expose us to risks, including risks associated with leverage.

As a result of the Annual Distribution Requirement to qualify for tax treatment as a RIC, we may need to access the capital markets periodically to raise cash to fund new investments in portfolio companies. Currently, we may issue “senior securities,” including borrowing money from banks or other financial institutions only in amounts such that our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, equals at least 200% (or 150% if certain requirements are met) after such incurrence or issuance. If we issue senior securities, we will be exposed to risks associated with leverage, including an increased risk of loss. Our ability to issue different types of securities is also limited. Compliance with RIC distribution requirements may unfavorably limit our investment opportunities and reduce our ability in comparison to other companies to profit from favorable spreads between the rates at which we can borrow and the rates at which we can lend. Therefore, we intend to seek to continuously issue equity securities, which may lead to shareholder dilution.

We may borrow to fund investments. If the value of our assets declines, we may be unable to satisfy the asset coverage test under the 1940 Act, which would prohibit us from paying distributions and could prevent us from qualifying for tax treatment as a RIC, which would generally result in a corporate-level U.S. federal income tax on any income and net gains. If we cannot satisfy the asset coverage test, we may be required to sell a portion of our investments and, depending on the nature of our debt financing, repay a portion of our indebtedness at a time when such sales may be disadvantageous.

In addition, we anticipate that as market conditions permit, we may securitize our loans to generate cash for funding new investments. To securitize loans, we may create a wholly owned subsidiary, contribute a pool of loans to the subsidiary and have the subsidiary issue primarily investment grade debt securities to purchasers who would be expected to be willing to accept a substantially lower interest rate than the loans earn. We would retain all or a portion of the equity in the securitized pool of loans. Our retained equity would be exposed to any losses on the portfolio of loans before any of the debt securities would be exposed to such losses.

Risks Related to Our Investments

Our investments in portfolio companies may be risky, and we could lose all or part of our investments.

Our strategy focuses primarily on originating and making loans to, and making debt and equity investments in, U.S. middle market companies, with a focus on originated transactions sourced through the networks of our Adviser. Short transaction closing timeframes associated with originated transactions coupled with added tax or accounting structuring complexity and international transactions may result in higher risk in comparison to non-originated transactions.

 

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First-Lien Debt. When we make a first-lien loan, we generally take a security interest in the available assets of the portfolio company, including the equity interests of its subsidiaries, which we expect to help mitigate the risk that we will not be repaid. However, there is a risk that the collateral securing our loans may decrease in value over time, may be difficult to sell in a timely manner, may be difficult to appraise, and may fluctuate in value based upon the success of the business and market conditions, including as a result of the inability of the portfolio company to raise additional capital. In some circumstances, our lien is, or could become, subordinated to claims of other creditors. Consequently, the fact that a loan is secured does not guarantee that we will receive principal and interest payments according to the loan’s terms, or at all, or that we will be able to collect on the loan should we need to enforce our remedies. In addition, in connection with any “last out” first-lien loans in which we may invest, we would enter into agreements among lenders. Under these agreements, our interest in the collateral of the first-lien loans may rank junior to those of other lenders in the loan under certain circumstances. This may result in greater risk and loss of principal on these loans.

Second-Lien and Mezzanine Debt. Our investments in second-lien and mezzanine debt generally are subordinated to senior loans and will either have junior security interests or be unsecured. As such, other creditors may rank senior to us in the event of insolvency. This may result in greater risk and loss of principal.

Equity Investments. When we invest in first-lien debt, second-lien debt or mezzanine debt, we may acquire equity securities, such as warrants, options and convertible instruments, as well. In addition, we may invest directly in the equity securities of portfolio companies. We seek to dispose of these equity interests and realize gains upon our disposition of these interests. However, the equity interests we receive may not appreciate in value and, in fact, may decline in value. Accordingly, we may not be able to realize gains from our equity interests, and any gains that we do realize on the disposition of any equity interests may not be sufficient to offset any other losses we experience.

Most debt securities in which we intend to invest will not be rated by any rating agency and, if they were rated, they would be rated as below investment grade quality and are commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk”. Debt securities rated below investment grade quality are generally regarded as having predominantly speculative characteristics and may carry a greater risk with respect to a borrower’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. In addition, some of the loans in which we may invest may be “covenant-lite” loans. We use the term “covenant-lite” loans to refer generally to loans that do not have a complete set of financial maintenance covenants. Generally, “covenant-lite” loans provide borrower companies more freedom to negatively impact lenders because their covenants are incurrence-based, which means they are only tested and can only be breached following an affirmative action of the borrower, rather than by a deterioration in the borrower’s financial condition. Accordingly, to the extent we invest in “covenant-lite” loans, we may have fewer rights against a borrower and may have a greater risk of loss on such investments as compared to investments in or exposure to loans with financial maintenance covenants.

We may invest through joint ventures, partnerships or other special purpose vehicles and our investments through these vehicles may entail greater risks, or risks that we otherwise would not incur, if we otherwise made such investments directly.

We may make indirect investments in portfolio companies through joint ventures, partnerships or other special purpose vehicles (“Investment Vehicles”) including Sebago Lake LLC. In general, the risks associated with indirect investments in portfolio companies through a joint venture, partnership or other special purpose vehicle are similar to those associated with a direct investment in a portfolio company. While we intend to analyze the credit and business of a potential portfolio company in determining whether to make an investment in an Investment Vehicle, we will nonetheless be exposed to the creditworthiness of the Investment Vehicle. In the event of a bankruptcy proceeding against the portfolio company, the assets of the portfolio company may be used to satisfy its obligations prior to the satisfaction of our investment in the Investment Vehicle (i.e., our investment in the Investment Vehicle could be structurally subordinated to the other obligations of the portfolio company). In addition, if we are to invest in an Investment Vehicle, we may be required to rely on our partners in the

 

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Investment Vehicle when making decisions regarding such Investment Vehicle’s investments, accordingly, the value of the investment could be adversely affected if our interests diverge from those of our partners in the Investment Vehicle.

If the assets securing the loans that we make decrease in value, then we may lack sufficient collateral to cover losses.

To attempt to mitigate credit risks, we intend to take a security interest in the available assets of our portfolio companies. There is no assurance that we will obtain or properly perfect our liens.

There is a risk that the collateral securing our loans may decrease in value over time, may be difficult to sell in a timely manner, may be difficult to appraise and may fluctuate in value based upon the success of the business and market conditions, including as a result of the inability of a portfolio company to raise additional capital. In some circumstances, our lien could be subordinated to claims of other creditors. Consequently, the fact that a loan is secured does not guarantee that we will receive principal and interest payments according to the loan’s terms, or that we will be able to collect on the loan should we be forced to enforce our remedies.

We may suffer a loss if a portfolio company defaults on a loan and the underlying collateral is not sufficient.

In the event of a default by a portfolio company on a secured loan, we will only have recourse to the assets collateralizing the loan. If the underlying collateral value is less than the loan amount, we will suffer a loss. In addition, we may make loans that are unsecured, which are subject to the risk that other lenders may be directly secured by the assets of the portfolio company. In the event of a default, those collateralized lenders would have priority over us with respect to the proceeds of a sale of the underlying assets. In cases described above, we may lack control over the underlying asset collateralizing our loan or the underlying assets of the portfolio company prior to a default, and as a result the value of the collateral may be reduced by acts or omissions by owners or managers of the assets.

In the event of bankruptcy of a portfolio company, we may not have full recourse to its assets in order to satisfy our loan, or our loan may be subject to “equitable subordination.” This means that depending on the facts and circumstances, including the extent to which we actually provided significant “managerial assistance,” if any, to that portfolio company, a bankruptcy court might re-characterize our debt holding and subordinate all or a portion of our claim to that of other creditors. In addition, certain of our loans are subordinate to other debt of the portfolio company. If a portfolio company defaults on our loan or on debt senior to our loan, or in the event of a portfolio company bankruptcy, our loan will be satisfied only after the senior debt receives payment. Where debt senior to our loan exists, the presence of intercreditor arrangements may limit our ability to amend our loan documents, assign our loans, accept prepayments, exercise our remedies (through “standstill” periods) and control decisions made in bankruptcy proceedings relating to the portfolio company. Bankruptcy and portfolio company litigation can significantly increase collection losses and the time needed for us to acquire the underlying collateral in the event of a default, during which time the collateral may decline in value, causing us to suffer losses.

If the value of collateral underlying our loan declines or interest rates increase during the term of our loan, a portfolio company may not be able to obtain the necessary funds to repay our loan at maturity through refinancing. Decreasing collateral value and/or increasing interest rates may hinder a portfolio company’s ability to refinance our loan because the underlying collateral cannot satisfy the debt service coverage requirements necessary to obtain new financing. If a borrower is unable to repay our loan at maturity, we could suffer a loss which may adversely impact our financial performance.

 

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The credit ratings of certain of our investments may not be indicative of the actual credit risk of such rated instruments.

Rating agencies rate debt securities based upon their assessment of the likelihood of the receipt of principal and interest payments. Rating agencies do not consider the risks of fluctuations in market value or other factors that may influence the value of debt securities. Therefore, the credit rating assigned to a particular instrument may not fully reflect the true risks of an investment in such instrument. Credit rating agencies may change their methods of evaluating credit risk and determining ratings. These changes may occur quickly and often. While we may give some consideration to ratings, ratings may not be indicative of the actual credit risk of our investments in rated instruments.

Prepayments of our debt investments by our portfolio companies could adversely impact our results of operations and reduce our return on equity.

We are subject to the risk that the investments we make in our portfolio companies may be repaid prior to maturity. When this occurs, we will generally reinvest these proceeds in temporary investments, pending their future investment in new portfolio companies. These temporary investments will typically have substantially lower yields than the debt being prepaid and we could experience significant delays in reinvesting these amounts. Any future investment in a new portfolio company may also be at lower yields than the debt that was repaid. As a result, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected if one or more of our portfolio companies elect to prepay amounts owed to us. Additionally, prepayments, net of prepayment fees, could negatively impact our return on equity. This risk will be more acute when interest rates decrease, as we may be unable to reinvest at rates as favorable as when we made our initial investment.

A redemption of convertible securities held by us could have an adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective.

A convertible security may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price established in the convertible security’s governing instrument. If a convertible security held by us is called for redemption, we will be required to permit the issuer to redeem the security, convert it into the underlying common stock or sell it to a third party. Any of these actions could have an adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective.

To the extent original issue discount (OID) and payment-in-kind (PIK) interest income constitute a portion of our income, we will be exposed to risks associated with the deferred receipt of cash representing such income.

