UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 10-K
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(Mark One) |
þ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
| For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 |
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¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
| For the transition period from to |
Commission file number: 814-00939
HMS Income Fund, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
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Maryland | 45-3999996 |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
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2800 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 5000, Houston, Texas | 77056-6118 |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
(888) 220-6121
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None.
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: Common Stock, par value $.001
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ¨ No þ
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ¨ No þ
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ¨ No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. þ
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” ,“smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
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Large accelerated filer ¨ | Accelerated filer ¨ | Non-accelerated filer þ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) | Smaller reporting company ¨ | Emerging growth company ¨ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ¨ No þ
There is no established market for the Registrant’s shares of common stock. The Registrant has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a registration statement on Form N-2 (File No. 333-204659) (the “Registration Statement”), most recently declared effective on May 1, 2017, registering for sale up to $1,500,000,000 worth of shares of common stock.
As of March 16, 2018, there were 80,341,230 shares of the Registrant’s common stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the Registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement relating to the Registrant’s 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to be filed with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days following the end of the Registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K as indicated herein.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I |
Item 1. | Business. | |
Item 1A. | Risk Factors. | |
Item 1B. | Unresolved Staff Comments. | |
Item 2. | Properties. | |
Item 3. | Legal Proceedings. | |
Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures. | |
PART II |
Item 5. | Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities. | |
Item 6. | Selected Financial Data. | |
Item 7. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. | |
Item 7A. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. | |
Item 8. | Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. | |
Item 9. | Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure. | |
Item 9A. | Controls and Procedures. | |
Item 9B. | Other Information. | |
PART III |
Item 10. | Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance. | |
Item 11. | Executive Compensation. | |
Item 12. | Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters. | |
Item 13. | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence. | |
Item 14. | Principal Accounting Fees and Services. | |
PART IV |
Item 15. | Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules. | |
Signatures | |
PART I
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”) that are not historical facts (including any statements concerning investment objectives, economic updates, other plans and objectives of management for future operations or economic performance, or assumptions or forecasts related thereto) are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions. We caution that forward-looking statements are not guarantees. Actual events or our investments and results of operations could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “may,” “should,” “expect,” “could,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “continue,” “predict,” “potential” or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology.
The forward-looking statements in this Form 10-K are based on our current expectations, plans, estimates, assumptions and beliefs that involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond our control. Any of the assumptions underlying forward-looking statements could be inaccurate. To the extent that our assumptions differ from actual results, our ability to meet such forward-looking statements, including our ability to generate positive cash flow from operations, provide distributions to our stockholders and maintain the value of the investments in which we hold an interest, may be significantly hindered.
Our stockholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement in this Form 10-K. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this Form 10-K, and the risk that actual results will differ materially from the expectations expressed in this Form 10-K may increase with the passage of time. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements in this Form 10-K, the inclusion of such forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the objectives and plans set forth in this Form 10-K will be achieved. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements, whether a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. The forward-looking statements and projections contained in this Form 10-K are excluded from the safe harbor protection provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Please see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for a discussion of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those presented in certain forward-looking statements.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this Form 10-K constitute forward-looking statements because they relate to future events or our future performance or financial condition. The forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K may include statements as to:
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• | our future operating results; |
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• | our business prospects and the prospects of our current and prospective portfolio companies; |
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• | the impact of the investments that we expect to make; |
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• | the ability of our portfolio companies to achieve their objectives; |
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• | our expected financings and investments; |
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• | the adequacy of our cash resources and working capital; |
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• | the timing of cash flows, if any, from the operations of our portfolio companies; |
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• | changes in political, economic or industry conditions, the interest rate environment or conditions affecting the financial and capital markets, which could result in changes to the value of our assets; |
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• | the impact of increased competition; |
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• | our contractual arrangements and relationships with third parties; |
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• | the dependence of our future success on the general economy, including general economic trends, and its impact on the industries in which we invest; |
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• | the relative and absolute performance of our investment adviser, including in identifying suitable investments for us; |
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• | our ability to make distributions to our stockholders; |
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• | the effects of applicable legislation and regulations and changes thereto; and |
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• | the impact of future acquisitions and divestitures. |
Our actual results could differ materially from those implied or expressed in the forward-looking statements for any reason, including the factors set forth in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include:
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• | changes in the economic and political conditions; |
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• | risks associated with possible disruption in our operations or the economy generally; and |
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• | future changes in laws or regulations and conditions in our operating areas. |
You are advised to consult any additional disclosures that we may make directly to you or through reports that we in the future may file with the SEC, including annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.
Item 1. Business
Organization
HMS Income Fund, Inc. (the “Company”) was formed as a Maryland corporation on November 28, 2011 under the General Corporation Law of the State of Maryland. The Company is an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end management investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company (“BDC”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Company has elected to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).
We refer to HMS Income Fund, Inc. as the “Company,” and the use of “we,” “our,” “us” or similar pronouns in this Form 10-K refers to HMS Income Fund, Inc. or the Company as required by the context in which such pronoun is used.
Our primary investment objective is to generate current income through debt and equity investments. A secondary objective is to generate long-term capital appreciation through such equity and equity-related investments, including warrants, convertible securities and other rights to acquire equity securities. Our portfolio strategy is to invest primarily in illiquid debt and equity securities issued by lower middle market (“LMM”) companies, which generally have annual revenues between $10 million and $150 million, and middle market (“Middle Market”) companies that are generally larger in size than the LMM companies and have annual revenues typically between $10 million and $3 billion. Our LMM and Middle Market portfolio investments generally range in size from $1 million to $15 million. The Company categorizes some of its investments in LMM companies and Middle Market companies as private loan (“Private Loan”) portfolio investments. Private Loan investments, often referred to in the debt markets as “club deals,” are investments, generally in debt instruments, that we originate on a collaborative basis with other investment funds. Private Loan investments are typically similar in size, structure, terms and conditions to investments we hold in our LMM portfolio and Middle Market portfolio. Our portfolio also includes other portfolio (“Other Portfolio”) investments primarily consisting of our investment in HMS-ORIX SLF LLC (“HMS-ORIX”) (as described below) and investments managed by third parties, which differ from the typical profiles for our other types of investments.
We co-invest in broadly-syndicated loans with ORIX Funds Corp. (“Orix”) through our investment in HMS-ORIX, which is organized as a Delaware limited liability company. HMS-ORIX was formed in April 2017. Pursuant to the terms of the limited liability company agreement and through representation on the HMS-ORIX Board of Managers, we and Orix each have 50% voting control of HMS-ORIX and together will agree on all portfolio and investment decisions as well as all other significant actions for HMS-ORIX. We do not operationally control HMS-ORIX, and, accordingly, we do not consolidate the operations of HMS-ORIX within the consolidated financial statements. As of December 31, 2017, we and Orix have committed to provide, and have funded, an aggregate of $50.0 million of equity to HMS-ORIX, with us providing $30.0 million (60% of the equity) and Orix providing $20.0 million (40% of the equity). See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Portfolio Investment Composition - Investment in HMS-ORIX.”
We previously registered for sale up to 150,000,000 shares of common stock pursuant to a registration statement on Form N-2 (File No. 333-178548) which was initially declared effective by the SEC on June 4, 2012 (the “Initial Offering”). The Initial Offering terminated on December 1, 2015. We raised approximately $601.2 million under the Initial Offering, including proceeds from the distribution reinvestment plan of approximately $22.0 million. We also registered for sale up to $1,500,000,000 worth of shares of common stock (the “Offering”) pursuant to the Registration Statement, as amended, most recently declared effective on May 1, 2017. With the approval of our board of directors, we closed the Offering to new investors effective September 30, 2017. We continue to operate the distribution reinvestment plan, pursuant to which stockholders may elect to have their cash distributions reinvested in additional shares of our common stock. We raised approximately $184.1 million in the Offering including proceeds from the distribution reinvestment plan of approximately $52.4 million through December 31, 2017.
We have three wholly owned subsidiaries. HMS Funding I LLC (“HMS Funding”) and HMS Equity Holding, LLC (“HMS Equity Holding”), were both organized as Delaware limited liability companies and HMS Equity Holding II, Inc. (“HMS Equity Holding II”) was organized as a Delaware corporation. HMS Funding was created pursuant to the Deutsche Bank Credit Facility (as defined
below) in order to function as a “Structured Subsidiary,” which is permitted to incur debt outside of the EverBank Credit Facility (as defined below) since it is not a guarantor under the EverBank Credit Facility. HMS Equity Holding and HMS Equity Holding II, which have elected to be taxable entities, primarily hold equity investments in portfolio companies which are “pass through” entities for tax purposes.
The business of the Company is managed by HMS Adviser LP (the “Adviser”), a Texas limited partnership and wholly owned affiliate of Hines Interests Limited Partnership (“Hines”), under an Investment Advisory and Administrative Services Agreement dated May 31, 2012 (as amended, the “Investment Advisory Agreement”). Our Adviser oversees the management of our activities and is responsible for making investment decisions with respect to, and providing day-to-day management and administration of our investment portfolio. The Company and the Adviser have retained MSC Adviser I, LLC (the “Sub-Adviser”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Main Street Capital Corporation (“Main Street”), a New York Stock Exchange listed BDC, as the Company’s investment sub-adviser pursuant to an Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”) to identify, evaluate, negotiate and structure prospective investments, make investment and portfolio management recommendations for approval by the Adviser, monitor the Company’s investment portfolio and provide certain ongoing administrative services to the Adviser. The Adviser and the Sub-Adviser are collectively referred to as the “Advisers,” and each is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”). Upon the execution of the Sub-Advisory Agreement, Main Street became an affiliate of the Company. The Company’s board of directors most recently reapproved the Investment Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement on May 12, 2017. The Company engaged Hines Securities, Inc. (the “Dealer Manager”), an affiliate of the Adviser, to serve as the Dealer Manager for the Offering.
Employees
We do not have any direct employees, and our day-to-day investment operations are managed by our Adviser, which is also our administrator. Our executive officers consist of a president and chief executive officer, a chief financial officer and secretary, a chief accounting officer and treasurer and a chief compliance officer, all of whom are employees of Hines.
Corporate Information
Our executive offices are located at 2800 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 5000, Houston, Texas 77056-6118, and our telephone number is 1-888-220-6121. We make available all of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to such reports free of charge on our internet website at www.hinessecurities.com/bdcs/hms-income-fund/ as soon as reasonably practical after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. These reports are also available on the SEC’s internet website at www.sec.gov. The public may also read and copy paper filings that we have made with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room, located at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling (800) SEC-0330. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K and stockholders should not consider information contained on our website to be part of this Form 10-K.
Overview of our Business
As of December 31, 2017, we had 59 debt investments in 54 Middle Market portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of approximately $545.2 million and a total cost basis of approximately $569.3 million, and four equity investments in three Middle Market portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of approximately $4.6 million and a total cost basis of approximately $3.3 million. As of December 31, 2017, 82.8% of our Middle Market debt investments were secured by first priority liens. Our Middle Market portfolio investments have an average investment size of $8.7 million and have a weighted average annual effective yield of approximately 9.1%. The Middle Market debt investments generally have floating interest rates at a London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus a premium, subject to LIBOR floors, and have an average term of three to seven years.
As of December 31, 2017, we had 28 debt investments in 23 LMM portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of approximately $87.8 million, and a total cost basis of approximately $88.4 million, and 29 equity investments in 23 LMM portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of approximately $47.9 million, and a total cost basis of approximately $38.2 million. Our LMM debt investments generally have terms of five to seven years, with limited required amortization prior to maturity, and provide for monthly or quarterly payment of interest. We typically structure our LMM debt investments with the maximum seniority and collateral that we can reasonably obtain while seeking to achieve our total return target. In most cases, our LMM debt investment will be collateralized by a first or second priority lien on substantially all the assets of the portfolio company. As of December 31, 2017, our LMM debt investments had a weighted average annual effective yield of approximately 12.2%, and 100.0% of such investments were secured by first priority liens on the assets of the LMM portfolio companies. The LMM equity investments consist of equity ownership interests in the LMM portfolio companies and warrants to acquire equity interests in the LMM portfolio companies.
As of December 31, 2017, we had 38 debt investments in 37 Private Loan portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of approximately $306.8 million and a cost basis of approximately $307.7 million, and 11 equity investments in eight Private Loan portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of approximately $8.6 million and a cost basis of approximately $8.7 million. The Private Loan debt investments had a weighted average annual effective yield of approximately 9.1%, and 95.0% of the Private Loan debt investments were secured by first priority liens.
As of December 31, 2017, we had seven Other Portfolio investments, including our investment in HMS-ORIX, both with an aggregate fair value and cost basis of approximately $48.6 million, which comprised 4.6% of our investment portfolio at fair value.
The value of our investment portfolio will fluctuate with changes in market pricing of our underlying investments. During the fourth quarter of 2014 through the first quarter of 2016, our portfolio experienced significant unrealized losses that were largely related to the impact of broad price declines in the high yield bond and leveraged loan markets and the effect of the declining oil prices on our investments in the oil and gas sector. In 2016 and 2017, we recognized realized losses on investments in our portfolio, primarily driven by the restructuring of certain investments in the oil and gas sector. Although we have seen a recovery in the leveraged loan markets since early 2016, it has not been sufficient to reverse these unrealized and realized losses, primarily because the price of oil remains depressed relative to when we made several investments in the oil and gas sector.
We will continue investing in, and intend to have a significant portion of our assets invested in, customized direct secured and unsecured loans to and equity securities of LMM companies. In most cases, companies that issue customized LMM securities to us will be privately held at the time we invest in them. Typically, our investment in LMM companies will require us to co-invest with Main Street and/or its affiliates. These types of co-investments required us to obtain an exemptive order from the SEC as discussed below. While the structure of our investments in customized LMM securities is likely to vary, we may invest in senior secured debt, senior unsecured debt, subordinated secured debt, subordinated unsecured debt, mezzanine debt, convertible debt, convertible preferred equity, preferred equity, common equity, warrants and other instruments, many of which generate current yields. We will make other investments as allowed by the 1940 Act and consistent with our continued qualification as a RIC. For a discussion of the risks inherent in our portfolio investments, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Business and Structure.”
Our investments may include other equity investments, such as warrants, options to buy a minority interest in a portfolio company, or contractual payment rights or rights to receive a proportional interest in the operating cash flow or net income of such company. When determined by our Advisers to be in our best interest, we may acquire a controlling interest in a portfolio company. Any warrants we receive with our debt securities may require only a nominal cost to exercise, and thus, as a portfolio company appreciates in value, we may achieve additional investment return from this equity interest. We intend to structure such warrants to include provisions protecting our rights as a minority-interest or, if applicable, controlling-interest holder, as well as puts, or rights to sell such securities back to the company upon the occurrence of specified events. In addition, we may obtain demand or “piggyback” registration rights in connection with these equity interests.
We plan to hold many of our investments to maturity or repayment but will sell our investments earlier if a liquidity event takes place, such as the sale or recapitalization of a portfolio company, or if we determine the sale to be in our best interest.
As a BDC, we are subject to certain regulatory restrictions in making our investments, including limitations on our ability to co-invest with certain affiliates. However, we received exemptive relief from the SEC that permits us, subject to certain conditions, to co-invest with Main Street and/or its affiliates in certain transactions originated by Main Street and/or our Advisers. The exemptive relief permits us, and certain of our directly or indirectly wholly owned subsidiaries on one hand, and Main Street, and/or certain of its affiliates, on the other hand, to co-invest in the same investment opportunities where such investment would otherwise be prohibited under Section 57(a)(4) of the 1940 Act. Under the co-investment program described in our application for exemptive relief, as amended, co-investments between us and Main Street will be the norm rather than the exception, as substantially all potential co-investments that are appropriate investments for us should also be appropriate investments for Main Street, and vice versa. Limited exceptions to co-investing will be based on available capital, diversification and other relevant factors. Accordingly, our Sub-Adviser treats every potential investment in customized LMM securities evaluated by Main Street as a potential investment opportunity for us, determines the appropriateness of each potential investment for co-investment by us, provides to our Adviser, in advance, information about each potential investment that it deems appropriate for us and proposes an allocation according to an investment allocation policy that is between us and Main Street and reviewed periodically by our board of directors. If our Adviser deems such potential co-investment transaction and proposed allocation appropriate for us, our Adviser will present the transaction and the proposed allocation to the members of our board of directors who are (1) not interested persons of us or Main Street, and (2) who do not have a financial interest in the proposed transaction or the proposed portfolio company, which directors are referred to as “Eligible Directors,” and our Sub-Adviser will present the transaction and the proposed allocation for Main Street to the Eligible Directors of the Main Street board of directors. Each board of directors, including a majority of the
Eligible Directors of each board of directors, will approve each proposed co-investment transaction and the allocation associated therewith prior to the consummation of any co-investment transaction. No independent director on our board of directors or Main Street’s board of directors will have any direct or indirect financial interest in any co-investment transaction or any interest in any related portfolio company, other than through an interest (if any) in our or Main Street’s securities, as applicable. Additional information regarding the operation of the co-investment program is set forth in the order granting exemptive relief, which may be reviewed on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
In addition to the co-investment program described in the Form 10-K and in the exemptive relief, we may continue to co-invest in syndicated deals and secondary loan market transactions where price is the only negotiated point.
We expect that the debt in which we invest will generally have stated terms of three to seven years. However, we are in no way limited with regard to the maturity or duration of any debt investment we may make, and we do not have a policy in place with respect to stated maturities of debt investments.
To enhance our opportunity for gain, we intend to continue to employ leverage as market conditions permit and at the discretion of our Adviser, but in no event will leverage employed exceed 50% of the value of our assets, as required by the 1940 Act.
Business Strategy
Our primary investment objective is to generate current income through debt and equity investments in LMM companies based in the United States and secured debt investments of Middle Market companies generally headquartered in the United States. A secondary objective is to generate long-term capital appreciation through equity and equity-related investments including warrants, convertible securities, and other rights to acquire equity securities. We have adopted the following business strategy to achieve our investment objective:
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• | Utilize the experience and expertise of the principals of our Advisers. The investment professionals employed by our Sub-Adviser are also the investment professionals responsible for investing and managing Main Street’s securities portfolio. Main Street is a BDC whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Main Street’s primary investment focus is providing customized debt and equity financing to LMM companies and debt capital to Middle Market companies that operate in diverse industry sectors. At December 31, 2017, Main Street had debt and equity investments with an aggregate fair value of approximately $2.2 billion in 186 portfolio companies. Our Adviser’s senior management team, through affiliates of Hines, has participated in the management of three publicly offered and non-traded real estate investment trusts and has extensive experience in evaluating and underwriting the credit of tenants, many of which are LMM companies, of its commercial real estate properties. The principals of our Adviser, including Sherri W. Schugart, the Chairman of our board of directors, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and Ryan T. Sims, our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, have access to a broad network of relationships with financial sponsors, commercial and investment banks, LMM companies and leaders within a number of industries that we believe produce significant investment opportunities. |
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• | Focus on Middle Market and LMM companies with stable cash flow. We believe that there are relatively few finance companies focused on transactions involving Middle Market and LMM companies,which allows us to negotiate favorable investment terms. Such favorable terms include higher debt yields and lower leverage levels, more significant covenant protection and greater equity participation than typical of transactions involving larger companies. We generally invest in established companies with positive cash flow. We believe that established companies possess better risk-adjusted return profiles than newer companies that are building management or in early stages of building a revenue base. These companies represent a significant portion of the U.S. economy and often require substantial capital investment to grow their businesses. |
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• | Emphasize discipline in our underwriting policies and rigor in our portfolio management. We employ an underwriting process that includes a review of the prospects, competitive position, financial performance and industry dynamics of each potential portfolio company. In addition, we perform due diligence on potential investments and seek to invest with management teams and/or private equity sponsors who have proven capabilities in building value. Through our Advisers, we offer managerial assistance to our portfolio companies, giving them access to our investment experience, direct industry expertise and contacts and allowing us to continually monitor their progress. As part of the monitoring process, our Advisers analyze monthly and quarterly financial statements versus the previous periods and year, review financial projections, meet with management, attend board meetings and review all compliance certificates and covenants. |
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• | Focus on long-term credit performance and principal protection. We structure our customized loan investments on a conservative basis with high cash yields, first and/or second lien security interests where possible, cash origination fees and lower relative leverage levels. We seek strong deal protections for our customized debt investments, including default penalties, |
information rights, board observation rights, and affirmative, negative and financial covenants, such as lien protection and prohibitions against change of control. We believe these protections will reduce our risk of capital loss.
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• | Diversification. We seek to diversify our portfolio broadly among companies in a multitude of different industries and end markets, thereby reducing the concentration of credit risk in any one company or sector of the economy. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in this effort. |
Deal Origination
Over the years, we believe the management team of Main Street, which controls our Sub-Adviser, and the affiliates of Hines have developed and maintained a strong reputation as principal investors and an extensive network of relationships. Main Street sources investments of the type we expect to make on a day-to-day basis as part of operating a New York Stock Exchange-listed BDC. Main Street has business development professionals dedicated to sourcing investments through relationships with numerous loan syndication and trading desks, investment banks, private equity sponsors, business brokers, merger and acquisition advisors, finance companies, commercial banks, law firms and accountants. Moreover, through its over 60 years of experience in leasing commercial real estate on a global basis, Hines has developed relationships with a large number of Middle Market companies that are a potential source of Middle Market investment opportunities. Our Adviser also has continuous access to Main Street’s professional team due to its relationship with our Sub-Adviser.
We believe that our industry relationships are a significant source for new investment opportunities. We generally source our investments in ways other than going to auctions, which include capitalizing on long-standing relationships with companies and financial sponsors to obtain access to proprietary investment opportunities.
From time to time, we may receive referrals for new prospective investments from our portfolio companies as well as other participants in the capital markets. We may pay referral fees to those who refer transactions to us that we consummate.
Investment Selection
Our investment philosophy and portfolio construction involves:
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• | An assessment of the overall macroeconomic environment and financial markets; |
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• | Company-specific research and analysis; |
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• | An emphasis on capital preservation, low volatility and minimization of downside risk; |
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• | An assessment of the overall macroeconomic environment and financial markets; |
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• | Company-specific research and analysis; and |
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• | An emphasis on capital preservation, low volatility and minimization of downside risk. |
The foundation of our investment philosophy is intensive credit investment analysis based on fundamental value-oriented research and diversification. Our selection process is based on:
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• | A comprehensive analysis of issuer creditworthiness, including a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the issuer’s business; |
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• | An evaluation of the management team; |
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• | An analysis of business strategy and long-term industry trends; and |
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• | An in-depth examination of capital structure, financial results and financial projections. |
We seek to identify those issuers exhibiting superior fundamental risk-return profiles with a particular focus on investments with the following characteristics:
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• | Established companies with a history of positive and stable operating cash flows. We seek to invest in established companies with sound historical financial performance. We typically focus on companies with a history of profitability. We generally will not invest in start-up companies or companies with speculative business plans. |
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• | Ability to exert meaningful influence. We target investment opportunities in which we will be the lead investor where we can add value through active participation. |
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• | Experienced management team. We generally require that our portfolio companies have an experienced management team. We also seek to invest in companies that have a strong equity incentive program in place that properly aligns the interests of management with a company’s investors. |
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• | Strong franchises and sustainable competitive advantages. We seek to invest in companies with proven products and/or services and strong regional or national operations. |
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• | Industries with positive long-term dynamics. We seek to invest in companies in industries with positive long-term dynamics. |
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• | Companies with exit alternative/refinancing. We generally exit from most debt investments through the portfolio company’s repayment of the debt to us or a successful refinancing with another debt provider. We may exit our equity positions by selling the equity back to the portfolio company or to another party if the company undergoes a transaction such as a merger or an acquisition. We typically assist our portfolio companies in developing and planning refinancing or exit opportunities, including any sale or merger of our portfolio companies. We may also assist in the structure, timing, execution and transition of the exit strategy or refinancing. |
Except as restricted by the 1940 Act or the Code, we deem all of our investment policies to be non-fundamental, which means that they may be changed by our board of directors without stockholder approval.
Intensive Credit Analysis / Due Diligence
The process through which our Advisers make an investment decision with respect to a customized financing transaction in the LMM involves extensive research into the target company, its industry, its growth prospects and its ability to withstand adverse conditions. If the senior investment professional responsible for the transaction determines that an investment opportunity should be pursued, we will engage in an intensive due diligence process. Though each transaction involves a somewhat different approach, the regular due diligence steps generally to be undertaken include:
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• | Meeting with senior management to understand the business more fully and evaluate the ability of the senior management team; |
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• | Checking management backgrounds and references; |
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• | Performing a detailed review of financial performance and earnings; |
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• | Visiting headquarters and other company locations; |
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• | Contacting customers and vendors to assess both business prospects and industry wide practices; |
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• | Conducting a competitive analysis and comparing the issuer to its main competitors; |
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• | Researching industry and financial publications to understand industry wide growth trends; |
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• | Assessing asset value and the ability of physical infrastructure and information systems to handle anticipated growth; and |
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• | Investigating legal risks and financial and accounting systems. |
For Middle Market investments, a comprehensive credit analysis is conducted and continuously maintained, the results of which are available for the transaction team to review. Our due diligence process with respect to Middle Market debt securities is necessarily less intensive than that followed for customized financings. The issuers in these private debt placements tend to be rated and have placement agents who accumulate a certain level of due diligence information prior to placing the securities. Moreover, these private placements generally have much shorter timetables for making investment decisions.
Portfolio Monitoring
Our Advisers employ several methods of evaluating and monitoring the performance and value of our investments, which include the following:
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• | Assessment of success in adhering to the portfolio company’s business plan and compliance with covenants; |
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• | Regular contact with portfolio company management and, if appropriate, the financial or strategic sponsor, to discuss financial position, requirements and accomplishments; |
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• | Attendance at, and participation in, board meetings of the portfolio company; and |
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• | Review of monthly and quarterly financial statements and financial projections for the portfolio company. |
As a BDC, we are required to offer managerial assistance to our portfolio companies. This assistance could involve monitoring the operations of our portfolio companies, participating in board and management meetings, consulting with and advising officers of portfolio companies and providing other organizational and financial guidance. Our Advisers or any third-party administrator will make available such managerial assistance, on our behalf, to our portfolio companies, whether or not they request this assistance. Our Advisers’ business experience makes them qualified to provide such managerial assistance. We may receive fees for these services and will reimburse our Advisers, or any third-party administrator, for their allocated costs in providing such assistance, subject to periodic review and approval by our board of directors.
Competition
Our primary competition in providing financing to Middle Market and LMM companies includes other BDCs, specialty finance companies, investment companies, opportunity funds, institutional investors, public and private buyout and other private equity funds, commercial and investment banks, commercial financing companies, and, to the extent they provide an alternative form of financing, hedge funds. 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 funds as well as access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish more relationships than us. Furthermore, many of our competitors are not subject to the regulatory restrictions that the 1940 Act imposes on us as a BDC or the source-of-income, asset diversification and distribution requirements we must satisfy to maintain our qualification as a BDC. We use the industry information of our investment professionals to assess investment risks and determine appropriate pricing for our investments in portfolio companies. In addition, we believe that our relationships enable us to discover, and compete effectively for, financing opportunities with attractive Middle Market and LMM companies in the industries in which we seek to invest. See “Item IA. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure — We may continue to face increasing competition for investment opportunities, which could delay deployment of our capital, reduce returns and result in losses.”
Exit Strategies/Refinancing
While we generally exit most investments through the refinancing or repayment of our debt, our Advisers typically assist our LMM portfolio companies in developing and planning exit opportunities, including any sale or merger of our portfolio companies. The Advisers may also assist in the structure, timing, execution and transition of the exit strategy. The refinancing or repayment of Middle Market debt investments typically does not require our assistance due to the additional resources available to these larger, Middle Market companies.
Determination of Net Asset Value (“NAV”)
The value of our assets is determined quarterly and at such other times that an event occurs that materially affects the valuation. The valuation is made pursuant to Section 2(a)(41) of the 1940 Act, which requires that we value our assets as follows: (i) the market price for those securities for which a market quotation is readily available, and (ii) for all other securities and assets, fair value, as determined in good faith by our board of directors. As a BDC, Section 2(a)(41) of the 1940 Act requires the board of directors to determine in good faith the fair value of portfolio securities for which a market price is not available, and it does so in conjunction with the application of our valuation procedures by our Advisers.
There is no single standard for determining fair value in good faith. As a result, determining fair value requires that judgment be applied to the specific facts and circumstances of each asset while employing a valuation process that is consistently followed. Determinations of fair value involve subjective judgments and estimates. Accordingly, the notes to our consolidated financial statements refer to the uncertainty with respect to the possible effect of such valuations, and any change in such valuations in our consolidated financial statements. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Policies — Valuation of Portfolio Investments.”
With the approval of our board of directors, we closed the Offering to new investors effective September 30, 2017. In the event we issue our shares of common stock to new investors, we will sell our shares of common stock at a price necessary to ensure that shares of common stock are not sold at a price per share, after deduction of selling commissions and any dealer manager fees, that is below our NAV per share as determined within 48 hours prior to the date of each closing. In the event of a material decline in our NAV per share which we deem to be non-temporary, and that results in a 2.5% or higher decrease of our NAV per share below our then-current net offering price, and subject to certain conditions, we will reduce our offering price accordingly.
The following table summarizes adjustments we have made to our per share public offering price through September 30, 2017, the closing of our Offering to new investors, and the closing date on which such adjustments were effective.
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First Effective Closing Date | | Per Share Public Offering Price |
June 4, 2012 | | $ | 10.00 |
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January 15, 2015 | | $ | 9.75 |
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May 7, 2015 | | $ | 9.90 |
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October 8, 2015 | | $ | 9.70 |
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November 12, 2015 | | $ | 9.55 |
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First Effective Closing Date | | Per Share Public Offering Price |
January 1, 2016 | | $ | 9.00 |
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January 21, 2016 | | $ | 8.80 |
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February 4, 2016 | | $ | 8.60 |
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February 18, 2016 | | $ | 8.50 |
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March 24, 2016 | | $ | 8.60 |
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April 21, 2016 | | $ | 8.70 |
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May 5, 2016 | | $ | 8.80 |
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July 28, 2016 | | $ | 8.90 |
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October 20, 2016 | | $ | 9.00 |
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November 25, 2016 | | $ | 9.05 |
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December 15, 2016 | | $ | 9.10 |
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January 12, 2017 | | $ | 9.15 |
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January 19, 2017 | | $ | 9.30 |
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REGULATION
Regulation as a BDC
We have elected to be regulated as a BDC under the 1940 Act. The 1940 Act contains prohibitions and restrictions relating to transactions between BDCs and their affiliates, principal underwriters and affiliates of those affiliates or underwriters. The 1940 Act requires that a majority of our directors be persons other than “interested persons,” as that term is defined in the 1940 Act. In addition, the 1940 Act provides that we may not change the nature of our business so as to cease to be, or to withdraw our election as, a BDC unless approved by the lesser of (i) 67% or more of the voting securities present at a meeting if the holders of more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities are present or represented by proxy or (ii) 50% of our voting securities.
We are generally not permitted to sell our common stock at a price below NAV per share. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors — Risks Related to BDCs — Regulations governing our operation as a BDC and RIC will affect our ability to raise, and the way in which we raise, additional capital or borrow for investment purposes, which may have a negative effect on our growth.” We may, however, sell our common stock, or warrants, options or rights to acquire our common stock, at a price below the then-current NAV of our common stock if our board of directors determines that such sale is in our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders, and our stockholders approve such sale. In addition, we may generally issue new shares of our common stock at a price below NAV in rights offerings to existing stockholders, in payment of dividends and in certain other limited circumstances.
Qualifying Assets
Under the 1940 Act, a BDC may not acquire any asset other than assets of the type listed in Section 55(a) of the 1940 Act, which are referred to as qualifying assets, unless, at the time the acquisition is made, qualifying assets represent at least 70% of the company’s total assets. The principal categories of qualifying assets relevant to our business are any of the following:
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1. | Securities purchased in transactions not involving any public offering from the issuer of such securities, which issuer (subject to certain limited exceptions) is an eligible portfolio company, or from any person who is, or has been during the preceding 13 months, an affiliated person of an eligible portfolio company, or from any other person, subject to such rules as may be prescribed by the SEC. An eligible portfolio company is defined in the 1940 Act as any issuer which: |
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a. | is organized under the laws of, and has its principal place of business in, the U.S.; |
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b. | is not an investment company (other than a small business investment company wholly owned by the BDC) or a company that would be an investment company but for certain exclusions under the 1940 Act; and |
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c. | satisfies any of the following: |
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i. | does not have any class of securities that is traded on a national securities exchange; |
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ii. | has a class of securities listed on a national securities exchange, but has an aggregate market value of outstanding voting and non-voting common equity of less than $250 million; |
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iii. | is controlled by a BDC or a group of companies including a BDC and the BDC has an affiliated person who is a director of the eligible portfolio company; or |
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iv. | is a small and solvent company having total assets of not more than $4.0 million and capital and surplus of not less than $2.0 million. |
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2. | Securities of any eligible portfolio company that we control. |
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3. | Securities purchased in a private transaction from a U.S. issuer that is not an investment company or from an affiliated person of the issuer, or in transactions incident thereto, if the issuer is in bankruptcy and subject to reorganization or if the issuer, immediately prior to the purchase of its securities was unable to meet its obligations as they came due without material assistance other than conventional lending or financing arrangements. |
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4. | Securities of an eligible portfolio company purchased from any person in a private transaction if there is no ready market for such securities and we already own 60% of the outstanding equity of the eligible portfolio company. |
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5. | Securities received in exchange for or distributed on or with respect to securities described in (1) through (4) above, or pursuant to the exercise of warrants or rights relating to such securities. |
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6. | Cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities or high-quality debt securities maturing in one year or less from the time of investment. |
In addition, a BDC must have been organized and have its principal place of business in the U.S. and must be operated for the purpose of making investments in the types of securities described in (1), (2) or (3) above.