Our investments may include OID and PIK instruments. To the extent OID and PIK constitute a portion of our income, we will be exposed to risks associated with such income being required to be included in income for financial reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) and taxable income prior to receipt of cash, including the following:

 

•

Original issue discount instruments may have unreliable valuations because the accruals require judgments about collectability or deferred payments and the value of any associated collateral;

 

•

Original issue discount instruments may create heightened credit risks because the inducement to the borrower to accept higher interest rates in exchange for the deferral of cash payments typically represents, to some extent, speculation on the part of the borrower;

 

•

For U.S. GAAP purposes, cash distributions to shareholders that include a component of OID income do not come from paid-in capital, although they may be paid from the offering proceeds. Thus, although a distribution of OID income may come from the cash invested by the shareholders, the 1940 Act does not require that shareholders be given notice of this fact;

 

•

The presence of OID and PIK creates the risk of non-refundable cash payments to our Adviser in the form of incentive fees on income based on non-cash OID and PIK accruals that may never be realized; and

 

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•

In the case of PIK, “toggle” debt, which gives the issuer the option to defer an interest payment in exchange for an increased interest rate in the future, the PIK election has the simultaneous effect of increasing the investment income, thus increasing the potential for realizing incentive fees.

Our portfolio companies may incur debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, our investments in such companies.

Our strategy focuses on investing primarily in the debt of privately owned U.S. companies with a focus on originated transactions sourced through the networks of our Adviser. Our portfolio companies may have, or may be permitted to incur, other debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, the debt in which we invest. By their terms, such debt instruments may entitle the holders to receive payment of interest or principal on or before the dates on which we are entitled to receive payments with respect to the debt instruments in which we invest. Also, in the event of insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of a portfolio company, any holders of debt instruments ranking senior to our investment in that portfolio company would typically be entitled to receive payment in full before we receive any distribution. After repaying such senior creditors, such portfolio company may not have any remaining assets to use for repaying its obligation to us. In the case of debt ranking equally with debt instruments in which we invest, we would have to share on an equal basis any distributions with other creditors holding such debt in the event of an insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of the relevant portfolio company and our portfolio company may not have sufficient assets to pay all equally ranking credit even if we hold senior, first-lien debt.

If we cannot obtain debt financing or equity capital on acceptable terms, our ability to acquire investments and to expand our operations will be adversely affected.

The net proceeds from the sale of our shares will be used for our investment opportunities, and, if necessary, the payment of operating expenses and the payment of various fees and expenses such as base management fees, incentive fees, other fees and distributions. Any working capital reserves we maintain may not be sufficient for investment purposes, and we may require additional debt financing or equity capital to operate. We are required to distribute at least 90% of our net ordinary income and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses, if any, to our shareholders to maintain our tax treatment as a RIC. Accordingly, in the event that we need additional capital in the future for investments or for any other reason we may need to access the capital markets periodically to issue debt or equity securities or borrow from financial institutions in order to obtain such additional capital. These sources of funding may not be available to us due to unfavorable economic conditions, which could increase our funding costs, limit our access to the capital markets or result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to us. Consequently, if we cannot obtain further debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, our ability to acquire additional investments and to expand our operations will be adversely affected. As a result, we would be less able to diversify our portfolio and achieve our investment objective, which may negatively impact our results of operations and reduce our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.

Subordinated liens on collateral securing debt investments that we may make to portfolio companies may be subject to control by senior creditors with first priority liens. If there is a default, the value of the collateral may not be sufficient to repay in full both the first priority creditors and us.

Certain debt investments that we will make in portfolio companies will be secured on a second priority lien basis by the same collateral securing senior debt of such companies. We also make debt investments in portfolio companies secured on a first priority basis. The first priority liens on the collateral will secure the portfolio company’s obligations under any outstanding senior debt and may secure certain other future debt that may be permitted to be incurred by the portfolio company under the agreements governing the debt. In the event of a default, the holders of obligations secured by the first priority liens on the collateral will generally control the liquidation of and be entitled to receive proceeds from any realization of the collateral to repay their obligations in full before us. In addition, the value of the collateral in the event of liquidation will depend on market and economic conditions, the availability of buyers and other factors. There can be no assurance that the proceeds, if

 

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any, from the sale or sales of all of the collateral would be sufficient to satisfy the debt obligations secured by the first priority or second priority liens after payment in full of all obligations secured by the first priority liens on the collateral. If such proceeds are not sufficient to repay amounts outstanding under the debt obligations secured by the first priority or second priority liens, then we, to the extent not repaid from the proceeds of the sale of the collateral, will only have an unsecured claim against the portfolio company’s remaining assets, if any.

We may also make unsecured debt investments in portfolio companies, meaning that such investments will not benefit from any interest in collateral of such companies. Liens on any such portfolio company’s collateral, if any, will secure the portfolio company’s obligations under its outstanding secured debt and may secure certain future debt that is permitted to be incurred by the portfolio company under its secured debt agreements. The holders of obligations secured by such liens will generally control the liquidation of, and be entitled to receive proceeds from, any realization of such collateral to repay their obligations in full before us. In addition, the value of such collateral in the event of liquidation will depend on market and economic conditions, the availability of buyers and other factors. There can be no assurance that the proceeds, if any, from sales of such collateral would be sufficient to satisfy our unsecured debt obligations after payment in full of all secured debt obligations. If such proceeds were not sufficient to repay the outstanding secured debt obligations, then our unsecured claims would rank equally with the unpaid portion of such secured creditors’ claims against the portfolio company’s remaining assets, if any.

The rights we may have with respect to the collateral securing the debt investments we make in our portfolio companies with senior debt outstanding may also be limited pursuant to the terms of one or more inter-creditor agreements that we enter into with the holders of senior debt. Under such an inter-creditor agreement, at any time obligations that have the benefit of the first priority liens are outstanding, any of the following actions that may be taken in respect of the collateral will be at the direction of the holders of the obligations secured by the first priority liens: the ability to cause the commencement of enforcement proceedings against the collateral; the ability to control the conduct of such proceedings; the approval of amendments to collateral documents; releases of liens on the collateral; and waivers of past defaults under collateral documents. We may not have the ability to control or direct such actions, even if our rights are adversely affected.

Certain of our investments may be adversely affected by laws relating to fraudulent conveyance or voidable preferences.

Certain of our investments could be subject to federal bankruptcy law and state fraudulent transfer laws, which vary from state to state, if the debt obligations relating to certain investments were issued with the intent of hindering, delaying or defrauding creditors or, in certain circumstances, if the issuer receives less than reasonably equivalent value or fair consideration in return for issuing such debt obligations. If the debt proceeds are used for a buyout of shareholders, this risk is greater than if the debt proceeds are used for day-to-day operations or organic growth. If a court were to find that the issuance of the debt obligations was a fraudulent transfer or conveyance, the court could void or otherwise refuse to recognize the payment obligations under the debt obligations or the collateral supporting such obligations, further subordinate the debt obligations or the liens supporting such obligations to other existing and future indebtedness of the issuer or require us to repay any amounts received by us with respect to the debt obligations or collateral. In the event of a finding that a fraudulent transfer or conveyance occurred, we may not receive any repayment on such debt obligations.

Under certain circumstances, payments to us and distributions by us to our shareholders may be reclaimed if any such payment or distribution is later determined to have been a fraudulent conveyance, preferential payment or similar transaction under applicable bankruptcy and insolvency laws. Furthermore, investments in restructurings may be adversely affected by statutes relating to, among other things, fraudulent conveyances, voidable preferences, lender liability and the court’s discretionary power to disallow, subordinate or disenfranchise particular claims or recharacterize investments made in the form of debt as equity contributions.

 

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There may be circumstances where our debt investments could be subordinated to claims of other creditors or we could be subject to lender liability claims.

Although we intend to structure certain of our investments as senior debt, if one of our portfolio companies were to go bankrupt, depending on the facts and circumstances, including the extent to which we provided managerial assistance to that portfolio company or a representative of us or our Adviser sat on the board of directors of such portfolio company, a bankruptcy court might recharacterize our debt investment and subordinate all or a portion of our claim to that of other creditors. In situations where a bankruptcy carries a high degree of political significance, our legal rights may be subordinated to other creditors.

In addition, a number of U.S. judicial decisions have upheld judgments obtained by borrowers against lending institutions on the basis of various evolving legal theories, collectively termed “lender liability.” Generally, lender liability is founded on the premise that a lender has violated a duty (whether implied or contractual) of good faith, commercial reasonableness and fair dealing, or a similar duty owed to the borrower or has assumed an excessive degree of control over the borrower resulting in the creation of a fiduciary duty owed to the borrower or its other creditors or shareholders. Because of the nature of our investments in portfolio companies (including that, as a business development company, we may be required to provide managerial assistance to those portfolio companies if they so request upon our offer), we may be subject to allegations of lender liability.

We generally will not control the business operations of our portfolio companies and, due to the illiquid nature of our holdings in our portfolio companies, we may not be able to dispose of our interests in our portfolio companies.

We do not currently, and do not expect in the future to control most of our portfolio companies, although we may have board representation or board observation rights, and our debt agreements may impose certain restrictive covenants on our borrowers. As a result, we are subject to the risk that a portfolio company in which we invest may make business decisions with which we disagree and the management of such company, as representatives of the holders of their common equity, may take risks or otherwise act in ways that do not serve our interests as a debt investor. Due to the lack of liquidity for our investments in private companies, we may not be able to dispose of our interests in our portfolio companies as readily as we would like or at a favorable value. As a result, a portfolio company may make decisions that could decrease the value of our portfolio holdings.

We will be exposed to risks associated with changes in interest rates.

General interest rate fluctuations may have a substantial negative impact on our investments and investment opportunities and, accordingly, may have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective and the rate of return on invested capital. Because we may borrow money to make investments, our net investment income will depend, in part, upon the difference between the rate at which we borrow funds and the rate at which we invest these funds. As a result, there can be no assurance that a significant change in market interest rates will not have a material adverse effect on our net investment income.

Many of our debt investments are based on floating interest rates, such as LIBOR, EURIBOR, the Federal Funds Rate or the Prime Rate, that reset on a periodic basis, and that many of our investments will be subject to interest rate floors. A reduction in the interest rates on new investments relative to interest rates on current investments could have an adverse impact on our net investment income, which also could be negatively impacted by our borrowers making prepayments on their loans. On the other hand, an increase in interest rates could increase the interest repayment obligations of our borrowers and result in challenges to their financial performance and ability to repay their obligations. In addition, our cost of funds likely will increase because the interest rates on the majority of amounts we may borrow are likely to be floating, which could reduce our net investment income to the extent any debt investments have fixed interest rates, and the interest rate on investments with an interest rate floor will not increase until interest rates exceed the applicable floor.

 

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Trading prices for debt that pays a fixed rate of return tend to fall as interest rates rise. Trading prices tend to fluctuate more for fixed-rate securities that have longer maturities. Moreover, an increase in interest rates available to investors could make investment in our common stock less attractive if we are not able to increase our dividend rate, which could reduce the value of our common stock. Federal Reserve policy, including with respect to certain interest rates and the decision to end its quantitative easing policy, may also adversely affect the value, volatility and liquidity of dividend- and interest-paying securities. Market volatility, rising interest rates and/or a return to unfavorable economic conditions could adversely affect our business.