Managerial Assistance to Portfolio Companies
In order to count portfolio securities as qualifying assets for the purpose of the 70% test, we must either control the issuer of the securities or must offer to make available to the issuer of the securities (other than small and solvent companies described above) significant managerial assistance. However, when we purchase such securities in conjunction with one or more other persons acting together, one of the other persons in the group may make available such managerial assistance. Making available managerial assistance means any arrangement whereby the BDC, through its directors, officers or employees, offers to provide, and, if accepted, does so provide, significant guidance and counsel concerning the management, operations or business objectives and policies of a portfolio company.
Temporary Investments
Pending investment in other types of “qualifying assets,” as described above, our investments may consist of cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities or high-quality debt securities maturing in one year or less from the time of investment, which we refer to, collectively, as temporary investments, so that 70% of our assets are qualifying assets.
Senior Securities
We are permitted, under specified conditions, to issue multiple classes of debt and one class of stock senior to our common stock if our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, is at least equal to 200% immediately after each such issuance. In addition, while any senior securities remain outstanding, we must make provisions to prohibit any distribution to our stockholders or the repurchase of such securities or shares unless we meet the applicable asset coverage ratios at the time of the distribution or repurchase. We may also borrow amounts up to 5% of the value of our total assets for temporary or emergency purposes without regard to asset coverage. For a discussion of the risks associated with leverage, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors — Risks Related to BDCs — Regulations governing our operation as a BDC and RIC will affect our ability to raise, and the way in which we raise, additional capital or borrow for investment purposes, which may have a negative effect on our growth.”
Code of Ethics
We and our Advisers have each adopted a code of ethics under Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act that establishes procedures for personal investments and restricts certain personal securities transactions. Personnel subject to each code may invest in securities for their personal investment accounts, including securities that may be purchased or held by us, so long as such investments are made in accordance with the code’s requirements. We have included these codes of ethics as exhibits to the Registration Statement. You may also read and copy, after paying a duplication fee, the codes of ethics at the SEC’s Public Reference Room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, or by making an electronic request to the following email address: publicinfo@sec.gov. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at (202) 942-8090. In addition, the code of ethics is available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov.
Compliance Policies and Procedures
We and our Adviser have adopted and implemented written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation of the federal securities laws, and our board of directors is required to review these compliance policies and procedures annually to assess their adequacy and the effectiveness of their implementation. Our board of directors has designated Jason Maxwell as our Chief Compliance Officer.
Proxy Policies
As an investment adviser registered under the Advisers Act, our Adviser has a fiduciary duty to act solely in the best interests of its clients. As part of this duty, it recognizes that it must vote client securities in a timely manner free of conflicts of interest and in the best interests of its clients.
These policies and procedures for voting proxies for the investment advisory clients of our Adviser are intended to comply with Section 206 of, and Rule 206(4)-6 under, the Advisers Act.
Our Adviser will vote proxies relating to our securities in the best interest of our stockholders. It will review on a case-by-case basis each proposal submitted for a stockholder vote to determine its impact on our portfolio securities. Although our Adviser will generally vote against proposals that may have a negative impact on our portfolio securities, it may vote for such a proposal if there exist compelling long-term reasons to do so.
It is unlikely that our portfolio investments will solicit proxies for stockholder votes on a regular basis. To the extent we receive proxy statements, however, we have delegated our proxy voting responsibility to our Adviser. The proxy voting policies and procedures of our Adviser are set forth below. The guidelines are reviewed periodically by our Adviser and our independent directors, and, accordingly, are subject to change.
The proxy voting decisions of our Adviser are made by the senior officers who are responsible for monitoring each of its clients’ investments. To ensure that its vote is not the product of a conflict of interest, it will require that: (a) anyone involved in the decision-making process disclose to its Chief Compliance Officer any potential conflict that he or she is aware of and any contact that he or she has had with any interested party regarding a proxy vote; and (b) employees involved in the decision making process or vote administration are prohibited from revealing how our Adviser intends to vote on a proposal in order to reduce any attempted influence from interested parties.
Proxy Voting Records
You may obtain information, without charge, regarding how we voted proxies with respect to our portfolio securities by making a written request for proxy voting information to: HMS Income Fund, Inc., Attention: Ryan T. Sims, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, 2800 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 5000, Houston, Texas 77056-6118, or by collect calling the Company at (888) 220-6121. Also, the SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains such information.
Other
As a BDC, we are subject to periodic examinations by the SEC for compliance with the 1940 Act. We are required to obtain and maintain a bond issued by a reputable fidelity insurance company to protect us against larceny and embezzlement. Furthermore, as a BDC, we are prohibited from protecting any director or officer against any liability to us or our stockholders arising from misconduct, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such person’s office.
Exchange Act and Sarbanes-Oxley Act Compliance
We are subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the Exchange Act, including the filing of quarterly, annual and current reports, proxy statements and other required items. In addition, we are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), which imposes a wide variety of regulatory requirements on publicly held companies and their insiders. Many of these requirements will affect us. For example:
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• | pursuant to Rule 13a-14 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer are required to certify the accuracy of the financial statements contained in our periodic reports; |
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• | pursuant to Item 307 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act, our periodic reports are required to disclose our conclusions about the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures; and |
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• | pursuant to Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act, our management is required to prepare a report regarding its assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. |
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires us to review our current policies and procedures to determine whether we comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder. We monitor our compliance with all regulations that are adopted under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and have taken actions necessary to ensure that we comply with that law.
Investment Adviser Regulations
Our Advisers are subject to regulation under the Advisers Act. The Advisers Act establishes, among other things, record keeping and reporting requirements, disclosure requirements, limitations on transactions between the adviser’s account and an advisory client’s account, limitations on transactions between the accounts of advisory clients, and general anti-fraud prohibitions. We and our Advisers may also be examined by the SEC from time to time for compliance with the Advisers Act.
Taxation as a RIC
We have elected to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. As a RIC, we generally will not be subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income taxes on any income that we distribute to our stockholders from our tax earnings and profits. To qualify as a RIC, we must, among other things, meet certain source-of-income and asset diversification requirements (as described below). In addition, in order to obtain RIC tax treatment, we must distribute dividends to our stockholders, in respect of each taxable year, of an amount generally at least equal to 90% of our “investment company taxable income,” which is generally our taxable net investment income plus the excess, if any, of realized net short-term capital gain over realized net long-term capital loss, determined without regard to any deduction for dividends paid (the “Annual Distribution Requirement”). Depending on the amount of taxable income we generate in a tax year, we may choose to spill-over taxable income in excess of current year distributions into the next tax year and incur a 4% nondeductible U.S federal excise tax on such taxable income. Any such spill-over taxable income must be distributed through a distribution declared prior to the earlier of eight-and-one-half months after the close of the taxable year in which such taxable income was generated or the timely filing of the tax return related to the tax year in which such taxable income was generated. Even if we qualify as a RIC, we generally will be subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income tax on our undistributed taxable income and could be subject to U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income, excise, withholding or other taxes.
Provided that we qualify as a RIC and satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement, we will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of our investment company taxable income and net capital gain (which is defined as net long-term capital gain in excess of net short-term capital loss) that we timely distribute to stockholders. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the regular corporate rates on any income or capital gain not distributed (or deemed distributed) to our stockholders.
We will be subject to a 4% nondeductible U.S. federal excise tax on certain undistributed income unless we distribute in a timely manner in respect of a calendar year dividends of an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98% of our ordinary income (taking into account certain deferrals and elections) for the calendar year, (2) 98.2% of our capital gain net income (adjusted for certain ordinary losses) for the one-year period ending October 31 in that calendar year (or, if we so elect, for the calendar year) and (3) any net ordinary income and capital gain net income for preceding years that was not distributed with respect to such years and on which the Company incurred no U.S. federal income tax (the “Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement”). Distributions declared and paid by us in a taxable year will generally differ from taxable income for that taxable year as such distributions may include the distribution of current taxable year’s taxable income, exclude amounts carried over into the following taxable year, and include the distribution of prior taxable year taxable income carried over into and distributed in the current taxable year.
In order to qualify as a RIC for federal income tax purposes, we must, among other things:
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• | elect to be treated as a RIC; |
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• | meet the Annual Distribution Requirement; |
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• | qualify as a BDC or be registered as a management investment company under the 1940 Act at all times during each taxable year; |
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• | derive in each taxable year at least 90% of our gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities, loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or other securities or foreign currencies or other income derived with respect to our business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies and net income derived from an interest in a “qualified publicly traded partnership” (as defined in the Code) (the “90% Income Test”); and |
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• | diversify our holdings so that at the end of each quarter of the taxable year to satisfy the RIC requirements: |
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a. | at least 50% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs, and other securities if such other securities of 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 |
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b. | 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, (i) of one issuer, (ii) of two or more issuers that are controlled, as determined under applicable tax rules, by us and that are engaged in the same or similar or related trades or businesses or (iii) of one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (collectively, the “Diversification Tests”). |
To the extent that we invest in entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes (other than a “qualified publicly traded partnership”), we generally must include the items of gross income derived by the partnerships for purposes of the 90% Income Test, and the income that is derived from a partnership (other than a “qualified publicly traded partnership”) will be treated as qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test only to the extent that such income is attributable to items of income of the partnership which would be qualifying income if realized by us directly. In addition, we generally must take into account our proportionate share of the assets held by partnerships (other than a “qualified publicly traded partnership”) in which we are a partner for purposes of the Diversification Tests.
Certain of our investment practices are subject to special and complex U.S. federal income tax provisions that may, among other things, (i) convert dividends that would otherwise constitute qualified dividend income into ordinary income, (ii) treat dividends that would otherwise be eligible for deductions available to certain U.S. corporations under the Code as ineligible for such treatment, (iii) disallow, suspend or otherwise limit the allowance of certain losses or deductions, (iv) convert long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains or ordinary income, (v) convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses, (vi) convert an ordinary loss or deduction into a capital loss (the deductibility of which is more limited), (vii) cause us to recognize income or gain without a corresponding receipt of cash, (viii) adversely alter the characterization of certain complex financial transactions, and (ix) produce gross income that will not constitute qualifying gross income for purposes of the gross income requirement that applies to RICs. These rules also could affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to stockholders. We intend to monitor our transactions and may make certain tax elections to mitigate the effect of these provisions on our ability to be subject to tax as a RIC.
Some of the income that we might otherwise earn, such as fees for providing managerial assistance, certain fees earned with respect to our investments, income recognized in a work-out or restructuring of a portfolio investment, or income recognized from an equity investment in an operating partnership, may not satisfy the 90% Income Test. To manage the risk that such income might disqualify us as a RIC for failure to satisfy the 90% Income Test, we may establish one or more special purpose entities treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes (any such corporation, a “Taxable Subsidiary”) to hold assets from which we do not anticipate earning qualifying income under the 90% Income Test. Any investments held through a Taxable Subsidiary generally will be subject to U.S. federal income and other taxes, and therefore we can expect to achieve a reduced after-tax yield on such investments.
We may be required to recognize taxable income in circumstances in which we do not receive a corresponding payment in cash. For example, if we hold debt instruments that are treated under applicable tax rules as having original issue discount (such as debt instruments with payment-in-kind interest (“PIK”), or in certain cases, increasing interest rates or issued with warrants), we must include in our taxable income each tax year a portion of the original issue discount that accrues over the life of the obligation, regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by us in the same tax year. We may also have to include in our taxable income other amounts that we have not yet received in cash, such as deferred loan origination fees that are paid after origination of the loan or are paid in non-cash compensation such as warrants or stock. We anticipate that a portion of our income may constitute original issue discount or other income required to be included in taxable income prior to receipt of cash, such as deferred loan origination fees that are paid after origination of the loan or are paid in non-cash compensation such as warrants or stock.
Because any original issue discount or other amounts accrued will be included in our investment company taxable income for the tax year of the accrual, we may be required to make a distribution to our stockholders in order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement or the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement, even though we will not have received any corresponding cash amount. Furthermore, a portfolio company in which we invest may face financial difficulty that requires us to work-out, modify or otherwise restructure our investment in the portfolio company. Any such restructuring may result in unusable capital losses and future non-cash income. As a result, we may have difficulty meeting the Annual Distribution Requirement or the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement. 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 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 U.S. federal income tax.
Furthermore, any such restructuring may result in unusable capital losses as well as a substantial amount of non-qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test.
Gain or loss realized by us from warrants acquired by us as well as any loss attributable to the lapse of such warrants generally will be treated as capital gain or loss. Such gain or loss generally will be long-term or short-term, depending on how long we held a particular warrant.
Investments by us in non-U.S. securities may be subject to non-U.S. income, withholding and other taxes, and therefore, our yield on any such securities may be reduced by such non-U.S. taxes. Stockholders will generally not be entitled to claim a credit or deduction with respect to non-U.S. taxes paid by us.
If we acquire shares in a “passive foreign investment company” (“PFIC”), we may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such shares even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by us to our stockholders. A PFIC is generally defined as any non-U.S. entity classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes which earns at least 75% of its annual gross income from passive sources (such as interest, dividends, rents, royalties or capital gain) or holds at least 50% of its total assets in investments producing such passive income. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on us in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains. If we hold shares of a PFIC and elect to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code (“QEF”) in lieu of the foregoing requirements, we will be required to include in income each tax year a portion of the ordinary earnings and net capital gain of the QEF, if any, even if such income is not distributed by the PFIC to us. Alternatively, we can elect to mark-to-market our shares in a PFIC at the end of each tax year; in which case, we will recognize as ordinary income any increase in the value of such PFIC shares and as ordinary loss any decrease in such value to the extent such decrease does not exceed prior increases included in our taxable income. Under either election, we may be required to recognize taxable income from shares held in PFICs in excess of our distributions from such PFICs, and our proceeds from any dispositions of PFIC shares, and such taxable income will be taken into account for purposes of determining our compliance with the Annual Distribution Requirement and the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement.
Our functional currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes is the U.S. dollar. Under Section 988 of the Code, gain or loss attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the time we accrue income, expenses, or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time we actually collect such income or pay such expenses or liabilities are generally treated as ordinary income or loss. Similarly, gain or loss on foreign currency forward contracts, futures contracts, options, notional principal contracts and similar financial instruments, and the disposition of debt denominated in a foreign currency, to the extent attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates between the acquisition and disposition dates, are also treated as ordinary income or loss.
Although we do not presently expect to do so, we are authorized to borrow funds and to sell assets in order to satisfy distribution requirements. However, under the 1940 Act, we are not permitted to make distributions to our stockholders while our debt obligations and other senior securities are outstanding unless certain “asset coverage” tests are met. Moreover, our ability to dispose of assets to meet our distribution requirements may be limited by (1) the illiquid nature of our portfolio and/or (2) other requirements relating to our status as a RIC, including the Diversification Tests. If we dispose of assets in order to meet the Annual Distribution Requirement or the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement, we may make such dispositions at times that, from an investment standpoint, are not advantageous.
As a RIC, we are not allowed to carry forward or carry back a net operating loss for purposes of computing our investment company taxable income in other tax years. U.S. federal income tax law generally permits a RIC to carry forward (i) the excess of its net short-term capital loss over its net long-term capital gain for a given year as a short-term capital loss arising on the first day of the following tax year and (ii) the excess of its net long- term capital loss over its net short-term capital gain for a given year as a long-term capital loss arising on the first day of the following tax year. However, future transactions we engage in may cause our ability to use any capital loss carryforwards, and unrealized losses once realized, to be limited under Sections 382, 383 or 384 of the Code. Certain of our investment practices may be subject to special and complex U.S. federal income tax provisions that may, among other things, (i) disallow, suspend or otherwise limit the allowance of certain losses or deductions, (ii) convert lower taxed long-term capital gain and qualified dividend income into higher taxed short-term capital gain or ordinary income, (iii) convert an ordinary loss or a deduction into a capital loss (the deductibility of which is more limited), (iv) cause us to recognize income or gain without a corresponding receipt of cash, (v) adversely affect the time as to when a purchase or sale of stock or securities is deemed to occur, (vi) adversely alter the characterization of certain complex financial transactions, and (vii) produce income that will not be qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test. We will monitor our transactions and may make certain tax elections in order to mitigate the effect of these provisions.