We may enter into certain hedging transactions, such as interest rate swap agreements, in an effort to mitigate our exposure to adverse fluctuations in interest rates and we may increase our floating rate investments to position the portfolio for rate increases. However, we cannot assure you that such transactions will be successful in mitigating our exposure to interest rate risk or if we will enter into such interest rate hedges. Hedging transactions may also limit our ability to participate in the benefits of lower interest rates with respect to our portfolio investments.

We will not have a policy governing the maturities of our investments. This means that we are subject to greater risk (other things being equal) than a fund invested solely in shorter-term securities. A decline in the prices of the debt we own could adversely affect our net asset value. Also, an increase in interest rates available to investors could make an investment in our common stock less attractive if we are not able to increase our dividend rate.

To the extent that we make floating rate debt investments, a rise in the general level of interest rates would lead to higher interest rates applicable to our debt investments. Accordingly, an increase in interest rates may result in an increase in the amount of the Incentive Fee payable to the Adviser.

International investments create additional risks.

We may make investments in portfolio companies that are domiciled outside of the United States. Pursuant to our investment policies, we will not invest more than 20% of our total assets in companies whose principal place of business is outside the United States. Our investments in foreign portfolio companies are deemed “non-qualifying assets”, which means that, as required by the 1940 Act, such investments, along with other investments in non-qualifying assets, may not constitute more than 30% of our total assets at the time of our acquisition of any such asset, after giving effect to the acquisition. Notwithstanding the limitation on our ownership of foreign portfolio companies, such investments subject us to many of the same risks as our domestic investments, as well as certain additional risks, including the following:

 

•

foreign governmental laws, rules and policies, including those relating to taxation and bankruptcy and restricting the ownership of assets in the foreign country or the repatriation of profits from the foreign country to the United States and any adverse changes in these laws;

 

•

foreign currency devaluations that reduce the value of and returns on our foreign investments;

 

•

adverse changes in the availability, cost and terms of investments due to the varying economic policies of a foreign country in which we invest;

 

•

adverse changes in tax rates, the tax treatment of transaction structures and other changes in operating expenses of a particular foreign country in which we invest;

 

•

the assessment of foreign-country taxes (including withholding taxes, transfer taxes and value added taxes, any or all of which could be significant) on income or gains from our investments in the foreign country;

 

•

changes that adversely affect the social, political and/or economic stability of a foreign country in which we invest;

 

•

high inflation in the foreign countries in which we invest, which could increase the costs to us of investing in those countries;

 

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•

deflationary periods in the foreign countries in which we invest, which could reduce demand for our assets in those countries and diminish the value of such investments and the related investment returns to us; and

 

•

legal and logistical barriers in the foreign countries in which we invest that materially and adversely limit our ability to enforce our contractual rights with respect to those investments.

In addition, we may make investments in countries whose governments or economies may prove unstable. Certain of the countries in which we may invest may have political, economic and legal systems that are unpredictable, unreliable or otherwise inadequate with respect to the implementation, interpretation and enforcement of laws protecting asset ownership and economic interests. In some of the countries in which we may invest, there may be a risk of nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, which may have an adverse effect on our portfolio companies in those countries and the rates of return that we are able to achieve on such investments. We may also lose the total value of any investment which is nationalized, expropriated or confiscated. The financial results and investment opportunities available to us, particularly in developing countries and emerging markets, may be materially and adversely affected by any or all of these political, economic and legal risks.

We may acquire various structured financial instruments for purposes of “hedging” or reducing our risks, which may be costly and ineffective and could reduce the cash available to service our debt or for distribution to our shareholders.

We may seek to hedge against interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations and credit risk by using structured financial instruments such as futures, options, swaps and forward contracts, subject to the requirements of the 1940 Act. Use of structured financial instruments for hedging purposes may present significant risks, including the risk of loss of the amounts invested. Defaults by the other party to a hedging transaction can result in losses in the hedging transaction. Hedging activities also involve the risk of an imperfect correlation between the hedging instrument and the asset being hedged, which could result in losses both on the hedging transaction and on the instrument being hedged. Use of hedging activities may not prevent significant losses and could increase our losses. Further, hedging transactions may reduce cash available to service our debt or pay distributions to our shareholders.

We may enter into total return swaps that would expose us to certain risks, including market risk, liquidity risk and other risks similar to those associated with the use of leverage.

A total return swap is a contract in which one party agrees to make periodic payments to another party based on the change in the market value of the assets underlying the total return swap, which may include a specified security or loan, basket of securities or loans or securities or loan indices during the specified period, in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate. A total return swap is typically used to obtain exposure to a security, loan or market without owning or taking physical custody of such security or loan or investing directly in such market. A total return swap may effectively add leverage to our portfolio because, in addition to our total net assets, we would be subject to investment exposure on the amount of securities or loans subject to the total return swap. A total return swap is also subject to the risk that a counterparty will default on its payment obligations thereunder or that we will not be able to meet our obligations to the counterparty. In addition, because a total return swap is a form of synthetic leverage, such arrangements are subject to risks similar to those associated with the use of leverage.

Defaults by our portfolio companies could jeopardize a portfolio company’s ability to meet its obligations under the debt or equity investments that we hold which could harm our operating results.

A portfolio company’s failure to satisfy financial or operating covenants imposed by us or other lenders could lead to defaults and, potentially, termination of its debt financing and foreclosure on its secured assets, which could trigger cross-defaults under other agreements and jeopardize a portfolio company’s ability to meet

 

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its obligations under the debt or equity investments that we hold. We may incur expenses to the extent necessary to seek recovery upon default or to negotiate new terms, which may include the waiver of certain financial covenants, with a defaulting portfolio company. In addition, some of the loans in which we may invest may be “covenant-lite” loans. We use the term “covenant-lite” loans to refer generally to loans that do not have a complete set of financial maintenance covenants. Generally, “covenant-lite” loans provide borrower companies more freedom to negatively impact lenders because their covenants are incurrence-based, which means they are only tested and can only be breached following an affirmative action of the borrower, rather than by a deterioration in the borrower’s financial condition. Accordingly, to the extent we invest in “covenant-lite” loans, we may have fewer rights against a borrower and may have a greater risk of loss on such investments as compared to investments in or exposure to loans with financial maintenance covenants.

As part of our lending activities, we may in certain opportunistic circumstances originate loans to companies that are experiencing significant financial or business difficulties, including companies involved in bankruptcy or other reorganization and liquidation proceedings. Any such investment would involve a substantial degree of risk. In any reorganization or liquidation proceeding relating to a company that we fund, we may lose all or part of the amounts advanced to the borrower or may be required to accept collateral with a value less than the amount of the loan advanced by us to the borrower.

Our portfolio may be focused on a limited number of portfolio companies or industries, which will subject us to a risk of significant loss if any of these companies defaults on its obligations under any of its debt instruments or if there is a downturn in a particular industry.

Beyond the asset diversification requirements associated with our qualification as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we do not have fixed guidelines for diversification. While we are not targeting any specific industries, our investments may be focused on relatively few industries. As a result, the aggregate returns we realize may be significantly adversely affected if a small number of investments perform poorly or if we need to write down the value of any one investment. Additionally, a downturn in any particular industry in which we are invested could significantly affect our aggregate returns.

We cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain various required licenses in U.S. states or in any other jurisdiction where they may be required in the future.

We are required to have and may be required in the future to obtain various state licenses to, among other things, originate commercial loans, and may be required to obtain similar licenses from other authorities, including outside of the United States, in the future in connection with one or more investments. Applying for and obtaining required licenses can be costly and take several months. We cannot assure you that we will maintain or obtain all of the licenses that we need on a timely basis. We also are and will be subject to various information and other requirements to maintain and obtain these licenses, and we cannot assure you that we will satisfy those requirements. Our failure to maintain or obtain licenses that we require, now or in the future, might restrict investment options and have other adverse consequences.

An investment strategy focused primarily on privately held companies presents certain challenges, including the lack of available information about these companies.

We invest primarily in privately held companies. Investments in private companies pose certain incremental risks as compared to investments in public companies including that they:

 

•

have reduced access to the capital markets, resulting in diminished capital resources and ability to withstand financial distress;

 

•

may have limited financial resources and may be unable to meet their obligations under their debt obligations that we hold, which may be accompanied by a deterioration in the value of any collateral and a reduction in the likelihood of our realizing any guarantees we may have obtained in connection with our investment;

 

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•

may have shorter operating histories, narrower product lines and smaller market shares than larger businesses, which tend to render them more vulnerable to competitors’ actions and changing market conditions, as well as general economic downturns;

 

•

are more likely to depend on the management talents and efforts of a small group of persons and, therefore, the death, disability, resignation or termination of one or more of these persons could have a material adverse impact on the company and, in turn, on us; and

 

•

generally have less predictable operating results, may from time to time be parties to litigation, may be engaged in rapidly changing businesses with products subject to a substantial risk of obsolescence, and may require substantial additional capital to support their operations, finance expansion or maintain their competitive position.

In addition, investments in private companies tend to be less liquid. The securities of private companies are not publicly traded or actively traded on the secondary market and are, instead, traded on a privately negotiated over-the-counter secondary market for institutional investors. These over-the-counter secondary markets may be inactive during an economic downturn or a credit crisis and in any event often have lower volumes than publicly traded securities even in normal market conditions. In addition, the securities in these companies will be subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or will otherwise be less liquid than publicly traded securities. If there is no readily available market for these investments, we are required to carry these investments at fair value as determined by our Board. As a result, if we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio quickly, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we had previously recorded these investments. We may also face other restrictions on our ability to liquidate an investment in a portfolio company to the extent that we, our Adviser or any of its affiliates have material nonpublic information regarding such portfolio company or where the sale would be an impermissible joint transaction under the 1940 Act. The reduced liquidity of our investments may make it difficult for us to dispose of them at a favorable price, and, as a result, we may suffer losses.

Finally, little public information generally exists about private companies and these companies may not have third-party credit ratings or audited financial statements. We must therefore rely on the ability of our Adviser to obtain adequate information through due diligence to evaluate the creditworthiness and potential returns from investing in these companies, and to monitor the activities and performance of these investments. To the extent that we (or other clients of the Adviser) may hold a larger number of investments, greater demands will be placed on the Adviser’s time, resources and personnel in monitoring such investments, which may result in less attention being paid to any individual investment and greater risk that our investment decisions may not be fully informed. Additionally, these companies and their financial information will not generally be subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and other rules that govern public companies. If we are unable to uncover all material information about these companies, we may not make a fully informed investment decision, and we may lose money on our investments.

Certain investment analyses and decisions by the Adviser may be required to be undertaken on an expedited basis.

Investment analyses and decisions by the Adviser may be required to be undertaken on an expedited basis to take advantage of certain investment opportunities. While we generally will not seek to make an investment until the Adviser has conducted sufficient due diligence to make a determination as to the acceptability of the credit quality of the investment and the underlying issuer, in such cases, the information available to the Adviser at the time of making an investment decision may be limited. Therefore, no assurance can be given that the Adviser will have knowledge of all circumstances that may adversely affect an investment. In addition, the Adviser may rely upon independent consultants in connection with its evaluation of proposed investments. No assurance can be given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by such independent consultants and we may incur liability as a result of such consultants’ actions, many of whom we will have limited recourse against in the event of any such inaccuracies.

 

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We may not have the funds or ability to make additional investments in our portfolio companies or to fund our unfunded commitments.

After our initial investment in a portfolio company, we may be called upon from time to time to provide additional funds to such company or have the opportunity to increase our investment through the exercise of a warrant or other right to purchase common stock. There is no assurance that we will make, or will have sufficient funds to make, follow-on investments. Even if we do have sufficient capital to make a desired follow-on investment, we may elect not to make a follow-on investment because we may not want to increase our level of risk, we prefer other opportunities, we are limited in our ability to do so by compliance with business development company requirements or in order to maintain our RIC status. Our ability to make follow-on investments may also be limited by our Adviser’s allocation policies. Any decision not to make a follow-on investment or any inability on our part to make such an investment may have a negative impact on a portfolio company in need of such an investment, may result in a missed opportunity for us to increase our participation in a successful investment or may reduce the expected return to us on the investment.

Recent legislation may allow us to incur additional leverage.

The 1940 Act generally prohibits us from incurring indebtedness unless immediately after such borrowing we have an asset coverage for total borrowings of at least 200% (i.e., the amount of our outstanding indebtedness may not exceed 50% of the value of our total consolidated assets). However, legislation enacted in March 2018 has modified the 1940 Act by allowing a BDC to increase the maximum amount of leverage it may incur from an asset coverage ratio of 200% to an asset coverage ratio of 150%, if certain requirements are met. The reduced asset coverage requirement would permit a BDC to double the amount of leverage it could incur. Under the legislation, we are allowed to increase our leverage capacity if shareholders representing at least a majority of the votes cast, when quorum is met, approve a proposal to do so. If we receive shareholder approval, we would be allowed to increase our leverage capacity on the first day after such approval. Alternatively, the legislation allows the majority of our independent directors to approve an increase in our leverage capacity, and such approval would become effective after one year. In either case, we would be required to extend to our shareholders, as of the date of such approval the opportunity to sell the shares of common stock that they hold and to make certain disclosures on our website and in SEC filings regarding, among other things, the receipt of approval to increase our leverage, our leverage capacity and usage, and risks related to leverage. For shareholders accepting such an offer, the Company would be required to repurchase 25% of such shareholders’ eligible shares in each of the four calendar quarters following the calendar quarter in which the approval occurs. In addition, before incurring any such additional leverage, we would have to renegotiate or receive a waiver from the contractual leverage limitations under our existing credit facilities and notes. We cannot assure you that we will be able to negotiate a change to our credit facilities or notes to allow us to incur additional leverage or that any such an amendment will be available to us on favorable terms.

As a result of this legislation, we may be able to increase our leverage up to an amount that reduces our asset coverage ratio from 200% to 150%. Leverage magnifies the potential for loss on investments in our indebtedness and on invested equity capital. As we use leverage to partially finance our investments, you will experience increased risks of investing in our securities. If the value of our assets increases, then leveraging would cause the net asset value attributable to our common stock to increase more sharply than it would have had we not leveraged. Conversely, if the value of our assets decreases, leveraging would cause net asset value to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have had we not leveraged our business. Similarly, any increase in our income in excess of interest payable on the borrowed funds would cause our net investment income to increase more than it would without the leverage, while any decrease in our income would cause net investment income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not borrowed. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to pay common stock dividends, scheduled debt payments or other payments related to our securities. Leverage is generally considered a speculative investment technique. See “— Risks Related to Our Business — To the extent that we borrow money, the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested in us will be magnified and may increase the risk of investing in us. Borrowed money may also adversely affect the return on our assets, reduce cash available to service our debt or for distribution to our shareholders, and result in losses.”

 

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Our ability to enter into transactions involving derivatives and financial commitment transactions may be limited.

The SEC has proposed a new rule under the 1940 Act that would govern the use of derivatives (defined to include any swap, security-based swap, futures contract, forward contract, option or any similar instrument) as well as financial commitment transactions (defined to include reverse repurchase agreements, short sale borrowings and any firm or standby commitment agreement or similar agreement) by BDCs. Under the proposed rule, a BDC would be required to comply with one of two alternative portfolio limitations and manage the risks associated with derivatives transactions and financial commitment transactions by segregating certain assets. Furthermore, a BDC that engages in more than a limited amount of derivatives transactions or that uses complex derivatives would be required to establish a formalized derivatives risk management program. If the SEC adopts this rule in the form proposed, we may incur greater and indirect costs to engage in derivatives transactions or financial commitment transactions, and our ability to enter into transactions involving such instruments may be hindered, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

U.S. Federal Income Tax Risks

We cannot predict how tax reform legislation will affect us, our investments, or our shareholders, and any such legislation could adversely affect our business.

Legislative or other actions relating to taxes could have a negative effect on us. The rules dealing with U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department. In December 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate passed tax reform legislation, which the President signed into law. Such legislation made many changes to the Internal Revenue Code, including significant changes to the taxation of business entities, the deductibility of interest expense, and the tax treatment of capital investment. We cannot predict with certainty how any changes in the tax laws might affect us, our shareholders, or our portfolio investments. New legislation and any U.S. Treasury regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions interpreting such legislation could significantly and negatively affect our ability to qualify for tax treatment as a RIC or the U.S. federal income tax consequences to us and our shareholders of such qualification, or could have other adverse consequences. Potential investors are urged to consult with their tax advisor regarding tax legislative, regulatory, or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in the Notes.

We will be subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income tax if we are unable to maintain our tax treatment as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code or if we make investments through taxable subsidiaries.

To maintain RIC tax treatment under the Code, we must meet the following minimum annual distribution, income source and asset diversification requirements. See “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations”.

The minimum Annual Distribution Requirement for a RIC will be satisfied if we distribute to our shareholders on an annual basis at least 90% of our “investment company taxable income,” which is generally our net ordinary income plus the excess, if any, of realized net short-term capital gains over realized net long-term capital losses. In addition, a RIC may, in certain cases, satisfy the 90% distribution requirement by distributing dividends relating to a taxable year after the close of such taxable year under the “spillback dividend” provisions of Subchapter M. We would be taxed, at regular corporate rates, on retained income and/or gains, including any short-term capital gains or long-term capital gains. We also must satisfy an additional Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement with respect to each calendar year in order to avoid a 4% excise tax on the amount of the under-distribution. Because we may use debt financing, we are subject to (i) an asset coverage ratio requirement under the 1940 Act and may, in the future, be subject to (ii) certain financial covenants under loan and credit agreements that could, under certain circumstances, restrict us from making distributions necessary to satisfy the distribution requirements. If we are unable to obtain cash from other sources, or choose or are required

 

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to retain a portion of our taxable income or gains, we could (1) be required to pay excise taxes and (2) fail to qualify for RIC tax treatment, and thus become subject to corporate-level income tax on our taxable income (including gains).

The income source requirement will be satisfied if we obtain at least 90% of our annual income from dividends, interest, gains from the sale of stock or securities, or other income derived from the business of investing in stock or securities.

The asset diversification requirement will be satisfied if we meet certain asset diversification requirements at the end of each quarter of our taxable year. Specifically, at least 50% of the value of our assets must consist of cash, cash-equivalents (including receivables), U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs, and other acceptable securities if such securities or any one issuer do not represent more than 5% of the value of our assets or more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of the issuer; and no more than 25% of the value of our assets can be invested in the securities, other than U.S. government securities or securities of other RICs, of one issuer, of two or more issuers that are controlled, as determined under applicable Code rules, by us and that are engaged in the same or similar or related trades or businesses or of certain “qualified publicly traded partnerships.” Failure to meet these requirements may result in our having to dispose of certain investments quickly in order to prevent the loss of RIC status. Because most of our investments will be in private companies, and therefore will be relatively illiquid, any such dispositions could be made at disadvantageous prices and could result in substantial losses.

If we fail to qualify for or maintain RIC tax treatment for any reason and are subject to corporate income tax, the resulting corporate taxes could substantially reduce our net assets, the amount of income available for distribution, and the amount of our distributions.

We may invest in certain debt and equity investments through taxable subsidiaries and the net taxable income of these taxable subsidiaries will be subject to federal and state corporate income taxes. We may invest in certain foreign debt and equity investments which could be subject to foreign taxes (such as income tax, withholding, and value added taxes).

We may have difficulty paying our required distributions if we recognize income before or without receiving cash representing such income.

For U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may be required to recognize taxable income in circumstances in which we do not receive a corresponding payment in cash. For example, since we will likely hold debt obligations that are treated under applicable tax rules as having OID (such as debt instruments with PIK, secondary market purchases of debt securities at a discount to par, interest or, in certain cases, increasing interest rates or debt instruments that were issued with warrants), we must include in income each year a portion of the OID that accrues over the life of the obligation, regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by us in the same taxable year. We may also have to include in income other amounts that we have not yet received in cash, such as unrealized appreciation for foreign currency forward contracts and deferred loan origination fees that are paid after origination of the loan or are paid in non-cash compensation such as warrants or stock. Furthermore, we may invest in non-U.S. corporations (or other non-U.S. entities treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that could be treated under the Code and U.S. Treasury regulations as “passive foreign investment companies” and/or “controlled foreign corporations.” The rules relating to investment in these types of non-U.S. entities are designed to ensure that U.S. taxpayers are either, in effect, taxed currently (or on an accelerated basis with respect to corporate-level events) or taxed at increased tax rates at distribution or disposition. In certain circumstances this could require us to recognize income where we do not receive a corresponding payment in cash.

Unrealized appreciation on derivatives, such as foreign currency forward contracts, may be included in taxable income while the receipt of cash may occur in a subsequent period when the related contract expires. Any

 

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unrealized depreciation on investments that the foreign currency forward contracts are designed to hedge are not currently deductible for tax purposes. This can result in increased taxable income whereby we may not have sufficient cash to pay distributions or we may opt to retain such taxable income and pay a 4% excise tax. In such cases we could still rely upon the “spillback provisions” to maintain RIC tax treatment.

We anticipate that a portion of our income may constitute OID or other income required to be included in taxable income prior to receipt of cash. Further, we may elect to amortize market discounts with respect to debt securities acquired in the secondary market and include such amounts in our taxable income in the current year, instead of upon disposition, as an election not to do so would limit our ability to deduct interest expenses for tax purposes. Because any OID or other amounts accrued will be included in our investment company taxable income for the year of the accrual, we may be required to make a distribution to our shareholders in order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement, even if we will not have received any corresponding cash amount. As a result, we may have difficulty meeting the Annual Distribution Requirement necessary to maintain RIC tax treatment under the Code. We may have to sell some of our investments at times and/or at prices we would not consider advantageous, raise additional debt or equity capital, make a partial share distribution, or forgo new investment opportunities for this purpose. If we are not able to obtain cash from other sources, and choose not to make a qualifying share distribution, we may fail to qualify for RIC tax treatment and thus become subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income tax.