As described above, to the extent that we invest in equity securities of entities that are treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the effect of such investments for purposes of the 90% Income Test and the Diversification Tests will depend
on whether or not the partnership is a “qualified publicly traded partnership” (as defined in the Code). If the partnership is a “qualified publicly traded partnership,” the net income derived from such investments will be qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test and such investments generally will be “securities” for purposes of the Diversification Tests. If the partnership, however, is not treated as a “qualified publicly traded partnership,” then the consequences of an investment in the partnership will depend upon the amount and type of income and assets of the partnership allocable to us. The income derived from such investments may not be qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test and, therefore, could adversely affect our qualification as a RIC. We intend to monitor our investments in equity securities of entities that are treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes to prevent our disqualification as a RIC.
We may invest in preferred securities or other securities the U.S. federal income tax treatment of which may not be clear or may be subject to recharacterization by the IRS. To the extent the tax treatment of such securities or the income from such securities differs from the expected tax treatment, it could affect the timing or character of income recognized, requiring us to purchase or sell securities, or otherwise change our portfolio, in order to comply with the tax rules applicable to RICs under the Code.
If we fail to satisfy the 90% Income Test or the Diversification Tests for any tax year, we may nevertheless continue to qualify as a RIC for such year if certain relief provisions are applicable (which may, among other things, require us to pay certain corporate-level federal taxes or to dispose of certain assets).
If we were unable to obtain tax treatment as a RIC, we would be subject to tax on all of our taxable income at regular corporate rates, regardless of whether we make any distributions to our stockholders. We would not be able to deduct distributions to stockholders, nor would they be required to be made. Distributions would generally be taxable to our stockholders as dividend income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits (in the case of noncorporate U.S. stockholders, generally at a maximum rate applicable to qualified dividend income of 20%). Subject to certain limitations under the Code, certain corporate distributees generally would be eligible for the dividends-received deduction. Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits would be treated first as a return of capital to the extent of the stockholder’s tax basis, and any remaining distributions would be treated as a capital gain.
If we fail to meet the RIC requirements for more than two consecutive years and then, seek to re-qualify as a RIC in a subsequent tax year, we would be subject to regular corporate-level income taxation on any built-in gain recognized during the succeeding five-year period unless we made a special election to recognize all such built-in gain (that is, the excess of the aggregate gains, including items of income, over aggregate losses that would have been realized with respect to such assets if we had sold our investments and other assets at fair market value (“FMV”) at the end of the tax year) upon our re-qualification as a RIC and to pay the corporate-level tax on such built-in gain.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in shares of our common stock involves a number of significant risks. You should carefully consider these risk factors, together with all of the other information included in this Form 10-K and the other reports and documents filed by us with the SEC. The risks set out below are not the only risks we face, and 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, our NAV could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure
Future disruptions or instability in capital markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time, the global capital markets may experience periods of disruption and instability, which could materially and adversely impact the broader financial and credit markets and reduce the availability to us of debt and equity capital. For example, between 2008 and 2009, instability in the global capital markets resulted in disruptions in liquidity in the debt capital markets, significant write-offs in the financial services sector, the repricing of credit risk in the broadly syndicated credit market and the failure of major domestic and international financial institutions. In particular, the financial services sector was negatively impacted by significant write-offs as the value of the assets held by financial firms declined, impairing their capital positions and abilities to lend and invest. We believe that such value declines were exacerbated by widespread forced liquidations as leveraged holders of financial assets, faced with declining prices, were compelled to sell to meet margin requirements and maintain compliance with applicable capital standards. Such forced liquidations also impaired or eliminated many investors and investment vehicles, leading to a decline in the supply of capital for investment and depressed pricing levels for many assets. Also, the United Kingdom held a referendum in which voters approved an exit from the European Union which is expected to occur on March 29, 2019, and the implications of the United Kingdom’s pending withdrawal from the European Union are unclear at present. In addition, the implications of the current presidential administration’s policies are unclear at present. These events caused, or may in the future cause, significantly diminished overall confidence in the debt and equity markets, unprecedented declines in the values of certain assets, extreme economic uncertainty and significantly reduced availability of debt and equity capital for the market as a whole and financial services firms in particular. While market conditions have experienced relative stability in recent years, there have been continuing periods of volatility and there can be no assurance that adverse market conditions will not repeat themselves in the future.
Future volatility and dislocation in the capital markets could create a challenging environment in which to raise or access capital. For example, the re-appearance of market conditions similar to those experienced from 2008 through 2009 for any substantial length of time could make it difficult to extend the maturity of or refinance our existing indebtedness or obtain new indebtedness with similar terms. Significant changes or volatility in the capital markets may also have a negative effect on the valuations of our investments. While most of our investments are not publicly traded, applicable accounting standards require us to assume as part of our valuation process that our investments are sold in a principal market to market participants (even if we plan on holding an investment through its maturity) and impairments of the market values or FMV of our investments, even if unrealized, must be reflected in our financial statements for the applicable period, which could result in significant reductions to our NAV for such period. Significant changes in the capital markets may also affect the pace of our investment activity and the potential for liquidity events involving our investments. Thus, the illiquidity of our investments may make it difficult for us to sell investments to access capital if required, and as a result, we could realize significantly less than the value at which we have recorded then.
The amount of our distributions to our stockholders is uncertain. Portions of the distributions that we pay may represent a return of capital to you for U.S. federal income tax purposes which will lower your tax basis in your shares and reduce the amount of funds we have for investment in targeted assets. We may not be able to pay you distributions, and our distributions may not grow over time.
Any distributions we make to our stockholders will be paid out of assets legally available for distribution. We may fund our cash distributions from any sources of funds legally available. We cannot assure you that we will achieve investment results that will allow us to make a targeted level of distributions or year-to-year increases in distributions. Our ability to pay distributions might be adversely affected by, among other things, the impact of one or more of the risk factors described in this Form 10-K. In addition, the inability to satisfy the asset coverage test applicable to us as a BDC can limit our ability to pay distributions. All distributions will be paid at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our earnings, our financial condition, maintenance of our ability to be subject to tax as a RIC, compliance with applicable BDC regulations and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time. We cannot assure you that we will pay distributions to our stockholders in the future.
All or a portion of our distributions may constitute a return of capital and may lower an investor’s tax basis in its shares. We have not established any limit on the extent to which we may use borrowings, if any, or stock offering proceeds to fund distributions (which may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in assets). We may, for the foreseeable future, pay a portion of our distributions from sources other than net realized income from operations, which may include stock offering proceeds, borrowings, fee and expense waivers from our Advisers and support payments from the Adviser.
Price declines in the leveraged loan market may adversely affect the fair value of our syndicated loan portfolio, reducing our NAV through increased net unrealized depreciation.
Retail loan funds, collateralized loan obligations (a type of leveraged investment vehicle holding corporate loans), hedge funds and other highly leveraged investment vehicles comprise a substantial portion of the market for purchasing and holding first and second lien secured loans. As the secondary market pricing of the loans underlying these portfolios deteriorated during the second half of 2015 and into the first quarter of 2016,we believe that many investors, as a result of their generally high degrees of leverage, were forced to raise cash by selling interests in performing loans in order to satisfy margin or similar requirements imposed by their lenders. This resulted in a forced deleveraging cycle of price declines, compulsory sales and further price declines, with widespread redemption requests and other constraints generating further selling pressure. This pervasive forced selling resulted in price declines in our portfolio, negatively impacting our NAV. In addition to the deterioration of the secondary market pricing, we may experience compressed spreads between the rates at which we can borrow and the rates at which we can lend.
Conditions in the leveraged loan market may experience similar disruptions or deterioration in the future, which may cause pricing levels to continue to decline or remain volatile. As a result, we may continue to suffer unrealized depreciation and could incur realized losses in connection with the sale of our syndicated loans, which could have a material adverse impact on our NAV. As a BDC, we are generally not able to issue additional shares of our common stock at a price less than our NAV without first obtaining approval for such issuance from our stockholders and our independent directors. Additionally, a lower portfolio value may negatively impact our ability to borrow additional funds under the Credit Facilities (as defined below) because our NAV is reduced for purposes of the asset coverage ratio. All of these conditions could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to achieve our investment objective depends on our Advisers’ ability to manage and support our investment process. If our Adviser or our Sub-Adviser were to lose any members of their respective senior management teams, our ability to achieve our investment objective could be significantly harmed.
We are externally managed and depend upon the investment expertise, diligence, skill and network of business contacts of our Advisers. We also depend, to a significant extent, on our Advisers’ access to the investment professionals and the information and deal flow generated by these investment professionals in the course of their investment and portfolio management activities. Our Advisers evaluate, negotiate, structure, close, monitor and service our investments. Our success depends to a significant extent on the continued service and coordination of our Advisers, including their key professionals. The departure of a significant number of our Adviser’s or Sub-Adviser’s key professionals and/or the failure to replace professionals could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective. In addition, we can offer no assurance that our Advisers will remain our investment adviser and sub-adviser, as applicable, or that we will continue to have access to their investment professionals or their information and deal flow.
Because our business model depends to a significant extent upon relationships with investment banks, business brokers, loan syndication and trading desks, and commercial banks, any inability on the part of our Advisers to maintain or develop these relationships, or the failure of these relationships to generate investment opportunities, would adversely affect our business.
We expect that our Advisers will depend on their relationships with investment banks, business brokers, loan syndication and trading desks, commercial banks and other historical sources of deal flow, and we rely to a significant extent upon these relationships to provide us with potential investment opportunities. If our Advisers fail to maintain their existing relationships or develop new relationships with other sources of investment opportunities, we will not be able to grow our investment portfolio. In addition, individuals with whom our Advisers’ professionals have 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 continue to face increasing competition for investment opportunities, which could delay deployment of our capital, reduce returns and result in losses.
We compete for investments with other BDCs and investment funds, as well as traditional financial services companies such as commercial banks and other sources of funding. Moreover, alternative investment vehicles, such as hedge funds, private equity funds and mezzanine funds, also make investments in Middle Market private U.S. companies. As a result, competition for investment
opportunities in private U.S. companies may continue to intensify, particularly as these entities continue to raise large amounts of capital. 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 of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments than we have. 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 structure. If we are forced to match our competitors’ pricing, terms and structure, 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 this target market could force us to accept less attractive investment terms. Furthermore, many of our competitors may have greater experience operating under, or are not subject to, the regulatory restrictions under the 1940 Act that are imposed on us as a BDC.
A significant portion of our investment portfolio is and will continue to be recorded at fair value as determined in good faith by our board of directors and, as a result, there is and will be uncertainty as to the ultimate market 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 good faith by our board of directors. The majority of our investments are traded on a privately negotiated over-the-counter secondary market for institutional investors. As a result, we value these securities at fair value as determined in good faith by our board of directors.
The determination of fair value, and thus the amount of unrealized gains and losses we may incur in any year, is subjective, and our Advisers may have a conflict of interest in making the determination. Our board of directors determines the fair value of these securities no less than quarterly based on input from our Advisers, including our Adviser’s valuation committee, any third-party independent valuation firm retained by our board of directors and our audit committee. Certain factors that may be considered in determining the fair value of our investments include dealer quotes for securities traded on the secondary market for institutional investors, the nature and realizable value of any collateral, the portfolio company’s earnings and its ability to make payments on its indebtedness, the markets in which the portfolio company does business, comparison to comparable publicly-traded companies, discounted cash flow and other relevant factors. Because such valuations, and particularly valuations of private securities and private companies, are inherently uncertain, may fluctuate over short periods of time and may be based on estimates, our determinations of fair value may differ materially from the values that would have been used if a ready market for these securities existed. Due to this uncertainty, our fair value determinations may cause our NAV per share on a given date to materially understate or overstate the value that we may ultimately realize upon the sale of one or more of our investments. Additionally, any volatility in the credit markets may affect the ability of our Advisers and board of directors to value our portfolio.
Our board of directors may change our operating policies and investment strategies or use of proceeds of the sales of common stock without prior notice or stockholder approval, the effects of which may be adverse.
Our board of directors has the authority to modify or waive our current operating policies, investment criteria and investment strategies without prior notice and without stockholder approval if it determines that doing so will be in the best interests of stockholders. We cannot predict the effect any changes to our current operating policies, investment criteria and investment strategies would have on our business, NAV, operating results and value of our stock. 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 have significant flexibility in investing any net stock offering proceeds and may use any net stock offering proceeds in ways with which investors may not agree or for purposes other than those contemplated at the time of such offering.
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 are subject to regulation at the local, state and federal level. New legislation may be enacted or new interpretations, rulings or regulations could be adopted, including those governing the types of investments we are permitted to make, any of which could harm us and our stockholders, potentially with retroactive effect.
Additionally, any changes to the laws and regulations governing our operations relating to permitted investments may cause us to alter our investment strategy to avail ourselves of new or different opportunities, or increase our leverage. Such changes could result in material differences to the strategies and plans set forth in this Form 10-K and may result in our investment focus shifting from the areas of expertise of our Advisers to other types of investments in which our Advisers may have less expertise or little or no experience. Thus, any such changes, if they occur, and uncertainty regarding the status of current laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and the value of your investment.
The impact of financial reform legislation on us is uncertain.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as amended (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), instituted a wide range of reforms that are affecting all U.S. financial institutions. Many of the requirements called for in the Dodd-Frank Act have been implemented over time and are subject to implementing regulations which have gradually taken effect over the course of several years. Given that the U.S. presidential administration and certain members of Congress have indicated a desire to amend or repeal certain portions of the Dodd-Frank Act, the impact such requirements or amendments to or repeals of existing requirements will have on our business, results of operations or financial condition is unclear. The changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act require us to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make substantial changes in order to comply with new statutory and regulatory requirements. Failure to comply with any such laws, regulations or principles, or changes thereto, may negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. We cannot predict the ultimate effect on us changes in the laws or regulations would have as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act or whether and to the extent to which the Dodd-Frank Act may remain in its current form.
Operating under the constraints imposed on us as a BDC and RIC may hinder the achievement of our investment objectives.
The 1940 Act and the Code impose numerous constraints on the operations of BDCs and RICs that do not apply to other investment vehicles managed by our Adviser and its affiliates. BDCs are required, for example, to invest at least 70% of their total assets in certain qualifying assets, including U.S. private or thinly-traded public companies, cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and other high-quality debt instruments that mature in one year or less from the date of investment. Moreover, qualification for taxation as a RIC requires satisfaction of source-of-income, asset diversification and distribution requirements. Operating under these constraints, which may hinder our ability to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities and to achieve our investment objective. Any failure to do so could subject us to enforcement action by the SEC, cause us to fail to satisfy the requirements associated with RIC status and subject us to entity-level corporate income taxation, cause us to fail the 70% test described above or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We may not replicate the historical results achieved by other entities managed by our Advisers.
Our primary focus in making investments may differ from that of many of the investment funds, accounts or other investment vehicles that are or have been managed by our Advisers. We cannot assure you that we will replicate the historical results achieved by other investment funds managed by our Advisers, and we caution you that our investment returns could be substantially lower than the returns achieved by them in prior periods. Additionally, all or a portion of the prior results may have been achieved in particular market conditions which may never be repeated. Moreover, current or future market volatility and regulatory uncertainty may have an adverse impact on our future performance.
Our Advisers or their affiliates may, from time to time, possess material non-public information, limiting our investment discretion.
Principals of our Advisers and their affiliates, and members of their investment committee, may serve as directors of, or in a similar capacity with, companies in which we invest. If we obtain material non-public information with respect to such companies, or we become subject to trading restrictions under the internal trading policies of those companies or as a result of applicable law or regulations, we could be prohibited for a period of time from purchasing or selling the securities of such companies, and this prohibition may have an adverse effect on us.
We are a non-diversified investment company within the meaning of the 1940 Act, and therefore we are not limited with respect to the proportion of our assets that may be invested in securities of a single issuer.
We are classified as a non-diversified investment company within the meaning of the 1940 Act, which means that we are not limited by the 1940 Act with respect to the proportion of our assets that we may invest in securities of a single issuer. Under the 1940 Act, a “diversified” investment company is required to invest at least 75% of the value of its total assets in cash and cash items, government securities, securities of other investment companies and other securities limited in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the total assets of such company and no more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer. As a non-diversified investment company, we are not subject to this requirement. To the extent that we assume large positions in the securities of a small number of issuers, our NAV may fluctuate to a greater extent than that of a diversified investment company as a result of changes in the financial condition or the market’s assessment of the issuer. We may also be more susceptible to any single economic or regulatory occurrence than a diversified investment company or to a general downturn in the economy.
We are highly dependent on information systems.
We are highly dependent on the communications and information systems of our Advisers, their affiliates and certain third-party service providers, and any failure or interruption in these systems, including due to cyber-attacks, electrical or telecommunication outages or natural disasters, could cause disruptions in our activities. In addition, these systems are subject to potential attacks, including through adverse events that threaten the confidentiality, integrity or availability of our information resources. These attacks, which may include cyber incidents, may involve a third party gaining unauthorized access to our communications or information systems for purposes of misappropriating assets, stealing confidential information, corrupting data or causing operational disruption. Any such attack could result in disruption to our business, misstated or unreliable financial data, liability for stolen assets or information, increased cybersecurity protection and insurance costs, litigation and damage to our business relationships, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
Risks Related to our Advisers and their Affiliates
Our Advisers have conflicts of interest, including the potential to earn base management fees or incentive fees under the Investment Advisory Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement, that may create an incentive for the Advisers to enter into investments that are riskier or more speculative than would otherwise be the case, and our Advisers may have an incentive to increase portfolio leverage in order to earn higher management fees.