 

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors and undue reliance should not be placed thereon. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about Owl Rock Capital Corporation (the “Company,” “we” or “our”), our current and prospective portfolio investments, our industry, our beliefs and opinions, and our assumptions. Words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “may,” “continue,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “targets,” “projects,” “outlook,” “potential,” “predicts” and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements, including without limitation:

 

•

an economic downturn could impair our portfolio companies’ ability to continue to operate, which could lead to the loss of some or all of our investments in such portfolio companies;

 

•

an economic downturn could disproportionately impact the companies that we intend to target for investment, potentially causing us to experience a decrease in investment opportunities and diminished demand for capital from these companies;

 

•

an economic downturn could also impact availability and pricing of our financing;

 

•

a contraction of available credit and/or an inability to access the equity markets could impair our lending and investment activities;

 

•

interest rate volatility could adversely affect our results, particularly if we elect to use leverage as part of our investment strategy;

 

•

currency fluctuations could adversely affect the results of our investments in foreign companies, particularly to the extent that we receive payments denominated in foreign currency rather than U.S. dollars;

 

•

our future operating results;

 

•

our business prospects and the prospects of our portfolio companies;

 

•

our contractual arrangements and relationships with third parties;

 

•

the ability of our portfolio companies to achieve their objectives;

 

•

competition with other entities and our affiliates for investment opportunities;

 

•

the speculative and illiquid nature of our investments;

 

•

the use of borrowed money to finance a portion of our investments as well as any expectations regarding potential use of leverage;

 

•

the adequacy of our financing sources and working capital;

 

•

the loss of key personnel;

 

•

the timing of cash flows, if any, from the operations of our portfolio companies;

 

•

the ability of the Adviser to locate suitable investments for us and to monitor and administer our investments;

 

•

the ability of the Adviser to attract and retain highly talented professionals;

 

•

our ability to maintain our tax treatment as a regulated investment company RIC under the Code, and as a BDC;

 

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•

the effect of legal, tax and regulatory changes; and

 

•

other risks, uncertainties and other factors previously identified in the reports and other documents Owl Rock Capital Corporation has filed with the SEC.

Although we believe that the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of those assumptions could prove to be inaccurate, and as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions also could be inaccurate. In light of these and other uncertainties, the inclusion of a projection or forward-looking statement in this prospectus should not be regarded as a representation by us that our plans and objectives will be achieved. These forward-looking statements apply only as of the date of this prospectus. Moreover, we assume no duty and do not undertake to update the forward-looking statements. Because we are an investment company, the forward-looking statements and projections contained in this prospectus are excluded from the safe harbor protection provided by Section 21E of the 1934 Act.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds we will receive from this offering will be approximately $390,866,000, based on an offering price of 99.179% per Note, after deducting the fee paid to the underwriters and estimated offering expenses of approximately $850,000 payable by us. Such estimate is subject to change and no assurances can be given that actual expenses will not exceed such amount. We expect to use proceeds from this offering to pay down a portion of our existing indebtedness under the Subscription Credit Facility which matures on August 1, 2019 and bears interest at a rate of 4.1% per annum. As of April 3, 2019, we had $701 million outstanding under the Subscription Credit Facility.

Affiliates of certain underwriters are lenders under the Subscription Credit Facility. Accordingly, affiliates of certain of the underwriters may receive more than 5% of the proceeds of this offering to the extent the proceeds are used to pay down a portion of the outstanding indebtedness under the the Subscription Credit Facility.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth:

 

•

the actual consolidated capitalization of the Company at December 31, 2018; and

 

•

the consolidated capitalization of the Company at December 31, 2018, as adjusted to reflect the sale of $400,000,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes in this offering at a public offering price of 99.179% per Note after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses of approximately $850 thousand payable by us and application of the net proceeds as discussed in more detail under “Use of Proceeds”.

You should read this table together with “Use of Proceeds” and the consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

($ in thousands, except per share amounts)		December 31, 2018				As Adjusted for this Offering
Assets
Total investments at fair value (amortized cost of $5,811,433)		$	5,784,069			$	5,784,069
Cash (restricted cash of $6,013)			127,603				127,603
Interest receivable			29,680				29,680
Receivable from a controlled affiliate			8,100				8,100
Prepaid expenses and other assets			1,590				1,590
Total Assets		$	5,951,042			$	5,951,042
Liabilities
Debt
Subscription Credit Facility (net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $1,205)		$	881,795				490,929
Revolving Credit Facility (net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $4,414)			304,229				304,229
SPV Asset Facility I (net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $3,648)			396,352				396,352
SPV Asset Facility II (net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $6,287)			543,713				543,713
SPV Asset Facility III (net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $5,005)			294,995				294,995
2023 Notes (net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $1,776)			146,633				146,633
The Notes (net of unamortized debt issuance costs)			—				390,866
Total Debt (net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $22,335)			2,567,717				2,567,717
Management fee payable			14,049				14,049
Distribution payable			78,350				78,350
Payables to affiliates			2,847				2,847
Payable for investments purchased			3,180				3,180
Accrued expenses and other liabilities			20,054				20,054
Total Liabilities			2,686,197				2,686,197

 

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($ in thousands, except per share amounts)		December 31, 2018				As Adjusted for this Offering
Net Assets
Common shares $0.01 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; 216,204,837 shares issued and outstanding, respectively		$	2,162			$	2,162
Additional paid-in-capital			3,271,162				3,271,162
Total distributable earnings (losses)			(8,479	)			(8,479	)
Total Net Assets			3,264,845				3,264,845
Total Liabilities and Net Assets		$	5,951,042			$	5,951,042
Net Asset Value Per Share		$	15.10			$	15.10

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with “Selected Financial Data and Other Information” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. The information in this section contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or the future performance or financial condition of Owl Rock Capital Corporation and involves numerous risks and uncertainties. Please see “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of uncertainties, risk and assumptions associated with these statements.

Overview

Owl Rock Capital Corporation (the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a Maryland corporation formed on October 15, 2015. We were formed primarily to originate and make loans to, and make debt and equity investments in, U.S. middle market companies. We invest in senior secured or unsecured loans, subordinated loans or mezzanine loans and, to a lesser extent, equity-related securities including warrants, preferred stock and similar forms of senior equity, which may or may not be convertible into a portfolio company’s common equity. Our investment objective is to generate current income, and to a lesser extent, capital appreciation by targeting investment opportunities with favorable risk-adjusted returns.

We are managed by Owl Rock Capital Advisors LLC (“the Adviser” or “our Adviser”). The Adviser is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Subject to the overall supervision of our board of directors (the “Board”), the Adviser manages our day-to-day operations, and provides investment advisory and management services to us. The Adviser or its affiliates may engage in certain origination activities and receive attendant arrangement, structuring or similar fees. The Adviser is responsible for managing our business and activities, including sourcing investment opportunities, conducting research, performing diligence on potential investments, structuring our investments, and monitoring our portfolio companies on an ongoing basis through a team of investment professionals. The Board consists of seven directors, four of whom are independent.

From March 3, 2016 (the “Initial Closing”) through March 2, 2018, we conducted private offerings (each, a “Private Offering”) of our common stock to accredited investors in reliance on exemptions from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. At the closing of each Private Offering, each investor made a capital commitment (a “Capital Commitment”) to purchase shares of our common stock pursuant to a subscription agreement entered into with the Company. Investors are required to fund drawdowns to purchase shares of our common stock up to the amount of their respective Capital Commitment on an as-needed basis each time we deliver a drawdown notice to our investors. As of December 31, 2018, we had $5.5 billion in total Capital Commitments from investors and have drawn $3.1 billion. If we have not consummated a listing of our common stock on a national securities exchange (an “Exchange Listing”) by March 3, 2021, the five-year anniversary of the Initial Closing, subject to extension for two additional one-year periods, in the sole discretion of the Board, the Board (subject to any necessary shareholder approvals and applicable requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”)) will use its commercially reasonable efforts to wind down and/or liquidate and dissolve the Company in an orderly manner.

Placement activities were conducted by our officers and the Adviser. In addition, we entered into agreements with placement agents or broker-dealers to solicit investor Capital Commitments. Fees paid pursuant to these agreements are paid by our Adviser.

The Adviser also serves as investment adviser to Owl Rock Capital Corporation II. Owl Rock Capital Corporation II is a corporation formed under the laws of the State of Maryland that, like us, has elected to be treated as a business development company (“BDC”) under the 1940 Act. Owl Rock Capital Corporation II’s

 

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investment objective is similar to ours, which is to generate current income, and to a lesser extent, capital appreciation by targeting investment opportunities with favorable risk-adjusted returns. As of December 31, 2018, Owl Rock Capital Corporation II had raised gross proceeds of approximately $449.0 million, including seed capital contributed by the Adviser in September 2016 and approximately $10.0 million in gross proceeds raised from certain individuals and entities affiliated with the Adviser.

The Adviser is under common control with Owl Rock Technology Advisors LLC (“ORTA”) and Owl Rock Capital Private Fund Advisors LLC (“ORCPFA”), which also are investment advisers and subsidiaries of Owl Rock Capital Partners. The Adviser, ORTA, ORCPFA and Owl Rock Capital Partners are referred to, collectively, as “Owl Rock.”

We may be prohibited under the 1940 Act from participating in certain transactions with our affiliates without the prior approval of our directors who are not interested persons and, in some cases, the prior approval of the SEC. We, our Adviser and certain affiliates have been granted exemptive relief by the SEC to permit us to co-invest with other funds managed by our Adviser or certain of its affiliates, including Owl Rock Capital Corporation II and Owl Rock Technology Finance Corp., in a manner consistent with our investment objective, positions, policies, strategies and restrictions as well as regulatory requirements and other pertinent factors. Pursuant to such exemptive relief, we generally are permitted to co-invest with certain of our affiliates if a “required majority” (as defined in Section 57(o) of the 1940 Act) of our independent directors make certain conclusions in connection with a co-investment transaction, including that (1) the terms of the transactions, including the consideration to be paid, are reasonable and fair to us and our shareholders and do not involve overreaching by us or our shareholders on the part of any person concerned, (2) the transaction is consistent with the interests of our shareholders and is consistent with our investment objective and strategies, and (3) the investment by our affiliates would not disadvantage us, and our participation would not be on a basis different from or less advantageous than that on which our affiliates are investing. Owl Rock’s investment allocation policy seeks to ensure equitable allocation of investment opportunities between us and/or other funds managed by our Adviser or its affiliates. As a result of the exemptive relief, there could be significant overlap in our investment portfolio and the investment portfolio of other funds established by the Adviser or its affiliates that could avail themselves of the exemptive relief.

On April 27, 2016, we formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, OR Lending LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, which holds a California finance lenders license. OR Lending LLC loans to borrowers headquartered in California. For time to time we may form wholly-owned subsidiaries to facilitate our normal course of business.

We have elected to be regulated as a BDC under the 1940 Act and as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for tax purposes under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). As a result, we are required to comply with various statutory and regulatory requirements, such as:

 

•

the requirement to invest at least 70% of our assets in “qualifying assets”, as such term is defined in the 1940 Act;

 

•

source of income limitations;

 

•

asset diversification requirements; and

 

•

the requirement to distribute (or be treated as distributing) in each taxable year at least 90% of our investment company taxable income and tax-exempt interest for that taxable year.

Our Investment Framework

We are a Maryland corporation organized primarily to originate and make loans to, and make debt and equity investments in, U.S. middle market companies. Our investment objective is to generate current income, and to a lesser extent, capital appreciation by targeting investment opportunities with favorable risk-adjusted

 

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returns. Since our Adviser and its affiliates began investment activities in April 2016 through December 31, 2018, our Adviser and its affiliates have originated $11.1 billion aggregate principal amount of investments, of which $9.8 billion of aggregate principal amount of investments prior to any subsequent exits or repayments, was retained by either us or a corporation or fund advised by our Adviser or its affiliates. We seek to generate current income primarily in U.S. middle market companies through direct originations of senior secured loans or originations of unsecured loans, subordinated loans or mezzanine loans and, to a lesser extent, investments in equity-related securities including warrants, preferred stock and similar forms of senior equity.

We define “middle market companies” generally to mean companies with earnings before interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, or “EBITDA,” between $10 million and $250 million annually and/or annual revenue of $50 million to $2.5 billion at the time of investment, although we may on occasion invest in smaller or larger companies if an opportunity presents itself.

We expect that generally our portfolio composition will be majority debt or income producing securities, which may include “covenant-lite” loans (as defined below), with a lesser allocation to equity or equity-linked opportunities. In addition, we may invest a portion of our portfolio in opportunistic investments, which will not be our primary focus, but will be intended to enhance returns to our Shareholders. These investments may include high-yield bonds and broadly-syndicated loans. In addition, we generally do not intend to invest more than 20% of our total assets in companies whose principal place of business is outside the United States, although we do not generally intend to invest in companies whose principal place of business is in an emerging market. Our portfolio composition may fluctuate from time to time based on market conditions and interest rates.

Covenants are contractual restrictions that lenders place on companies to limit the corporate actions a company may pursue. Generally, the loans in which we expect to invest will have financial maintenance covenants, which are used to proactively address materially adverse changes in a portfolio company’s financial performance. However, to a lesser extent, we may invest in “covenant-lite” loans. We use the term “covenant-lite” to refer generally to loans that do not have a complete set of financial maintenance covenants. Generally, “covenant-lite” loans provide borrower companies more freedom to negatively impact lenders because their covenants are incurrence-based, which means they are only tested and can only be breached following an affirmative action of the borrower, rather than by a deterioration in the borrower’s financial condition. Accordingly, to the extent we invest in “covenant-lite” loans, we may have fewer rights against a borrower and may have a greater risk of loss on such investments as compared to investments in or exposure to loans with financial maintenance covenants.

As of December 31, 2018, our average investment size in each of our portfolio companies was approximately $79.2 million based on fair value. As of December 31, 2018, our portfolio companies, excluding the investment in Sebago Lake and certain investments that fall outside of our typical borrower profile and represent 99.6% of our total portfolio based on fair value, had weighted average annual revenue of $468 million and weighted average annual EBITDA of $81 million.

The companies in which we invest use our capital to support their growth, acquisitions, market or product expansion, refinancings and/or recapitalizations. The debt in which we invest typically is not rated by any rating agency, but if these instruments were rated, they would likely receive a rating of below investment grade (that is, below BBB- or Baa3), which is often referred to as “high yield” or “junk”.

Key Components of Our Results of Operations

Investments

We focus primarily on the direct origination of loans to middle market companies domiciled in the United States.

 

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Our level of investment activity (both the number of investments and the size of each investment) can and will vary substantially from period to period depending on many factors, including the amount of debt and equity capital available to middle market companies, the level of merger and acquisition activity for such companies, the general economic environment and the competitive environment for the types of investments we make.

In addition, as part of our risk strategy on investments, we may reduce the levels of certain investments through partial sales or syndication to additional lenders.

Revenues

We generate revenues primarily in the form of interest income from the investments we hold. In addition, we may generate income from dividends on either direct equity investments or equity interests obtained in connection with originating loans, such as options, warrants or conversion rights. Our debt investments typically have a term of three to ten years. As of December 31, 2018, 99.6% of our debt investments based on fair value bear interest at a floating rate, subject to interest rate floors, in certain cases. Interest on our debt investments is generally payable either monthly or quarterly.

Our investment portfolio consists primarily of floating rate loans, and our credit facilities bear interest at floating rates. Macro trends in base interest rates like London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) may affect our net investment income over the long term. However, because we generally originate loans to a small number of portfolio companies each quarter, and those investments vary in size, our results in any given period, including the interest rate on investments that were sold or repaid in a period compared to the interest rate of new investments made during that period, often are idiosyncratic, and reflect the characteristics of the particular portfolio companies that we invested in or exited during the period and not necessarily any trends in our business or macro trends.

Loan origination fees, original issue discount and market discount or premium are capitalized, and we accrete or amortize such amounts under U.S. GAAP as interest income using the effective yield method for term instruments and the straight-line method for revolving or delayed draw instruments. Repayments of our debt investments can reduce interest income from period to period. The frequency or volume of these repayments may fluctuate significantly. We record prepayment premiums on loans as interest income. We may also generate revenue in the form of commitment, loan origination, structuring, or due diligence fees, fees for providing managerial assistance to our portfolio companies and possibly consulting fees.

Dividend income on equity investments is recorded on the record date for private portfolio companies or on the ex-dividend date for publicly traded companies.

Our portfolio activity also reflects the proceeds from sales of investments. We recognize realized gains or losses on investments based on the difference between the net proceeds from the disposition and the amortized cost basis of the investment without regard to unrealized gains or losses previously recognized. We record current period changes in fair value of investments that are measured at fair value as a component of the net change in unrealized gains (losses) on investments in the consolidated statement of operations.

Expenses

Our primary operating expenses include the payment of the management fee and, in the event of the future quotation or listing of our securities on a national securities exchange, the incentive fee, and expenses reimbursable under the Administration Agreement and Investment Advisory Agreement. The management fee and incentive fee compensate our Adviser for work in identifying, evaluating, negotiating, closing, monitoring and realizing our investments.

 

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Except as specifically provided below, all investment professionals and staff of the Adviser, when and to the extent engaged in providing investment advisory and management services to us, the base compensation, bonus and benefits, and the routine overhead expenses of such personnel allocable to such services, are provided and paid for by the Adviser. We bear our allocable portion of the compensation paid by the Adviser (or its affiliates) to our Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Financial Officer and their respective staffs (based on a percentage of time such individuals devote, on an estimated basis, to our business affairs). We bear all other costs and expenses of our operations, administration and transactions, including, but not limited to (i) investment advisory fees, including management fees and incentive fees, to the Adviser, pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement; (ii) our allocable portion of overhead and other expenses incurred by the Adviser in performing its administrative obligations under the Administration Agreement; and (iii) all other expenses of its operations and transactions including, without limitation, those relating to:

 

•

the cost of our organization and offerings;

 

•

the cost of calculating our net asset value, including the cost of any third-party valuation services;

 

•

the cost of effecting any sales and repurchases of our common stock and other securities;

 

•

fees and expenses payable under any dealer manager agreements, if any;

 

•

debt service and other costs of borrowings or other financing arrangements;

 

•

costs of hedging;

 

•

expenses, including travel expense, incurred by the Adviser, or members of the investment team, or payable to third parties, performing due diligence on prospective portfolio companies and, if necessary, enforcing our rights;

 

•

transfer agent and custodial fees;

 

•

fees and expenses associated with marketing efforts;

 

•

federal and state registration fees, any stock exchange listing fees and fees payable to rating agencies;

 

•

federal, state and local taxes;

 

•

independent directors’ fees and expenses including certain travel expenses;

 

•

costs of preparing financial statements and maintaining books and records and filing reports or other documents with the SEC (or other regulatory bodies) and other reporting and compliance costs, including registration and listing fees, and the compensation of professionals responsible for the preparation of the foregoing;

 

•

the costs of any reports, proxy statements or other notices to our shareholders (including printing and mailing costs), the costs of any shareholder or director meetings and the compensation of investor relations personnel responsible for the preparation of the foregoing and related matters;

 

•

commissions and other compensation payable to brokers or dealers;

 

•

research and market data;

 

•

fidelity bond, directors’ and officers’ errors and omissions liability insurance and other insurance premiums;

 

•

direct costs and expenses of administration, including printing, mailing, long distance telephone and staff;

 

•

fees and expenses associated with independent audits, outside legal and consulting costs;

 

•

costs of winding up;

 

•

costs incurred in connection with the formation or maintenance of entities or vehicles to hold our assets for tax or other purposes;

 

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•

extraordinary expenses (such as litigation or indemnification); and

 

•

costs associated with reporting and compliance obligations under the 1940 Act and applicable federal and state securities laws.

We expect, but cannot assure, that our general and administrative expenses will increase in dollar terms during periods of asset growth, but will decline as a percentage of total assets during such periods.

Leverage

The amount of leverage we use in any period depends on a variety of factors, including cash available for investing, the cost of financing and general economic and market conditions. Generally, our total borrowings are limited so that we cannot incur additional borrowings, including through the issuance of additional debt securities, if such additional indebtedness would cause our asset coverage ratio to fall below 200%, as defined in the 1940 Act; however, recent legislation has modified the 1940 Act by allowing a BDC to increase the maximum amount of leverage it may incur from an asset coverage ratio of 200% to an asset coverage ratio of 150%, if certain requirements are met. The reduced asset coverage requirement would permit a BDC to double the amount of leverage it could incur. We are permitted to increase our leverage capacity if shareholders representing at least a majority of the votes cast, when quorum is met, approve a proposal to do so. If we receive such shareholder approval, we would be permitted to increase our leverage capacity on the first day after such approval. Alternatively, we may increase the maximum amount of leverage we may incur to an asset coverage ratio of 150% if the required majority (as defined in Section 57(o) of the 1940 Act) of the independent members of our Board approves such increase with such approval becoming effective after one year. In either case, we would be required to extend to our shareholders, as of the date of such approval, the opportunity to sell the shares of common stock that they hold and we would be required to make certain disclosures on our website and in SEC filings regarding, among other things, the receipt of approval to increase our leverage, our leverage capacity and usage, and risks related to leverage. For shareholders accepting such an offer, the Company would be required to repurchase 25% of such shareholders’ eligible shares in each of the four calendar quarters following the calendar quarter in which the approval occurs. In addition, before incurring any such additional leverage, we would have to renegotiate or receive a waiver from the contractual leverage limitations under our existing credit facilities and notes.

In any period, our interest expense will depend largely on the extent of our borrowing, and we expect interest expense will increase as we increase our debt outstanding. In addition, we may dedicate assets to financing facilities.