Our Advisers and their respective affiliates, including our officers and certain of our directors, may have conflicts of interest as a result of compensation arrangements, time constraints and competition for investments, which they will attempt to resolve in a fair and equitable manner, but which may result in actions that are not in your best interests. Our Advisers and their affiliates receive substantial fees from us in return for their services, and these fees could influence the advice provided to us. Among other matters, the compensation arrangements could affect their judgment with respect to public offerings of equity by us, which allow our Advisers to earn increased management fees.
The incentive fee payable by us to our Advisers may create an incentive for them to make investments on our behalf that are risky or more speculative than would be the case in the absence of such compensation arrangement. The way in which the incentive fee payable to our Advisers is determined may encourage them to use leverage to increase the return on our investments. In addition, the fact that our management fee is payable based upon our gross assets, which would include any borrowings for investment purposes, may encourage our Advisers to use leverage to make additional investments. Under certain circumstances, the use of leverage (or an investment in companies that are highly leveraged) may increase the likelihood of default, which would result in higher investment losses.
We may be obligated to pay our Advisers incentive compensation even if we incur a net loss due to a decline in the value of our portfolio.
Our Investment Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement entitle our Advisers to receive incentive compensation on income regardless of any capital losses. In such case, we may be required to pay our Advisers incentive compensation 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 our net investment income may be computed and paid on income that may include interest that has been accrued but not yet received. If a portfolio company defaults on a loan that is structured to provide accrued interest, it is possible that accrued interest previously included in the calculation of the incentive fee will become uncollectible. Pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement, our Adviser and Sub-Adviser, respectively, will not be under any obligation to reimburse us for any part of the incentive fee they received that was based on accrued income that we never received in cash as a result of a default by an entity on the obligation that resulted in the accrual of such income, and such circumstances would result in our paying an incentive fee on income we never received.
The time and resources that individuals employed by the Advisers devote to us may be diverted, and we may face additional competition due to the fact that neither our Advisers nor their affiliates is prohibited from raising money for or managing another entity that makes the same types of investments that we target.
Certain investment professionals utilized by our Sub-Adviser currently manage Main Street and other investment entities. In addition, neither our Adviser nor our Sub-Adviser is prohibited from raising money for and managing future investment entities that make the same types of investments as those we target. Additionally, the investment professionals employed by our Adviser
are employees of Hines and its affiliates, and they may hold similar positions in numerous other entities and from time to time may allocate a material amount of their time to the management of other funds or assets unrelated to our business.
As a result, the time and resources that our Advisers devote to us may be diverted, and during times of intense activity in other programs, they may devote less time and resources to our business than is necessary or appropriate. In addition, we may compete with such investment entities for the same investors and investment opportunities.
Our Sub-Adviser may face conflicts of interest in allocating investment opportunities between us and itself and its affiliates.
The investment professionals utilized by our Sub-Adviser are also the investment professionals responsible for investing and managing Main Street’s securities portfolio. These professionals are responsible for allocating investment opportunities between us and Main Street. Our exemptive relief imposes on our Sub-Adviser the obligation to evaluate whether each investment opportunity its investment professionals review for Main Street is also appropriate for us and to propose an allocation of such opportunity to us if it deems such opportunity to be appropriate. If our Sub-Adviser determines that certain investment opportunities are appropriate for Main Street but not appropriate for us, or if our Sub-Adviser proposes an allocation of an investment opportunity to us that is disproportionately small relative to the proposed allocation to Main Street and our ability to fund the investment, our operating results could be adversely affected.
The structure of our management fees creates potential conflicts of interest that could impact our investment returns.
We pay management and incentive fees to our Advisers and reimburse our Advisers for certain expenses they incur. In addition, investors in shares of our common stock will invest on a gross basis and receive distributions on a net basis after expenses, resulting in, among other things, a lower rate of return than one might achieve through direct investments in our underlying assets.
The Sub-Advisory Agreement and the Investment Advisory Agreement contain co-termination provisions. Such provisions, if triggered, may leave us without an investment adviser or sub-adviser which could negatively impact our ability to implement our investment strategy and our ability to achieve our investment objective.
Under the terms of the Sub-Advisory and Investment Advisory Agreements, if either of the Investment Advisory Agreement or Sub-Advisory Agreement is terminated (by virtue of a vote by our board of directors or stockholders) or not renewed by our board of directors, then the other agreement will also terminate. In addition, under the terms of the Investment Advisory Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement, in the event either the Investment Advisory Agreement or the Sub-Advisory Agreement terminates because we terminate (by virtue of a vote by our board of directors or stockholders) or our board of directors fails to renew either agreement, neither the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser nor any of their affiliates may, except in certain limited circumstances, be re-engaged as Adviser or Sub-Adviser for a period of three years following the date of such termination without the consent of the party not seeking to be re-engaged. Because our success depends to a significant extent on the deal flow and key professionals of our Advisers, the termination of the Sub-Advisory Agreement or Investment Advisory Agreement could have a materially adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective.
Our Advisers’ liability is limited under the Investment Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement, as applicable, and we have agreed to indemnify our Advisers against certain liabilities, which may lead our Advisers to act in a riskier manner on our behalf than they would when acting for their own account.
Under the Investment Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement, as applicable, our Advisers, their respective officers, directors, managers, partners, shareholders, members, agents, employees, controlling persons and any other person or entity affiliated with them are not be liable to us for acts or omissions performed our Advisers in accordance with and pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement or Sub-Advisory Agreement, as applicable, except those resulting from acts constituting negligence, willful misfeasance, bad faith or misconduct. In addition, we have agreed to indemnify our Advisers and their respective officers, directors, managers, partners, shareholders, members, agents, employees, controlling persons and any other person or entity affiliated with them from and against any claims or liabilities, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of or in connection with any action taken or omitted on our behalf pursuant to authority granted by the Investment Advisory Agreement or Sub-Advisory Agreement, as applicable, except where attributable to gross negligence, willful misfeasance, bad faith or misconduct.
These protections may lead our Advisers to act in a riskier manner when acting on our behalf than they would when acting for their own account.
Our Advisers can resign on 120 days’ notice, and we may not be able to find a suitable replacement within that time, resulting in a disruption in our operations that could adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.
Our Adviser has the right, under the Investment Advisory Agreement, to resign at any time upon not less than 120 days’ written notice, and the Sub-Adviser has the right, under the Sub-Advisory Agreement, to resign at any time upon not less than 120 days’ written notice, whether we have found a replacement or not. If our Adviser resigns, all affiliates of the Adviser, including our Dealer Manager, may terminate their respective relationship with us and cease providing services to us. Additionally, if our Adviser or the Sub-Adviser resigns, we may not be able to find a replacement or hire internal management with similar expertise and ability to provide the same or equivalent services on acceptable terms within 120 days or at all. If we are unable to do so quickly, our operations are likely to experience a disruption, our financial condition, business and results of operations as well as our ability to pay distributions are likely to be adversely affected and the market price of our shares may decline. Even if we are able to retain comparable management, whether internal or external, the integration of such management and their lack of familiarity with our investment objective may result in additional costs and time delays that may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The Investment Advisory Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement were not negotiated on an arm’s length basis and may not be as favorable to us as if they had been negotiated with an unaffiliated third party.
The Investment Advisory Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement were not negotiated on an arm’s length basis. Consequently, their terms may not be as favorable to us as if they had been negotiated with an unaffiliated third party. In addition, we may choose not to enforce, or to enforce less vigorously, our rights and remedies under these agreements because of our desire to maintain our ongoing relationship with our Advisers. Any such decision, however, would breach our fiduciary obligations to our stockholders. Our ability to enter into transactions with our affiliates is restricted, which may limit the scope of investments available to us.
Risks Related to BDCs
Our failure to invest a sufficient portion of our assets in qualifying assets could result in our failure to maintain our status as a BDC.
As a BDC, we may not acquire any assets other than “qualifying assets” unless, at the time of and after giving effect to such acquisition, at least 70% of our total assets are qualifying assets. See “Item 1. Business — Regulation.” Therefore, we may be precluded from investing in what we believe are attractive investments if such investments are not qualifying assets. 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.
Regulations governing our operation as a BDC and RIC will affect our ability to raise, and the way in which we raise, additional capital or borrow for investment purposes, which may have a negative effect on our growth.
We expect to continue to utilize leverage to fund new investments. As such, we may need to access the capital markets to refinance existing debt obligations to the extent maturing obligations are not repaid with cash flows from operations. In order to maintain RIC tax treatment we must distribute dividends to our stockholders each tax year on a timely basis generally of an amount at least equal to 90% of the sum of our net taxable ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses, or investment company taxable income, determined without regard to any deduction for dividends paid, and the amounts of such distributions will therefore not be available to fund investment originations or to repay maturing debt. 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% after such incurrence or issuance. Our ability to issue different types of securities is also limited. Compliance with these 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.
If the value of our assets declines, we may be unable to satisfy the asset coverage test under the 1940 Act, which could prevent us from paying distributions and could prevent us from being eligible to be subject to tax as a RIC. 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 and repayments may be disadvantageous.
Under the 1940 Act, we generally are prohibited from issuing or selling our common stock at a price below NAV per share, which may be a disadvantage as compared with other public companies. We may, however, sell our common stock at a price below the current NAV per share of the common stock if our board of directors and independent directors determine that such sale is in our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders, and our stockholders as well as those stockholders that are not affiliated
with us approve such sale. In any such case, the price at which our securities are to be issued and sold may not be less than a price that, in the determination of our board of directors, closely approximates the fair value of such securities.
Our ability to enter into and exit 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 the independent members of our board of directors and, in some cases, the SEC. Any person that owns, directly or indirectly, 5% or more of our outstanding voting securities is considered our affiliate for purposes of the 1940 Act and we are generally prohibited from buying or selling any securities from or to such affiliate, absent prior approval of our board of directors. The 1940 Act also prohibits certain “joint” transactions with certain of our affiliates, which could include investments in the same portfolio company, without prior approval of our board of directors and, in some cases, the SEC. If a person acquires more than 25% of our voting securities, we would 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. We have, however, received an exemptive order from the SEC that permits us, notwithstanding the prohibitions contained in the 1940 Act to co-invest with Main Street under the conditions set forth in the exemptive relief in certain transactions originated by Main Street and/or our Advisers.
We are uncertain of our sources for funding our future capital needs; if we cannot obtain debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, our ability to acquire investments and to expand our operations will be adversely affected.
The net proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock will be used for our investment opportunities, operating expenses, working capital requirements, including distributions payable, and for payment of various fees and expenses such as management fees, incentive fees and other fees. Any working capital reserves we maintain may not be sufficient for investment purposes, and we may require debt or equity financing to operate. Accordingly, in the event that we develop a need for additional capital in the future for investments or for any other reason, these sources of funding may not be available to us. Consequently, if we cannot obtain debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, our ability to acquire investments and to expand our operations will be adversely affected. As a result, we would be less able to achieve portfolio diversification and our investment objective, which may negatively impact our results of operations and reduce our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
Failure to maintain our status as a BDC would reduce our operating flexibility.
If we do not remain a BDC, we might be regulated as a closed-end investment company under the 1940 Act, which would subject us to substantially more regulatory restrictions under the 1940 Act and correspondingly decrease our operating flexibility.
Risks Related to Our Investments
Our investments in prospective portfolio companies, which include senior secured loans, second lien loans, and mezzanine debt, may be risky, and we could lose all or part of our investment.
We pursue a strategy focused on investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien loans and mezzanine debt issued by Middle Market companies. Most loans in which we invest will not be rated, or would be if they were rated by a rating agency, as “below investment grade,” or “junk,” quality. Indebtedness of below investment grade quality is regarded as having predominantly speculative characteristics with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. We expect to hold debt and preferred equity instruments in our investment portfolio that contain PIK interest and cumulative dividend provisions. The PIK interest, computed at the contractual rate specified in each debt agreement, is periodically added to the principal balance of the debt and is accrued as interest income. Thus, the actual collection of this interest may be deferred until the time of debt principal repayment. If the debt principal is not repaid in full, then PIK interest will likewise be partially or wholly uncollectible.
Senior Secured Loans and Second Lien Loans. When we make senior secured term loans and second lien loans, we will generally take a security interest in the available assets of these portfolio companies, including the equity interests of their subsidiaries. We expect this security interest 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 or lose its entire value, 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. Also, in some circumstances, our lien could be subordinated to claims of other creditors. In addition, deterioration in a portfolio company’s financial condition and prospects, including its inability to raise additional capital, may be accompanied by deterioration in the value of the collateral for the loan. Finally, applicable bankruptcy laws may adversely impact the timing and methods used by us to liquidate collateral securing our loans, which could adversely
affect the collectability of such loans. 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 be forced to enforce our remedies.
Mezzanine Debt. Our mezzanine debt investments will generally be subordinated to senior loans and will generally be unsecured. This may result in a heightened level of risk and volatility or a loss of principal which could lead to the loss of the entire investment. These investments may involve additional risks that could adversely affect our investment returns.
Our portfolio companies may incur debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, our investments in such companies.
We pursue a strategy focused on investing primarily in senior secured loans, second lien loans and mezzanine debt issued by Middle Market companies. 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, 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.
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.
Even though we generally structure certain of our investments as senior loans, if one of our portfolio companies were to declare bankruptcy, depending on the facts and circumstances, including the extent to which we provided managerial assistance to that portfolio company, a bankruptcy court might re-characterize our debt investment and subordinate all or a portion of our claim to that of other creditors. We may also be subject to lender liability claims for actions taken by us with respect to a borrower’s business or instances where we exercise control over the borrower.
Second priority liens on collateral securing our loans 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 loans of ours may be secured on a second priority basis by the same collateral securing senior secured debt of such companies. 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 company under the agreements governing the loans. 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 we receive anything on our loans secured by a second priority lien. 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 any, from the sale or sales of all of the collateral would be sufficient to satisfy the loan obligations secured by the 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 loan obligations secured by the 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 company’s remaining assets, if any.
The rights we may have with respect to the collateral securing the loans we make to our portfolio companies with senior debt outstanding may also be limited pursuant to the terms of one or more intercreditor agreements that we enter into with the holders of senior debt. Under such an intercreditor agreement, at any time that 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. Additionally, the exercise of any rights may involve delay during which the value of collateral may decline.
We generally will not control our portfolio companies.
We do not expect to control our portfolio companies, even though we may have board representation or board observation rights, and our debt agreements may contain certain restrictive covenants. 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 debt investors. Due to the lack of liquidity for our investments in non-traded companies, we may not be able to dispose of our interests in our portfolio companies as readily as we would like or at an appropriate valuation. As a result, a portfolio company may make decisions that could decrease the value of our portfolio holdings.
We will be subject to financial market risks, including changes in interest rates, which may have a substantial negative impact on our investments, cost of capital and/or net investment income.
We are subject to financial market risks, including changes in interest rates. While the majority of our investments are floating rate debt instruments, to the extent that we invest in fixed-rate securities or loans, general interest rate fluctuations may have a substantial negative impact on our investments and investment opportunities and, accordingly have a material adverse effect on our business and our rate of return on invested capital.
In addition, since we use debt to finance investments, our net investment income depends, 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. In periods of rising interest rates when we have debt outstanding, our cost of funds will increase, which could reduce our net investment income. We expect that our long-term fixed-rate investments will be financed primarily with equity and long-term debt. We may use interest rate risk management techniques in an effort to limit our exposure to interest rate fluctuations. These techniques may include various interest rate hedging activities to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act. These activities may limit our ability to participate in the benefits of lower interest rates with respect to the hedged portfolio. Adverse developments resulting from changes in interest rates or hedging transactions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, we have limited experience in entering into hedging transactions, and we will initially have to purchase or develop such expertise if we were to engage in hedging transactions.
You should also be aware that a rise in the general level of interest rates can be expected to lead to higher interest rates applicable to our debt investments. Accordingly, an increase in interest rates may result in a substantial increase in the amount of incentive fees payable to our Advisers. In addition, a decline in the prices of the debt due to rising market interest rates not reflected in such debt investments we own could adversely affect our NAV.
In July 2017, the head of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) announced that it will no longer persuade or compel banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. In December 2017, following consideration of public comments, the Federal Reserve Board concluded that the public would benefit if the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published three proposed reference rates as alternatives to LIBOR. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that the publication of these alternative rates is targeted to commence by mid-2018. At this time, it is not possible to predict the effect of the FCA’s announcement, the Federal Reserve Board’s notice, other regulatory changes or announcements, any establishment of alternative reference rates or any other reforms to LIBOR that may be enacted in the United Kingdom, the United States or elsewhere. As such, the potential effect of any such event on our net investment income cannot yet be determined.
Our portfolio companies may experience financial distress, and our investments in such portfolio companies may be restructured.
Our portfolio companies may experience financial distress from time to time. The debt investments of these companies may not produce income, may require us to bear certain expenses to protect our investment and may subject us to uncertainty as to when, in what manner and for what value such distressed debt will eventually be satisfied, including through liquidation, reorganization or bankruptcy. If an exchange offer is made or plan of reorganization is adopted with respect to the debt securities we currently hold, there can be no assurance that the securities or other assets received by us in connection with such exchange offer or plan of reorganization will have a value or income potential similar to what we anticipated when our original investment was made or even at the time of restructuring. In addition, we may receive equity securities in exchange for the debt investment that we currently hold, which may require significantly more of our management’s time and attention or carry restrictions on their disposition.
Our portfolio companies may be unable to repay or refinance outstanding principal on their loans at or prior to maturity, and rising interest rates may make it more difficult for portfolio companies to make periodic payments on their loans.
Our portfolio companies may be unable to repay or refinance outstanding principal on their loans at or prior to maturity. This risk and the risk of default is increased to the extent that the loan documents do not require the portfolio companies to pay down the outstanding principal of such debt prior to maturity. In addition, if general interest rates rise, there is a risk that our portfolio companies 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. Any failure of one or more portfolio companies to repay or refinance its debt at or prior to maturity or the inability of one or more portfolio companies to make ongoing payments following an increase in contractual interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our portfolio companies may prepay loans, which prepayment may reduce our yields if capital returned cannot be invested in transactions with equal or greater expected yields.
The loans in our investment portfolio generally are prepayable at any time, sometimes at no premium to par. Whether a loan is prepaid may depend on the performance of the portfolio company and the existence of favorable financing market conditions that allow such company the ability to replace existing financing with less expensive capital. In the case of some of these loans, having the loan prepaid may reduce the achievable yield for us if the capital returned cannot be invested in transactions with equal or greater expected yields, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The disposition of our investments may result in contingent liabilities.
A significant portion of our investments are private securities. In connection with the disposition of an investment in private securities, we may be required to make representations about the business and financial affairs of the portfolio company typical of those made in connection with the sale of a business. We may also be required to indemnify the purchasers of such investment to the extent that any such representations turn out to be inaccurate or with respect to certain potential liabilities. These arrangements may result in contingent liabilities that ultimately yield funding obligations that must be satisfied through our return of certain distributions previously made to us.
Defaults by our portfolio companies will 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 loans and foreclosure on its secured assets, which could trigger cross-defaults under other agreements and jeopardize a portfolio company’s ability to meet its obligations under the debt or equity securities that we hold (and we may invest in portfolio companies that are highly leveraged themselves). 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. We may also record unrealized depreciation on any investment in a portfolio company upon default, which would reduce our NAV. Additionally, our investments with a deferred interest feature such as original issue discount could represent a higher credit risk than investments that must be paid in full in cash on a regular basis. Lastly, if a portfolio company defaults on a loan that is structured to provide accrued interest, it is possible that accrued interest previously used in the calculation of the incentive fee will become uncollectible.
We may not realize gains from our equity investments, which may adversely affect our investment returns and stockholders’ ability to recover their entire investment in us.
Certain investments that we may make could be accompanied by or stapled to warrants or other equity securities. In addition, we may make direct equity investments, including controlling investments, in companies. Our investment objective is ultimately to realize gains upon our disposition of such equity interests. We believe that we may be unable to significantly increase our NAV per share unless we realize gains on our disposition of equity interests, thus creating risk that we will not ultimately recover our organization and offering costs. 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 or to produce returns and distributions upon liquidation or sale of all our assets that provide investors with a return of all of their original purchase price for our shares of common stock. We also may be unable to realize any value if a portfolio company does not have a liquidity event, such as a sale of the business, recapitalization or public offering, which would allow us to sell the underlying equity interests. We may acquire puts or similar rights to give us the right to sell our equity securities back to the portfolio company issuer. We may be unable to exercise these put rights for the consideration provided in our investment documents if the issuer is in financial distress.
An investment strategy focused primarily on privately held companies presents certain challenges, including the lack of available information about these companies.
Our investments are primarily in debt and equity securities of Middle Market companies, including privately held companies. Investing in privately held companies presents certain challenges, including that such companies:
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• | may have limited financial resources, reduced access to the capital markets and may be unable to meet their obligations under their debt or preferred equity securities that we hold, which may be accompanied by a deterioration in the value of any collateral and a reduction in the likelihood of us realizing any guarantees we may have obtained in connection with our investment; |
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• | have investments that tend to be less liquid, making it difficult for us to exit an investment promptly or at a desired price prior to maturity or outside of a normal amortization schedule; |
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• | have shorter operating histories and therefore little public information, 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, and require us to rely on the ability of our Advisers to obtain adequate information through due diligence to evaluate the creditworthiness and potential returns from investing in these companies; |
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• | are more likely to depend on the management talents and efforts of a small group of persons; therefore, the death, disability, resignation or termination of one or more of these persons could have a material adverse impact on our portfolio company and, in turn, on us; |
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• | 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; |
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• | our officers and directors and employees of our Advisers may, in the ordinary course of business, be named as defendants in litigation arising from our investments in the portfolio companies; and |
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• | may have difficulty accessing the capital markets to meet future capital needs, which may limit their ability to grow or to repay their outstanding indebtedness upon maturity. |
These companies and their financial information will generally not be subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 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. As a result, the relative lack of liquidity and the potential diminished capital resources of our target portfolio companies may affect our investment returns.
The lack of liquidity in our investments may adversely affect our business.
We invest in companies whose securities are typically not publicly traded and whose securities will be subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or will otherwise be less liquid than publicly traded securities. The illiquidity of these investments may make it difficult for us to sell these investments when desired. 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 had previously recorded these investments. As a result, we do not expect to achieve liquidity in our investments in the near-term. We expect that our investments will generally be subject to contractual or legal restrictions on resale or are otherwise illiquid because there is usually no established trading market for such investments. The illiquidity of most 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.
We may not have the funds or ability to make additional investments in our portfolio companies.
We may not have the funds or ability to make additional investments in our portfolio companies. 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 to purchase common stock. There is no assurance that we will make, or will have sufficient funds to make, follow-on investments. Any decisions 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 operation or may reduce the expected return on the investment.
We may concentrate our investments in companies in a particular industry or industries.
In the event we concentrate our investments in companies in a particular industry or industries, any adverse conditions that disproportionately impact that industry or industries may have a magnified adverse effect on our operating results.
We are subject to risks associated with our investments in energy and power companies.
A prolonged continuation of depressed oil and natural gas prices would adversely affect the credit quality and performance of certain of our debt and equity investments in energy and power companies. A decrease in credit quality and performance would, in turn, negatively affect the fair value of these investments, which would consequently negatively affect our NAV. Should a period of depressed oil and natural gas prices continue, the ability of certain of our portfolio companies in the energy industry to satisfy financial or operating covenants imposed by us or other lenders may be adversely affected, which could, in turn, negatively impact
their financial condition and their ability to satisfy their debt service and other obligations. Likewise, should a period of depressed oil and natural gas prices occur, it is possible that the cash flow and profit generating capacity of these portfolio companies could also be adversely affected thereby negatively impacting their ability to pay us dividends or distributions on our investments, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, energy and power companies are subject to supply and demand fluctuations in the markets in which they operate, which are impacted by numerous factors, including weather, use of renewable fuel sources, natural disasters, governmental regulation and general economic conditions, in addition to the effects of increasing regulation and general operational risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on the performance and value of our investments in energy and power companies as well as our cash flows from such investments.
Certain of our portfolio companies are concentrated in certain geographic regions of the country. In such instance, we will be subject to the risks associated with those geographic regions of the country, including their economic conditions and growth prospects.
We may make investments in portfolio companies that are concentrated in certain geographic regions of the country. As a result, our investments in those portfolio companies will be subject to the risks of those geographic regions. These risks may include the risks associated with the economics and growth prospects of those geographic regions. An economic downturn or a negative change in growth prospects for those geographic regions could result in an inability of those portfolio companies to meet their obligations to us pursuant to our debt investments in them, or a decrease in the intrinsic value of our equity investments in them. In either instance, as a result of our exposure to the risks associated with those geographic regions, our expected earnings from these portfolio companies may be less than expected and as a result, your investment in us may be adversely affected.
Because certain of our portfolio companies are not located in the United States, we and our investments are subject to risks associated with non-U.S. investing.
As of December 31, 2017, 4.6% of our total portfolio (since the Other Portfolio investments do not represent a single geographic region, this information excludes the Other Portfolio investments) were comprised of investments in non-U.S. companies, all of which were denominated in U.S. dollars. Securities issued by non-U.S. companies are not “qualifying assets” under the 1940 Act, and we may invest in non-U.S. companies, including emerging market companies, to the limited extent we are able to do so under the 1940 Act. We intend to invest in such non-U.S. companies in accordance with our investment strategy and, accordingly, such investments would complement and broaden our portfolio. Investing in securities of emerging market companies involves many risks including economic, social, political, financial, tax and security conditions in the emerging market, potential inflationary economic environments, regulation by foreign governments, different accounting standards and political uncertainties. Economic, social, political, financial, tax and security conditions also could negatively affect the value of emerging market companies. These factors could include changes in the emerging market government’s economic and fiscal policies, the possible imposition of, or changes in, currency exchange laws or other laws or restrictions applicable to the emerging market companies or investments in their securities and the possibility of fluctuations in the rate of exchange between currencies.
Risks Relating to Debt Financing
We may have limited ability to fund new investments if we are unable to expand, extend or refinance our EverBank Credit Facility or the Deutsche Bank Credit Facility (combined, the “Credit Facilities”).
On March 11, 2014, we entered into a senior secured revolving credit agreement (as amended from time to time, the “Capital One Credit Facility”) with Capital One, National Association (“Capital One”), as administrative agent and lender, and the other financial institutions party thereto as lenders. On March 6, 2017, the Capital One Credit Facility was amended and restated (as amended and restated, the “EverBank Credit Facility”) to, among other things, (i) extend the maturity date to March 6, 2020 with two, one-year extension options thereafter subject to lender approval, (ii) reduce revolver commitments thereunder to $95.0 million and (iii) assign Capital One’s role as administrative agent to EverBank Commercial Finance, Inc. (“EverBank”). The EverBank Credit Facility was subsequently amended on October 19, 2017 to increase revolver commitments thereunder to $120.0 million.
On June 2, 2014, HMS Funding entered into a credit agreement (the “Deutsche Bank Credit Facility”) among HMS Funding, the Company, as equityholder and servicer, Deutsche Bank AG, New York Branch (“Deutsche Bank”), the financial institutions party thereto as lenders and U.S. Bank National Association as collateral agent and collateral custodian. The Deutsche Bank Credit Facility provided for an initial borrowing capacity of $50.0 million, subject to certain limitations, including limitations with respect to HMS Funding’s investments, as more fully described in the Deutsche Bank Credit Facility. The Deutsche Bank Credit Facility was amended and restated on May 18, 2015 and subsequently has been amended on multiple occasions, most recently on November 20, 2017, to among other things, (i) reduce the interest rate from the sum of the index plus an applicable margin of 2.50% to the
sum of the index plus an applicable margin of 2.35% (the index will be equal to the one-month LIBOR, or, in the event that LIBOR is not reasonably available, the higher of Deutsche Bank's base commercial lending rate and the interest rate equal to 0.5% above the federal funds rate), (ii) extend the maturity date to November 20, 2022, (iii) increase revolver commitments thereunder from $400.0 million to $450.0 million and (iv) establish a maximum borrowing capacity thereunder of $550.0 million.
There can be no guarantee that we will be able to expand, extend or replace the Credit Facilities on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. Our ability to expand the Credit Facilities, and to obtain replacement financing at the time of maturity, will be constrained by then-current economic conditions affecting the credit markets.
As a BDC, we are 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%. Stated differently, the amount of our total borrowings and other senior securities as a percentage of our total assets cannot exceed 50%. If this ratio declines below 200%, we cannot incur additional debt and could be required to sell a portion of our investments to repay some debt when it is disadvantageous to do so.
In March of 2013, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “Agencies”) jointly issued final guidance on leveraged lending transactions conducted by regulated financial institutions (the “Leveraged Lending Guidance”). In November of 2014, the Agencies issued “Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQ”) for Implementing March 2013 Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending” that were designed to foster industry and examiner understanding of the Leveraged Lending Guidance. The Leveraged Lending Guidance outlines for Agency-supervised institutions high-level principles related to safe-and-sound leveraged lending and contains the Agencies’ minimum expectations for a risk management framework that financial institutions should have in place. With regard to BDCs, the FAQ for example states that the risk management and reporting aspects of the Leveraged Lending Guidance should be applied to underlying loans in structured transactions if an institution originates or retains credit risk in the individual loans. If the financial institution originates or participates in a loan to a BDC that holds leveraged loans, then the loan to the BDC constitutes indirect exposure that should be measured and reported as a leveraged loan. The full impact of the Leveraged Lending Guidance and the FAQ is still uncertain, but it is possible that financing may become more expensive for us and banks or other financial institutions may be less willing to engage in leveraged lending, making it more difficult for us to obtain financing.
In addition to regulatory limitations on our ability to raise capital, the Credit Facilities contain various covenants, which, if not complied with, could accelerate our repayment obligations under the Credit Facilities, thereby materially and adversely affecting our liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions.
We will have a continuing need for capital to finance our operations. The EverBank Credit Facility contains affirmative and negative covenants usual and customary for leveraged financings, including:
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• | maintaining an interest coverage ratio of at least 2.00 to 1.00; |
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• | maintaining an asset coverage ratio of at least 2.10 to 1.00; and |
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• | maintaining a minimum consolidated tangible net worth, excluding Structured Subsidiaries, of the greater of (a) the aggregate amount of the revolver commitments or (b) $50.0 million. |
Additionally, the EverBank Credit Facility requires us to obtain written approval from the administrative agent prior to entering into any material amendment, waiver or other modification of any provision of the Investment Advisory Agreement. The EverBank Credit Facility permits us to fund additional loans and investments as long as we are within the conditions set out in the agreement.
The Deutsche Bank Credit Facility contains affirmative and negative covenants usual and customary for leveraged financings, including maintaining a positive tangible net worth and limitations on industry concentration. Further, the Credit Facilities contain usual and customary default provisions including:
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• | a default in the payment of interest and principal; |
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• | insolvency or bankruptcy of the Company; |
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• | a material adverse change in the Company’s business; or |
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• | breach of any covenant, representation or warranty in the loan agreement or other credit documents and failure to cure such breach within defined periods. |
Our continued compliance with the covenants contained in the Credit Facilities depends on many factors, some of which are beyond our control. There are no assurances that we will continue to comply with these covenants. Any failure to satisfy these covenants could result in foreclosure by our lenders, which would accelerate our repayment obligations under one or both of the
Credit Facilities and thereby have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
Because we borrow money, the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested in us is magnified and may increase the risk of investing in us.
Borrowings, also known as leverage, magnify the potential for gain or loss on invested equity capital. As we use leverage to partially finance our investments, you will experience increased risks associated with investing in our securities. We may borrow from banks and other lenders, including under the Credit Facilities, and may issue debt securities or enter into other types of borrowing arrangements in the future. If the value of our assets decreases, leveraging would cause NAV per share to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have had we not leveraged and such a decline could affect our ability to make distributions. Similarly, any decrease in our income would cause our net investment income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not borrowed. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. Leverage is generally considered a speculative investment technique.
The following table illustrates the effect of leverage on returns from an investment in our common stock assuming various annual returns, net of expenses. The calculations in the table below are hypothetical and actual returns may be higher or lower than those appearing in the table below. The calculation assumes (i) we borrow funds equal to 40% of our total assets, (ii) the resulting average total assets are approximately $1.1 billion during the twelve-month period commencing January 1, 2018 and (iii) a weighted average cost of funds of 4.33%. In order to compute the “Corresponding return to stockholders,” the “Assumed Return on Our Portfolio (net of expenses)” is multiplied by the assumed total assets to obtain an assumed return to us. From this amount, the interest expense is calculated by multiplying the assumed weighted average cost of funds times the assumed debt outstanding, and the product is subtracted from the assumed return to us in order to determine the return available to stockholders. The return available to stockholders is then divided by our stockholders’ equity to determine the “Corresponding return to stockholders.” Actual interest payments may be different.
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Assumed Return on Our Portfolio (net of expenses) | | (10)% | | (5)% | | 0% | | 5% | | 10% |
Corresponding return to stockholders | | (19.43)% | | (11.14)% | | (2.85)% | | 5.44% | | 13.73% |
Under the same assumptions, our assets would need to yield an annual return (net of expenses) of approximately 1.72% in order to cover the annual interest payments on our outstanding debt.