Market Trends

We believe the middle-market lending environment provides opportunities for us to meet our goal of making investments that generate attractive risk-adjusted returns based on a combination of the following factors:

Limited Availability of Capital for Middle-Market Companies. We believe that regulatory and structural changes in the market have reduced the amount of capital available to U.S. middle-market companies. In particular, we believe there are currently fewer providers of capital to middle market companies. We believe that many commercial and investment banks have, in recent years, de-emphasized their service and product offerings to middle-market businesses in favor of lending to large corporate clients and managing capital markets transactions. In addition, these lenders may be constrained in their ability to underwrite and hold bank loans and high yield securities for middle-market issuers as they seek to meet existing and future regulatory capital requirements. We also believe that there is a lack of market participants that are willing to hold meaningful amounts of certain middle-market loans. As a result, we believe our ability to minimize syndication risk for a company seeking financing by being able to hold its loans without having to syndicate them, coupled with reduced capacity of traditional lenders to serve the middle-market, present an attractive opportunity to invest in middle-market companies.

 

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Capital Markets Have Been Unable to Fill the Void in U.S. Middle Market Finance Left by Banks. While underwritten bond and syndicated loan markets have been robust in recent years, middle market companies are less able to access these markets for reasons including the following:

High Yield Market – Middle market companies generally are not issuing debt in an amount large enough to be an attractively sized bond. High yield bonds are generally purchased by institutional investors who, among other things, are focused on the liquidity characteristics of the bond being issued. For example, mutual funds and exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) are significant buyers of underwritten bonds. However, mutual funds and ETFs generally require the ability to liquidate their investments quickly in order to fund investor redemptions and/or comply with regulatory requirements. Accordingly, the existence of an active secondary market for bonds is an important consideration in these entities’ initial investment decision. Because there is typically little or no active secondary market for the debt of U.S. middle market companies, mutual funds and ETFs generally do not provide debt capital to U.S. middle market companies. We believe this is likely to be a persistent problem and creates an advantage for those like us who have a more stable capital base and have the ability to invest in illiquid assets.

Syndicated Loan Market – While the syndicated loan market is modestly more accommodating to middle market issuers, as with bonds, loan issue size and liquidity are key drivers of institutional appetite and, correspondingly, underwriters’ willingness to underwrite the loans. Loans arranged through a bank are done either on a “best efforts” basis or are underwritten with terms plus provisions that permit the underwriters to change certain terms, including pricing, structure, yield and tenor, otherwise known as “flex”, to successfully syndicate the loan, in the event the terms initially marketed are insufficiently attractive to investors. Furthermore, banks are generally reluctant to underwrite middle market loans because the arrangement fees they may earn on the placement of the debt generally are not sufficient to meet the banks’ return hurdles. Loans provided by companies such as ours provide certainty to issuers in that we can commit to a given amount of debt on specific terms, at stated coupons and with agreed upon fees. As we are the ultimate holder of the loans, we do not require market “flex” or other arrangements that banks may require when acting on an agency basis.

Robust Demand for Debt Capital. We believe U.S. middle market companies will continue to require access to debt capital to refinance existing debt, support growth and finance acquisitions. In addition, we believe the large amount of uninvested capital held by funds of private equity firms, estimated by Preqin Ltd., an alternative assets industry data and research company, to be $1.2 trillion as of December 2018, will continue to drive deal activity. We expect that private equity sponsors will continue to pursue acquisitions and leverage their equity investments with secured loans provided by companies such as us.

The Middle Market is a Large Addressable Market. According to GE Capital’s National Center for the Middle Market 4^th quarter 2018 Middle Market Indicator, there are approximately 200,000 U.S. middle market companies, which have approximately 47.9 million aggregate employees. Moreover, the U.S. middle market accounts for one-third of private sector gross domestic product (“GDP”). GE defines U.S. middle market companies as those between $10 million and $1 billion in annual revenue, which we believe has significant overlap with our definition of U.S. middle market companies.

Attractive Investment Dynamics. An imbalance between the supply of, and demand for, middle market debt capital creates attractive pricing dynamics. We believe the directly negotiated nature of middle market financings also generally provides more favorable terms to the lender, including stronger covenant and reporting packages, better call protection, and lender-protective change of control provisions. Additionally, we believe BDC managers’ expertise in credit selection and ability to manage through credit cycles has generally resulted in BDCs experiencing lower loss rates than U.S. commercial banks through credit cycles. Further, we believe that historical middle market default rates have been lower, and recovery rates have been higher, as compared to the larger market capitalization, broadly distributed market, leading to lower cumulative losses.

 

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Conservative Capital Structures. Following the credit crisis, which we define broadly as occurring between mid-2007 and mid-2009, lenders have generally required borrowers to maintain more equity as a percentage of their total capitalization, specifically to protect lenders during economic downturns. With more conservative capital structures, U.S. middle market companies have exhibited higher levels of cash flows available to service their debt. In addition, U.S. middle market companies often are characterized by simpler capital structures than larger borrowers, which facilitates a streamlined underwriting process and, when necessary, restructuring process.

Attractive Opportunities in Investments in Loans. We invest in senior secured or unsecured loans, subordinated loans or mezzanine loans and, to a lesser extent, equity-related securities. We believe that opportunities in senior secured loans are significant because of the floating rate structure of most senior secured debt issuances and because of the strong defensive characteristics of these types of investments. Given the current low interest rate environment, we believe that debt issues with floating interest rates offer a superior return profile as compared with fixed-rate investments, since floating rate structures are generally less susceptible to declines in value experienced by fixed-rate securities in a rising interest rate environment. Senior secured debt also provides strong defensive characteristics. Senior secured debt has priority in payment among an issuer’s security holders whereby holders are due to receive payment before junior creditors and equity holders. Further, these investments are secured by the issuer’s assets, which may provide protection in the event of a default.

Portfolio and Investment Activity

As of December 31, 2018, based on fair value, our portfolio consisted of 78.7% first lien senior secured debt investments, 19.2% second lien senior secured debt investments, 0.4% unsecured debt investments, 1.5% investment funds and vehicles, and less than 1% equity investments.

As of December 31, 2018, our weighted average total yield of the portfolio at fair value and amortized cost was 9.4% and 9.4%, respectively, and our weighted average yield of debt and income producing securities at fair value and amortized cost was 9.4% and 9.4%, respectively.

As of December 31, 2018 we had investments in 73 portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of $5.8 billion.

Our investment activity for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 is presented below (information presented herein is at par value unless otherwise indicated).

 

		For the Years Ended December 31,
($ in thousands)		2018				2017				2016
New investment commitments
Gross originations		$	5,814,181			$	2,277,528			$	1,173,032
Less: Sell downs			(618,040	)			(396,375	)			(172,500	)
Total new investment commitments		$	5,196,141			$	1,881,153			$	1,000,532
Principal amount of investments funded:
First-lien senior secured debt investments		$	3,388,527			$	1,242,944			$	584,660
Second-lien senior secured debt investments			799,701				434,750				395,500
Equity investments			11,215				2,760				—
Investment funds and vehicles			26,110				65,028				—
Unsecured debt investments			23,000				—				—
Total principal amount of investments funded		$	4,248,553			$	1,745,482			$	980,160

 

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		For the Years Ended December 31,
($ in thousands)		2018				2017				2016
Principal amount of investments sold or repaid:
First-lien senior secured debt investments		$	(536,715	)		$	(187,351	)		$	—
Second-lien senior secured debt investments			(341,600	)			(138,500	)			—
Equity investments			(2,760	)			—				—
Investment funds and vehicles			—				—				—
Unsecured debt investments			—				—				—
Total principal amount of investments sold or repaid		$	(881,075	)		$	(325,851	)		$	—
Number of new investment commitments in new portfolio companies (1)			44				25				21
Average new investment commitment amount		$	105,689			$	72,566			$	47,644
Weighted average term for new investment commitments (in years)			6.2				6.0				6.4
Percentage of new debt investment commitments at floating rates			99.6	%			98.1	%			98.0	%
Percentage of new debt investment commitments at fixed rates			0.4	%			1.9	%			2.0	%
Weighted average interest rate of new investment commitments (2)			8.8	%			8.3	%			8.5	%
Weighted average spread over LIBOR of new floating rate investment commitments			6.0	%			6.5	%			7.3	%

 

(1)	Number of new investment commitments represents commitments to a particular portfolio company.

(2)	Assumes each floating rate commitment is subject to the greater of the interest rate floor (if applicable) or 3-month LIBOR, which was 2.81%, 1.69% and 1.00% as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, our investments consisted of the following:

 

		December 31, 2018								December 31, 2017
($ in thousands)		Amortized Cost				Fair Value				Amortized Cost				Fair Value
First-lien senior secured debt investments		$	4,566,573			$	4,554,835			$	1,640,301			$	1,652,021
Second-lien senior secured debt investments			1,119,507				1,109,366				664,825				669,376
Unsecured debt investments			23,000				22,183				—				—
Equity investments			11,215				11,063				2,760				2,760
Investment funds and vehicles(1)			91,138				86,622				65,028				65,599
Total Investments		$	5,811,433			$	5,784,069			$	2,372,914			$	2,389,756

 

(1)	Includes investment in Sebago Lake.

The table below describes investments by industry composition based on fair value as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:

 

		December 31, 2018				December 31, 2017
Advertising and media			4.2	%			3.3	%
Aerospace and defense			—				2.1
Automotive			2.6				—
Buildings and real estate			5.2				5.2

 

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		December 31, 2018				December 31, 2017
Business services			7.6	%			8.8	%
Chemicals			1.7				—
Consumer products			1.8				4.7
Containers and packaging			0.7				2.3
Distribution			10.6				13.3
Education			3.0				—
Energy equipment and services			1.6				6.1
Financial services			1.9				3.6
Food and beverage			8.4				5.5
Healthcare providers and services			6.5				7.6
Healthcare technology			0.7				—
Household products			0.9				3.0
Human resource support services			—				1.9
Infrastructure and environmental services			3.4				3.1
Insurance			0.6				1.4
Internet software and services			9.5				7.4
Investment funds and vehicles (1)			1.5				2.7
Leisure and entertainment			3.8				7.6
Manufacturing			1.8				3.3
Oil and gas			4.9				1.6
Professional services			11.4				2.4
Specialty retail			2.8				1.6
Telecommunications			0.6				—
Transportation			2.3				1.5
Total			100.0	%			100.0	%

 

(1)	Includes investment in Sebago Lake.

The table below describes investments by geographic composition based on fair value as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:

 

		December 31, 2018				December 31, 2017
United States:
Midwest			17.3	%			16.9	%
Northeast			22.0				15.7
South			36.7				42.1
West			20.1				17.9
Belgium			1.6				2.5
Canada			0.9				3.3
United Kingdom			1.4				1.6
Total			100.0	%			100.0	%

 

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The weighted average yields and interest rates of our investments at fair value as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows:

 

		December 31, 2018				December 31, 2017
Weighted average total yield of portfolio			9.4	%			8.8	%
Weighted average total yield of debt and income producing securities			9.4	%			8.8	%
Weighted average interest rate of debt securities			9.0	%			8.5	%
Weighted average spread over LIBOR of all floating rate investments			6.3	%			7.1	%

The weighted average yield of our debt and income producing securities is not the same as a return on investment for our shareholders but, rather, relates to our investment portfolio and is calculated before the payment of all of our and our subsidiaries’ fees and expenses. The weighted average yield was computed using the effective interest rates as of each respective date, including accretion of original issue discount and loan origination fees, but excluding investments on non-accrual status, if any. There can be no assurance that the weighted average yield will remain at its current level.