We are a holding company and depend on payments from our subsidiaries in order to make payments on any debt securities that we may issue as well as to pay distributions on our common stock. Any debt securities that we issue will be structurally subordinated to the obligations of our subsidiaries.
We are a holding company and fund a majority of our investments through wholly owned subsidiaries. We depend upon the cash flow from our subsidiaries and the receipt of funds from them, any of which may be subject to restriction or limitations based on the organizational documents of the subsidiaries and the agreements governing the debt of any such subsidiary. In addition, because we are a holding company, any debt securities that we issue will be structurally subordinated to the obligations of our subsidiaries. In the event that one of our subsidiaries becomes insolvent, liquidates, reorganizes, dissolves or otherwise winds up, its assets will be used first to satisfy the claims of its creditors. Consequently, any claim by us or our creditors against any subsidiary will be structurally subordinated to all of the claims of the creditors of such subsidiary. We cannot assure security holders that they will receive any payments required to be made under the terms of any debt securities that we may issue or other distributions.
Risks Relating to Our Common Stock
Because we closed our Offering to new investors, we will be limited in the number and type of investments we may make, and the value of your investment in us may be reduced in the event our assets under-perform.
With the approval of our board of directors, we closed the Offering to new investors effective September 30, 2017. Accordingly, the opportunity for diversification of our investments may be decreased and the returns achieved on those investments may be reduced as a result of allocating all of our expenses over a smaller capital base.
Our shares of common stock are not listed on an exchange or quoted through a quotation system, will not be listed for the foreseeable future, if ever, and we are not obligated to effectuate a liquidity event by a specified date. Therefore, you will have limited liquidity and may not receive a full return of your invested capital if you sell your shares of common stock.
Our shares of common stock are illiquid assets for which there is not a secondary market nor is it expected that any will develop in the future. We intend to explore a potential liquidity event for our stockholders between four and six years following the closing of our Offering or any subsequent follow-on offerings. However, there can be no assurance that we will complete a liquidity event within such time or at all. We expect that our board of directors, in the exercise of its duties to us, will determine to pursue a liquidity event when it believes that then-current market conditions are favorable for a liquidity event, and that such an event is in our best interests. A liquidity event could include (1) the sale of all or substantially all of our assets either on a complete portfolio basis or individually followed by a liquidation, (2) a listing of our shares of common stock on a national securities exchange or (3) a merger or another transaction approved by our board of directors in which our stockholders will receive cash or shares of a publicly traded company.
In making the decision to apply for listing of our shares of common stock, our directors will try to determine whether listing our shares of common stock or liquidating our assets will result in greater value for our stockholders. In making a determination of what type of liquidity event is in our best interests, our board of directors, including our independent directors, may consider a variety of criteria, including market conditions, portfolio diversification, portfolio performance, our financial condition, potential access to capital as a listed company, market conditions for the sale of our assets or listing of our common stock, internal management requirements to become a perpetual life company and the potential for stockholder liquidity. If our shares of common stock are listed, we cannot assure you a public trading market will develop. Since a portion of the offering price from the sale of common stock will be used to pay expenses and fees, the full offering price paid by stockholders will not be invested in portfolio companies. As a result, even if we do complete a liquidity event, you may not receive a return of all of your invested capital.
You should also be aware that shares of publicly traded closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV. If our shares of common stock are eventually listed on a national exchange, we would not be able to predict whether our common stock would trade above, at or below NAV per share. This risk is separate and distinct from the risk that our NAV per share may decline.
Our share repurchase program allows us to repurchase your shares on a quarterly basis, subject to certain restrictions and limitations. As a result, you will have limited opportunities to sell your shares and, to the extent you are able to sell your shares under the program, you may not be able to recover the amount of your investment in our shares.
We have a share repurchase program allowing us to repurchase approximately 10% of our weighted average number of outstanding shares in any 12-month period. Unless our board of directors determines otherwise, we will limit the number of shares to be repurchased (i) during any calendar year to the number of shares we can repurchase with the proceeds we receive from the issuance of shares of our common stock under our distribution reinvestment plan during the trailing four quarters and (ii) in any calendar quarter to 2.5% of the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the trailing four quarters. This program allows you to sell back your shares of common stock to us on a quarterly basis at a price equal to the NAV per share, as determined within 48 hours of the repurchase date. The share repurchase program includes numerous restrictions that will limit your ability to sell your shares. At the discretion of our board of directors, we may also use cash on hand, cash available from borrowings and cash from the sale of our investments as of the end of the applicable period to repurchase shares. To the extent that the number of shares put to us for repurchase exceeds the number of shares that we are able to purchase, we will repurchase shares on a pro rata basis, not on a first-come, first-served basis. Further, we will have no obligation to repurchase shares if the repurchase would violate the restrictions on distributions under federal law or Maryland law, which prohibit distributions that would cause a corporation to fail to meet statutory tests of solvency. These limits may prevent us from accommodating all repurchase requests made in any year. In addition, our board of directors may suspend or terminate the share repurchase program and therefore should not be relied upon as a method to sell shares promptly and at a desired price.
Our repurchase offers pursuant to our share repurchase program may be at prices lower than the price paid by our stockholders to purchase our common stock.
When we make quarterly repurchase offers pursuant to the share repurchase program, we offer to repurchase shares of common stock at the NAV per share, as determined within 48 hours prior to the repurchase date, which price may be lower than the price that investors paid for shares of common stock in the Company’s offering. As a result, to the extent an investor paid an offering price that included the related sales load , then the price at which such investor may sell shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program may be lower than what such investor paid in connection with the purchase of shares of common stock.
We may be unable to invest a significant portion of net stock offering proceeds on acceptable terms in an acceptable time frame.
Delays in investing net stock offering proceeds may impair our performance. We cannot assure you that we will be able to identify any investments that meet our investment objective or that any investment that we make will produce a positive return. We may
be unable to invest net stock offering proceeds on acceptable terms within the time period that we anticipate or at all, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.
Before making investments, we will invest any net stock offering proceeds primarily in cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities, repurchase agreements and high-quality debt instruments maturing in one year or less from the time of investment, which may produce returns that are significantly lower than the returns which we expect to achieve when our portfolio is fully invested in securities meeting our investment objective. As a result, any distributions that we pay while our portfolio is not fully invested in securities meeting our investment objective may be lower than the distributions that we may be able to pay when our portfolio is fully invested in securities meeting our investment objective.
Under the terms of our Charter, our board of directors is authorized to issue shares of preferred stock with rights and privileges superior to common stockholders without common stockholder approval.
Under the terms of our articles of amendment and restatement (our “Charter”), our board of directors is authorized to issue shares of preferred stock in one or more classes or series without stockholder approval. The board of directors has discretion to set the terms, preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications and terms or conditions of redemption for each class or series of preferred stock. Every issuance of preferred stock will be required to comply with the requirements of the 1940 Act. The 1940 Act requires that (1) immediately after issuance and before any distribution is made with respect to our common stock and before any purchase of common stock is made, such preferred stock together with all other senior securities must not exceed an amount equal to 50% of our total assets after deducting the amount of such distribution or purchase price, as the case may be, and (2) the holders of shares of preferred stock, if any are issued, must be entitled as a class to elect two directors at all times and to elect a majority of the directors if distributions on such preferred stock are in arrears by two years or more. Certain matters under the 1940 Act require the separate vote of the holders of any issued and outstanding preferred stock.
Your interest in us will be diluted if we issue additional shares, which could reduce the overall value of your investment.
Our investors do not have preemptive rights to any shares we issue in the future. Our Charter authorizes us to issue 450,000,000 shares of common stock. Pursuant to our Charter, a majority of our entire board of directors may amend our Charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of stock or the number of authorized shares of stock of any class or series without stockholder approval. Our board of directors may elect to sell additional shares in this or future public offerings or issue equity interests in private offerings. To the extent we issue additional equity interests, your percentage ownership interest in us will be diluted. In addition, depending upon the terms and pricing of any additional offerings and the value of our investments, you may also experience dilution in the book value and fair value of your shares of common stock.
Certain provisions of our Charter and bylaws as well as provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law could deter takeover attempts and have an adverse impact on the value of our common stock.
Our Charter and bylaws, as well as certain statutory and regulatory requirements, contain certain provisions that may have the effect of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire us. Under the Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”), “control shares” acquired in a “control share acquisition” have no voting rights except to the extent approved by a vote of two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding shares owned by the acquiror, by officers or by employees who are directors of the corporation. Our bylaws contain a provision exempting from the Control Share Acquisition Act under the MGCL any and all acquisitions by any person of our shares of stock. There can be no assurance that such provision will not be amended or eliminated at some time in the future. The Control Share Acquisition Act (if we amend our bylaws to be subject to that Act) may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer. However, we will amend our bylaws to be subject to the Control Share Acquisition Act only if our board of directors determines that it would be in the best interests of our stockholders and if the SEC staff expressly approves that our being subject to the Control Share Acquisition Act does not conflict with the 1940 Act. The SEC staff has issued informal guidance setting forth its position that certain provisions of the Control Share Acquisition Act, if implemented, would violate Section 18(i) of the 1940 Act. Under the MGCL, specified “business combinations,” including mergers, consolidations, share exchanges, or, in circumstances specified in the statute, asset transfers or issuances or reclassifications of equity securities, between a Maryland corporation and any person who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock, and certain other parties (each an “interested stockholder”), or an affiliate of the interested stockholder, are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Thereafter any of the specified business combinations must be approved by two super majority votes of the stockholders unless, among other conditions, the corporation’s common stockholders receive a minimum price for their shares.
Under the MGCL, certain statutory provisions permit a corporation that is subject to the Exchange Act and that has at least three independent directors to be subject to certain corporate governance provisions notwithstanding any contrary provision in the corporation’s charter and bylaws. Among other provisions, a board of directors may classify itself without the vote of stockholders. Further, the board of directors, by electing into certain statutory provisions and notwithstanding any contrary provision in the charter or bylaws, may (i) provide that a stockholder-requested special meeting of stockholders will be called only at the request of stockholders entitled to cast at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast at the meeting, (ii) reserve for itself the right to fix the number of directors, and (iii) retain for itself the exclusive power to fill vacancies created by the death, removal or resignation of a director, which is permitted under our Charter. A corporation may be prohibited by its charter or by resolution of its board of directors from electing to be subject to any of the provisions of the statute. We are not prohibited from implementing any or all of the statute.
Additionally, our board of directors may, without stockholder action, authorize the issuance of shares of stock in one or more classes or series, including preferred stock; and our board of directors may, without stockholder action, amend our Charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue. These provisions may inhibit a change of control in circumstances that could give the holders of our common stock the opportunity to realize a premium over the value of our common stock.
Investing in shares of our common stock may involve an above average degree of risk.
The investments we make in accordance with our investment objective may result in a higher amount of risk than alternative investment options and a higher risk of volatility or loss of principal. Our investments in portfolio companies involve higher levels of risk, and therefore, an investment in our shares may not be suitable for someone with lower risk tolerance.
Our stockholders could experience dilution in their ownership percentage if they do not participate in our distribution reinvestment plan.
All distributions declared to stockholders that have “opted in” to our distribution reinvestment plan are automatically reinvested in shares of our common stock. As a result, our stockholders that do not participate in our distribution reinvestment plan could experience dilution in their ownership percentage of our common stock over time if we issue additional shares of our common stock.
Federal Income Tax Risks
We will be subject to corporate-level federal income tax if we are unable to satisfy the various RIC qualification requirements.
To qualify for and maintain RIC tax treatment under the Code, we must meet the Annual Distribution Requirement, the 90% Income Test and the Diversification Tests in each of our tax years. Additionally, in order to avoid the imposition of a 4% nondeductible U.S. federal excise tax, we need to satisfy the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement. See “Item 1. Business — Regulation — Taxation as a RIC.”
We must satisfy these tests on an ongoing basis in order to maintain RIC tax treatment, and may be required to make distributions to stockholders at times when it would be more advantageous to reinvest cash in existing or other investments, or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Compliance with the RIC tax requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits and the value of our stockholders’ investments. 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.
If we fail to satisfy the 90% Income Test or any of the Diversification Tests in any tax year, we may nevertheless continue to qualify as a RIC for such tax year if certain relief provisions are applicable (which may subject us to certain corporate-level U.S. federal, state and local income taxes, as well as dispose of certain assets).
If we fail to qualify for, or to maintain, RIC tax treatment for any reason or do not qualify to cure the disqualification, the resulting corporate-level U.S. federal, state and local income taxes could substantially reduce our net assets, the amount of income available for distribution and the amount of our distributions. See “Item 1. Business — Regulation — Taxation as a RIC.”
Some of our equity investments may be subject to corporate level tax.
We may invest in certain debt and equity investments through our wholly owned subsidiaries, HMS Equity Holding and HMS Equity Holding II, as well as other taxable subsidiaries and the net taxable income of HMS Equity Holding and HMS Equity
Holding II as well as those other taxable subsidiaries will be subject to federal and state corporate income taxes. In addition, 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 taxable income before or without receiving a corresponding cash payment.
For 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, if we hold debt instruments that are treated under applicable tax rules as having original issue discount (such as debt instruments with PIK interest or, in certain cases, increasing interest rates or debt instruments that were issued with warrants), we must include a portion of the original issue discount that accrues over the life of the obligation in determining our investment company taxable income for any tax year, regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by us in the same tax year. We may also have to include in income other amounts that we have not yet received in cash, such as deferred loan origination fees that are paid after origination of the loan or are paid in non-cash compensation such as warrants or stock. We anticipate that a portion of our income may be comprised of original issue discount or other income required to be included in our investment company taxable income prior to receipt of cash. Further, we have elected to amortize market discount on all debt instruments with market discount acquired by us, and have included the amount of such market discount currently in our investment company taxable income over the remaining term of all such instruments acquired with market discount, instead of upon disposition or receipt of other principal payments on such debt instruments, as failing to make such an election could limit our ability to deduct interest expense for tax purposes.
Because any original issue discount or other amounts accrued will be included in our investment company taxable income for the tax year of the accrual, we may be required to make a distribution to our stockholders in order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement or the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement, even though we will not have received any corresponding cash amount. As a result, we may have difficulty meeting the Annual Distribution Requirement or the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement. 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 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. For additional discussion regarding the tax implications of a RIC, see “Item 1. Business — Regulation — Taxation as a RIC.”
Furthermore, we may invest in the equity securities of non-U.S. corporations (or other non-U.S. entities classified as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that could be treated under the Code and U.S. Treasury regulations as PFICs 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, these rules also could require us to recognize taxable income or gains where we do not receive a corresponding payment in cash.
Our stockholders may receive shares of our common stock as distributions, which could result in adverse tax consequences to them.
In order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement, we may declare a large portion of a distribution in shares of our common stock instead of in cash. As long as at least 20% of such distribution is paid in cash and certain requirements are met, the entire distribution will be treated as a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, a stockholder generally would be subject to tax on 100% of the fair market value of the distribution on the date the distribution is received by the stockholder in the same manner as a cash distribution, even though most of the distribution was paid in shares of our common stock.
You may have current tax liability on distributions you elect to reinvest in our common stock but would not receive cash from such distributions to pay such tax liability.
If you participate in our distribution reinvestment plan, you will be deemed to have received, and for federal income tax purposes will be taxed on, the amount reinvested in our common stock to the extent the amount reinvested was not a tax-free return of capital. As a result, unless you are a tax-exempt entity, you may have to use funds from other sources to pay your tax liability on the value of our common stock received from the distribution.
If we do not qualify as a “publicly offered regulated investment company,” as defined in the Code, you will be taxed as though you received a distribution of some of our expenses.
A “publicly offered regulated investment company” is a RIC whose shares are either (i) continuously offered pursuant to a public offering, (ii) regularly traded on an established securities market or (iii) held by at least 500 persons at all times during the tax
year. If we are not a publicly offered RIC for any period, a noncorporate stockholder’s allocable portion of our affected expenses, including our management fees, will be treated as an additional distribution to the stockholder and will be deductible by such stockholder only to the extent permitted under the limitations described below. For noncorporate stockholders, including individuals, trusts, and estates, significant limitations generally apply to the deductibility of certain expenses of a non-publicly offered RIC, including management fees. In particular, for tax years beginning after 2025 these expenses, referred to as miscellaneous itemized deductions, are deductible to an individual only to the extent they exceed 2% of such a stockholder’s adjusted gross income, are not deductible for alternative minimum tax purposes and are subject to the overall limitation on itemized deductions imposed by the Code. For tax years beginning after 2017 and prior to 2026, miscellaneous itemized deductions are disallowed in their entirety. Because shares of our common stock currently are continuously offered pursuant to a public offering, we believe that we are currently considered a publicly offered regulated investment company. There can be no assurance, however, that we will otherwise be considered a publicly offered regulated investment company in the future.
Our portfolio investments may present special tax issues.