Our Adviser monitors our portfolio companies on an ongoing basis. It monitors the financial trends of each portfolio company to determine if they are meeting their respective business plans and to assess the appropriate course of action with respect to each portfolio company. Our Adviser has several methods of evaluating and monitoring the performance and fair value of our investments, which may include the following:

 

•

assessment of success of the portfolio company in adhering to its business plan and compliance with covenants;

 

•

periodic and regular contact with portfolio company management and, if appropriate, the financial or strategic sponsor, to discuss financial position, requirements and accomplishments;

 

•

comparisons to other companies in the portfolio company’s industry; and

 

•

review of monthly or quarterly financial statements and financial projections for portfolio companies.

As part of the monitoring process, our Adviser employs an investment rating system to categorize our investments. In addition to various risk management and monitoring tools, our Adviser rates the credit risk of all investments on a scale of 1 to 5. This system is intended primarily to reflect the underlying risk of a portfolio investment relative to our initial cost basis in respect of such portfolio investment (i.e., at the time of origination or acquisition), although it may also take into account the performance of the portfolio company’s business, the collateral coverage of the investment and other relevant factors. The rating system is as follows:

 

Investment Rating		Description
1		Investments rated 1 involve the least amount of risk to our initial cost basis. The borrower is performing above expectations, and the trends and risk factors for this investment since origination or acquisition are generally favorable;
2		Investments rated 2 involve an acceptable level of risk that is similar to the risk at the time of origination or acquisition. The borrower is generally performing as expected and the risk factors are neutral to favorable. All investments or acquired investments in new portfolio companies are initially assessed a rating of 2;
3		Investments rated 3 involve a borrower performing below expectations and indicates that the loan’s risk has increased somewhat since origination or acquisition;

 

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Investment Rating		Description
4		Investments rated 4 involve a borrower performing materially below expectations and indicates that the loan’s risk has increased materially since origination or acquisition. In addition to the borrower being generally out of compliance with debt covenants, loan payments may be past due (but generally not more than 120 days past due); and
5		Investments rated 5 involve a borrower performing substantially below expectations and indicates that the loan’s risk has increased substantially since origination or acquisition. Most or all of the debt covenants are out of compliance and payments are substantially delinquent. Loans rated 5 are not anticipated to be repaid in full and we will reduce the fair market value of the loan to the amount we anticipate will be recovered.

Our Adviser rates the investments in our portfolio at least quarterly and it is possible that the rating of a portfolio investment may be reduced or increased over time. For investments rated 3, 4 or 5, our Adviser enhances its level of scrutiny over the monitoring of such portfolio company.

The following table shows the composition of our portfolio on the 1 to 5 rating scale as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:

 

		December 31, 2018								December 31, 2017
Investment Rating		Investments at Fair Value				Percentage of Total Portfolio				Investments at Fair Value				Percentage of Total Portfolio
($ in thousands)
1		$	748,877				12.9	%		$	152,773				6.4	%
2			4,665,758				80.7				2,142,023				89.6
3			369,434				6.4				94,960				4.0
4			—				—				—				—
5			—				—				—				—
Total		$	5,784,069				100.0	%		$	2,389,756				100.0	%

The following table shows the amortized cost of our performing and non-accrual debt investments as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:

 

		December 31, 2018								December 31, 2017
($ in thousands)		Amortized Cost				Percentage				Amortized Cost				Percentage
Performing		$	5,709,080				100.0	%		$	2,305,126				100.0	%
Non-accrual			—				—				—				—
Total		$	5,709,080				100.0	%		$	2,305,126				100.0	%

Loans are generally placed on non-accrual status when there is reasonable doubt that principal or interest will be collected in full. Accrued interest is generally reversed when a loan is placed on non-accrual status. Interest payments received on non-accrual loans may be recognized as income or applied to principal depending upon management’s judgment regarding collectability. Non-accrual loans are restored to accrual status when past due principal and interest is paid current and, in management’s judgment, are likely to remain current. Management may make exceptions to this treatment and determine to not place a loan on non-accrual status if the loan has sufficient collateral value and is in the process of collection.

Sebago Lake LLC

Sebago Lake, a Delaware limited liability company, was formed as a joint venture between us and The Regents of the University of California (“Regents”) and commenced operations on June 20, 2017. Sebago Lake’s

 

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principal purpose is to make investments, primarily in senior secured loans that are made to middle-market companies or in broadly syndicated loans. Both we and Regents (the “Members”) have a 50% economic ownership in Sebago Lake. Except under certain circumstances, contributions to Sebago Lake cannot be redeemed. Each of the Members initially agreed to contribute up to $100 million to Sebago Lake. On July 26, 2018, each of the Members increased their contribution to Sebago Lake up to an aggregate of $125 million. As of December 31, 2018, each Member has funded $91.1 million of their respective $125 million commitments. Sebago Lake is managed by the Members, each of which have equal voting rights. Investment decisions must be approved by each of the Members.

We have determined that Sebago Lake is an investment company under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 946, however, in accordance with such guidance, we will generally not consolidate its investment in a company other than a wholly owned investment company subsidiary or a controlled operating company whose business consists of providing services to the Company. Accordingly, we do not consolidate our non-controlling interest in Sebago Lake.

During the period ended December 31, 2018, we acquired one investment from Sebago Lake at fair market value. The transaction generated a realized gain of $0.1 million for Sebago Lake. During the period ended December 31, 2017, we sold our investment in three portfolio companies at fair market value to Sebago Lake generating a realized gain of $0.5 million.

As of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, Sebago Lake had total investments in senior secured debt at fair value of $531.5 million and $330.0 million, respectively. The determination of fair value is in accordance with ASC 820; however, such fair value is not included in our Board’s valuation process. The following table is a summary of Sebago Lake’s portfolio as well as a listing of the portfolio investments in Sebago Lake’s portfolio as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:

 

($ in thousands)		December 31, 2018				December 31, 2017
Total senior secured debt investments(1)		$	545,553			$	332,499
Weighted average spread over LIBOR(1)			4.66	%			4.71	%
Number of portfolio companies			16				12
Largest funded investment to a single borrower(1)		$	49,768			$	46,646

 

(1)

At par.

 

Sebago Lake’s Portfolio as of December 31, 2018 ($ in thousands)
Company(1)(2)(4)(5)		Investment				Interest				Maturity Date				Par / Units				Amortized Cost(3)				Fair Value				Percentage of Members’ Equity
Debt Investments
Aerospace and defense
Applied Composites Holdings, LLC (fka AC&A Enterprises Holdings, LLC)(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 5.50%				12/21/2023			$	35,547			$	34,936			$	34,765				20.1	%
Applied Composites Holdings, LLC (fka AC&A Enterprises Holdings, LLC)(11)(12)(14)			First lien senior secured revolving loan				L + 5.50%				12/21/2022				—				(48	)			(66	)			—	%
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.(6)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.25%				11/21/2025				25,000				24,751				24,750				14.3	%
															60,547				59,639				59,449				34.4	%
Education
SSH Group Holdings, Inc. (dba Stratford School)(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.25%				7/30/2025				34,913				34,812				34,383				19.8	%

 

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Sebago Lake’s Portfolio as of December 31, 2018 ($ in thousands)
Company(1)(2)(4)(5)		Investment				Interest				Maturity Date				Par / Units				Amortized Cost(3)				Fair Value				Percentage of Members’ Equity
Food and beverage
DecoPac, Inc.(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.25%				9/30/2024				21,161				21,074				20,949				12.1	%
DecoPac, Inc.(11)(12)(14)			First lien senior secured revolving loan				L + 4.25%				9/29/2023				—				(14	)			(32	)			—	%
FQSR, LLC (dba KBP Investments)(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 5.50%				5/14/2023				24,756				24,426				24,202				14.0	%
FQSR, LLC (dba KBP Investments)(8)(11)(13)(14)			First lien senior secured delayed draw term loan				L + 5.50%				5/14/2020				3,305				3,224				3,168				1.8	%
Give & Go Prepared Foods Corp.(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.25%				7/29/2023				24,688				24,638				21,725				12.5	%
Sovos Brands Intermediate, Inc.(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 5.00%				7/20/2025				45,000				44,556				44,550				25.7	%
															118,910				117,904				114,562				66.1	%
Healthcare equipment and services
Beaver-Visitec International Holdings, Inc.(7)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.00%				8/19/2023				40,019				39,835				39,659				22.9	%
Cadence, Inc.(6)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.50%				5/21/2025				24,599				24,034				23,418				13.5	%
Cadence, Inc.(11)(12)(14)			First lien senior secured revolving loan				L + 4.50%				5/21/2025				—				(161	)			(301	)			(0.2	)%
															64,618				63,708				62,776				36.2	%
Infrastructure and environmental services
CHA Holding, Inc.(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.50%				4/10/2025				24,875				24,772				24,601				14.2	%
CHA Holding, Inc.(11)(12)(13)(14)			First lien senior secured delayed draw term loan				L + 4.50%				10/10/2019				—				(24	)			(60	)			—	%
															24,875				24,748				24,541				14.2	%
Insurance
Integro Parent Inc.(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 5.75%				10/28/2022				44,655				44,456				43,749				25.3	%
Integro Parent Inc.(8)(11)(14)			First lien senior secured revolving loan				L + 4.50%				10/30/2021				1,830				1,805				1,728				1.0	%
USRP Holdings, Inc. (dba U.S. Retirement and Benefits Partners)(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.25%				3/29/2025				34,822				34,095				33,608				19.3	%
USRP Holdings, Inc. (dba U.S. Retirement and Benefits Partners)(9)(11)(14)			First lien senior secured revolving loan				P + 3.25%				3/29/2023				1,250				1,091				1,019				0.6	%
USRP Holdings, Inc. (dba U.S. Retirement and Benefits Partners)(8)(11)(13)			First lien senior secured delayed draw term loan				L + 4.25%				3/29/2020				6,147				5,953				5,843				3.4	%
Worley Claims Services, LLC(7)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 5.50%				8/7/2022				29,568				29,323				29,273				16.9	%
Worley Claims Services, LLC(11)(12)(13)(14)			First lien senior secured delayed draw term loan				L + 5.50%				2/7/2019				—				(28	)			—				—	%
															118,272				116,695				115,220				66.5	%
Internet software and services
DigiCert, Inc.(6)(10)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.00%				10/31/2024				49,768				49,505				48,623				28.1	%
Manufacturing
ACProducts, Inc.(8)			First lien senior secured loan				L + 4.75%				1/3/2022				48,750				48,320				47,726				27.5	%

 

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