Investments in below-investment grade debt instruments, commonly known as “junk” securities, and certain equity securities may present special tax issues for us. U.S. federal income tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as when we may cease to accrue interest, original issue discount or market discount, when and to what extent deductions may be taken for bad debts or worthless debt in equity securities, how payments received on obligations in default should be allocated between principal and interest income, as well as whether exchanges of debt instruments in a bankruptcy or workout context are taxable. Such matters could cause us to recognize taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, even in the absence of cash or economic gain, and require us to make taxable distributions to our stockholders to maintain our RIC status or preclude the imposition of either U.S. federal corporate income or excise taxation. Additionally, because such taxable income may not be matched by corresponding cash received by us, we may be required to borrow money or dispose of other investments to be able to make distributions to our stockholders. These and other issues will be considered by us, to the extent determined necessary, in order that we minimize the level of any U.S. federal income or excise tax that we would otherwise incur.
Legislative or regulatory tax changes could adversely affect you.
At any time, the federal income tax laws governing RICs or the administrative interpretations of those laws or regulations may be amended. Any of those new laws, regulations or interpretations may take effect retroactively and could adversely affect the taxation of us or of you as a stockholder. Therefore, changes in tax laws, regulations or administrative interpretations or any amendments thereto could diminish the value of an investment in our shares or the value or the resale potential of our investments. In that regard, significant tax reform legislation (commonly referred to as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, among other things, permanently reduces the maximum federal corporate income tax rate, reduces the maximum individual income tax rate (effective for taxable years 2018 through 2025), restricts the deductibility of business interest expense, changes the rules regarding the calculation of net operating loss deductions that may be used to offset taxable income, expands the circumstances in which a foreign corporation will be treated as a “controlled foreign corporation” and, under certain circumstances, requires accrual method taxpayers to recognize income for U.S. federal income tax purposes no later than the income is taken into account as revenue in an applicable financial statement. The impact of this new legislation on us, our stockholders and our portfolio companies is uncertain. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the effects of the new legislation on an investment in us. If we do not comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could lose any licenses that we then hold for the conduct of our business and may be subject to civil fines and criminal penalties.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
Item 2. Properties
We do not own any real estate or other physical properties materially important to our operation. Currently, the Adviser leases office space in Houston, Texas for its corporate headquarters. We believe that the office facilities of the Adviser are suitable and adequate for our business as it is contemplated to be conducted.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
We are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened against us. From time to time, we may be a party to certain legal proceedings, including proceedings relating to the enforcement of our rights under contracts with our portfolio companies. While the outcome of these legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not expect that these proceedings will have a material effect upon our financial condition or results of operations.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
There is currently no market for our common stock, and we do not expect one to develop. Therefore, there is a risk that a stockholder may not be able to sell our stock at a time or price acceptable to the stockholder, or at all. None of our common stock has been authorized for issuance under any equity compensation plans. With the approval of our board of directors, we closed the Offering to new investors effective September 30, 2017.
Set forth below is a chart describing the classes of our securities outstanding as of March 16, 2018:
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(1) | | (2) | | (3) | | (4) |
Title of Class | | Amount Authorized | | Amount Held by Us or for Our Account | | Amount Outstanding Exclusive of Amount Under Column (3) |
Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share | | 450,000,000 |
| | — |
| | 80,341,230 |
|
As of March 16, 2018, we had 14,828 record holders of our common stock.
Distributions and Taxable Income
Subject to our board of directors’ discretion and applicable legal restrictions, we intend to declare ordinary cash distributions on a quarterly basis and pay such distributions on a monthly basis. With the authorization of our board of directors, we declared distributions during each quarter of the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. These distributions were paid monthly and were calculated based on stockholders of record each day in an amount equal to $0.00191781 per share, per day (which represents an annualized distribution rate of 7.00% based on our initial offering price of $10.00 per share and 7.53% based on our offering price of $9.30 per share as of September 30, 2017, if such rate were maintained every day for a twelve-month period). Distributions are paid on the first business day following the completion of each month to which they relate. For additional information regarding our distributions, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Business and Structure — The amount of our distributions to our stockholders is uncertain. Portions of the distributions that we pay may represent a return of capital to you for U.S. federal income tax purposes which will lower your tax basis in your shares and reduce the amount of funds we have for investment in targeted assets. We may not be able to pay you distributions, and our distributions may not grow over time.” and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources.”
We may fund our cash distributions from any sources of funds legally available, including stock offering proceeds, borrowings, net investment income from operations, capital gains proceeds from the sale of assets, non-capital gains proceeds from the sale of assets, dividends or other distributions paid to us on account of preferred and common equity investments in portfolio companies and fee waivers from our Advisers.
We have elected to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. We intend to annually qualify as a RIC. As a RIC, we generally will not be subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income taxes on any ordinary income or capital gain that we distribute to our stockholders from our taxable earnings and profits. To qualify as a RIC in any taxable year, we must, among other things, satisfy certain source-of-income and asset diversification requirements. In addition, we must satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement to qualify and to maintain our ability to be subject to tax as a RIC. As a part of maintaining RIC status, undistributed taxable income (subject to a 4% nondeductible U.S. federal excise tax) pertaining to a given taxable year may be distributed up to 12 months subsequent to the end of that taxable year, provided such distributions are declared prior to the earlier of eight-and-one-half months after the close of such taxable year in which such taxable income was generated or the filing of the federal income tax return for the taxable year in which such taxable income was generated. In order to avoid the imposition of the 4% nondeductible U.S. federal excise tax, we need to satisfy the Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement. In 2015, we distributed $3.8 million, or $0.0615 per share, of our taxable income in 2016, prior to the filing of our federal income tax return for our 2015 taxable year. As a result, we were subject to a 4% nondeductible federal excise tax liability of approximately $119,000. In 2016, we distributed $7.1 million, or $0.096753 per share, of our taxable income in 2017, prior to the filing of our federal income tax return for our 2016 taxable year. As a result, we were subject to a 4% nondeductible federal excise tax liability of approximately $239,000. In 2017, we distributed $14.9 million, or $0.187394 per share, of our taxable income in 2018, prior to the filing of our federal income tax return for our 2017 taxable year. As a result, we were subject to a 4% nondeductible federal excise tax liability of approximately $392,000.
Ordinary distributions from a RIC qualify for the 20% maximum federal income tax rate on dividend income from domestic corporations and qualified foreign corporations only to the extent that the RIC received the income in the form of qualifying dividends from domestic corporations and qualified foreign corporations. The tax attributes of our distributions will generally include both ordinary income and capital gains but may also include qualified dividends or return of capital.
The determination of the tax attributes of our distributions is made annually at the end of our taxable year based upon our taxable income for the full taxable year and distributions paid for the full taxable year. The actual tax characteristics of distributions to stockholders will be reported to stockholders subject to tax reporting annually on a Form 1099-DIV. Promptly following the payment of distributions to all stockholders of record, we will send information to stockholders residing in Maryland and Oklahoma regarding the estimated source of such distributions.
Our distributions may exceed our earnings and profits, especially during the period before we have substantially invested the proceeds from the sales of common stock. As a result, a portion of the distributions we make may represent a return of capital for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Notices to stockholders will be provided in accordance with Section 19(a) of the 1940 Act with respect to any portion of our distributions not derived from our net investment income.
Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities
The Registration Statement under which we registered the Offering was most recently declared effective by the SEC on May 1, 2017. With the approval of our board of directors, we closed the Offering to new investors effective September 30, 2017. We raised gross proceeds of approximately $184.1 million in the Offering including proceeds from the distribution reinvestment plan of approximately $52.4 million through December 31, 2017.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table lists shares we repurchased under our share repurchase program during the period covered by this Form 10-K.
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| | | | | | | | | |
Period (1) | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs | Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (2) |
October 1 through October 31, 2017 | — |
| — |
| — |
| — |
|
November 1 through November 30, 2017 | — |
| — |
| — |
| — |
|
December 1 through December 31, 2017 | 1,105,578 |
| $ | 8.10 |
| 1,105,578 |
| — |
|
Total | 1,105,578 |
|
| 1,105,578 |
|
|
| |
(1) | In September 2013, we commenced a share repurchase program pursuant to which we intend to offer to repurchase on a quarterly basis approximately 2.5% per quarter of our weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the trailing four quarters on such terms as may be determined by our board of directors in its complete and absolute discretion unless, in the judgment of the independent directors of our board of directors, such repurchases would not be in the best interests of our stockholders or would violate applicable law. |
| |
(2) | Unless our board of directors determines otherwise, we will limit the number of shares we repurchase (i) in any calendar year to the proceeds we receive from the sale of our common stock under our distribution reinvestment plan during the trailing four quarters and (ii) in any calendar quarter to 2.5% of the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the trailing four quarters. |
Item 6. Selected Financial Data
The selected financial and other data below as of December 31, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 and for the years then ended have been derived from financial statements that have been audited by Grant Thornton LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm. The data should be read in conjunction with “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2014 | | 2013 |
| (dollars in thousands) |
Statement of operations data: | |
| | |
| | | | | | |
Investment income: | |
| | |
| | | | | | |
Non-Control/Non-Affiliate investments | $ | 94,963 |
| | $ | 84,503 |
| | $ | 63,253 |
| | $ | 19,013 |
| | $ | 2,758 |
|
Affiliate investments | 6,934 |
| | 3,968 |
| | 1,204 |
| | 170 |
| | — |
|
Control investments | 1,763 |
| | 928 |
| | 932 |
| | 30 |
| | — |
|
Total investment income | 103,660 |
| | 89,399 |
| | 65,389 |
| | 19,213 |
| | 2,758 |
|
Expenses: | |
| | |
| | | | | | |
Interest expense | 18,317 |
| | 15,055 |
| | 11,159 |
| | 3,325 |
| | 419 |
|
Base management and incentive fees | 24,814 |
| | 20,840 |
| | 18,142 |
| | 6,029 |
| | 784 |
|
Internal administrative services expenses | 3,014 |
| | 2,315 |
| | 2,037 |
| | 1,497 |
| | 1,018 |
|
Offering costs | 1,861 |
| | 901 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Professional fees | 645 |
| | 1,056 |
| | 606 |
| | 478 |
| | 361 |
|
Insurance | 191 |
| | 191 |
| | 192 |
| | 191 |
| | 186 |
|
Other general and administrative | 1,518 |
| | 1,440 |
| | 1,280 |
| | 598 |
| | 235 |
|
Expenses before fee and expense waivers | 50,360 |
| | 41,798 |
| | 33,416 |
| | 12,118 |
| | 3,003 |
|
Waiver of management and incentive fees | (3,029 | ) | | (1,689 | ) | | (2,601 | ) | | (2,274 | ) | | (784 | ) |
Waiver of internal administrative services expenses | (3,014 | ) | | (2,315 | ) | | (2,037 | ) | | (1,497 | ) | | (1,018 | ) |
Expense support payment from Adviser | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (328 | ) | | (153 | ) |
Total expenses, net of fee and expense waivers | 44,317 |
| | 37,794 |
| | 28,778 |
| | 8,019 |
| | 1,048 |
|
Net investment income before taxes | 59,343 |
| | 51,605 |
| | 36,611 |
| | 11,194 |
| | 1,710 |
|
Income tax expense (benefit), including excise tax | 624 |
| | 336 |
| | 127 |
| | (3 | ) | | 5 |
|
Net investment income | 58,719 |
| | 51,269 |
| | 36,484 |
| | 11,197 |
| | 1,705 |
|
Total realized gain (loss) on investments | (4,363 | ) | | (22,891 | ) | | (5,508 | ) | | 20 |
| | 27 |
|
Net realized income | 54,356 |
| | 28,378 |
| | 30,976 |
| | 11,217 |
| | 1,732 |
|
Total net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments | (1,730 | ) | | 38,206 |
| | (37,956 | ) | | (14,214 | ) | | 421 |
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations | $ | 52,626 |
| | $ | 66,584 |
| | $ | (6,980 | ) | | $ | (2,997 | ) | | $ | 2,153 |
|
Net investment income per share/unit – basic and diluted | $ | 0.76 |
| | $ | 0.75 |
| | $ | 0.75 |
| | $ | 0.70 |
| | $ | 0.64 |
|
Net realized income per share/unit – basic and diluted | $ | 0.70 |
| | $ | 0.41 |
| | $ | 0.63 |
| | $ | 0.70 |
| | $ | 0.65 |
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets from operations per share/unit – basic and diluted | $ | 0.68 |
| | $ | 0.97 |
| | $ | (0.14 | ) | | $ | (0.19 | ) | | $ | 0.81 |
|
Stockholder distributions declared per share/unit – basic and diluted | $ | 0.70 |
| | $ | 0.70 |
| | $ | 0.70 |
| | $ | 0.70 |
| | $ | 0.70 |
|
Weighted average shares/units outstanding – basic and diluted | 77,718,813 |
| | 68,029,977 |
| | 48,838,114 |
| | 16,022,853 |
| | 2,648,689 |
|
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| As of December 31, |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2014 | | 2013 |
| (dollars in thousands) |
Balance sheet data: | |
| | |
| | | | | | |
Assets: | |
| | |
| | | | | | |
Total portfolio investments at fair value | $ | 1,049,439 |
| | $ | 989,247 |
| | $ | 852,988 |
| | $ | 473,862 |
| | $ | 66,882 |
|
Cash and cash equivalents | 45,791 |
| | 23,719 |
| | 24,001 |
| | 19,868 |
| | 6,356 |
|
Interest receivable | 8,638 |
| | 7,204 |
| | 7,927 |
| | 4,328 |
| | 399 |
|
Receivable for securities sold | 4,959 |
| | 7,610 |
| | 1,995 |
| | 3,014 |
| | — |
|
Prepaid and other assets | 4,072 |
| | 1,268 |
| | 511 |
| | 338 |
| | 109 |
|
Due from Main Street | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 19 |
|
Deferred offering costs (net of accumulated amortization) | — |
| | 680 |
| | 1,107 |
| | 2,388 |
| | 3,688 |
|
Deferred financing costs (net of accumulated amortization) | 6,163 |
| | 3,840 |
| | 4,883 |
| | 2,426 |
| | 168 |
|
Total assets | $ | 1,119,062 |
| | $ | 1,033,568 |
| | $ | 893,412 |
| | $ | 506,224 |
| | $ | 77,621 |
|
Liabilities and net assets: | | | | | | | | | |
Accounts payable and other liabilities | $ | 1,459 |
| | $ | 1,164 |
| | $ | 610 |
| | $ | 238 |
| | $ | 66 |
|
Payable for unsettled trades | — |
| | 932 |
| | — |
| | 6,249 |
| | 2,608 |
|
Stockholders distributions payable | 4,772 |
| | 4,354 |
| | 3,717 |
| | 1,760 |
| | 295 |
|
Base management fees payable | 5,682 |
| | 5,054 |
| | 4,521 |
| | 2,080 |
| | — |
|
Due to affiliates | 59 |
| | 184 |
| | 1,202 |
| | 2,450 |
| | 3,771 |
|
Directors’ fees payable | 17 |
| | 12 |
| | 14 |
| | 8 |
| | 5 |
|
Payable for securities purchased | 29,284 |
| | 11,035 |
| | 11,696 |
| | 50,512 |
| | 8,799 |
|
Credit facilities payable | 430,000 |
| | 413,000 |
| | 380,000 |
| | 182,864 |
| | 14,000 |
|
Total liabilities | 471,273 |
| | 435,735 |
| | 401,760 |
| | 246,161 |
| | 29,544 |
|
Total net assets | 647,789 |
| | 597,833 |
| | 491,652 |
| | 260,063 |
| | 48,077 |
|
Total liabilities and net assets | $ | 1,119,062 |
| | $ | 1,033,568 |
| | $ | 893,412 |
| | $ | 506,224 |
| | $ | 77,621 |
|
Other data: | |
| | |
| | | | | | |
Weighted average effective yield on LMM debt (1) | 12.2 | % | | 12.4 | % | | 11.0 | % | | 11.3 | % | | 15.0 | % |
Number of LMM debt portfolio investments | 28 |
| | 29 |
| | 19 |
| | 11 |
| | 2 |
|
Weighted average effective yield on Middle Market debt (1) | 9.1 | % | | 8.8 | % | | 8.3 | % | | 8.0 | % | | 7.3 | % |
Number of Middle Market debt portfolio investments | 59 |
| | 75 |
| | 83 |
| | 77 |
| | 62 |
|
Weighted average effective yield on Private Loan debt (1) | 9.1 | % | | 9.2 | % | | 8.5 | % | | 9.7 | % | | 9.5 | % |
Number of Private Loan debt portfolio investments | 38 |
| | 29 |
| | 20 |
| | 11 |
| | 2 |
|
Weighted average effective yield on total portfolio (1) | 8.9 | % | | 8.9 | % | | 8.3 | % | | 8.1 | % | | 7.5 | % |
Number of LMM equity portfolio investments | 29 |
| | 28 |
| | 17 |
| | 9 |
| | — |
|
Number of Middle Market equity portfolio investments | 4 |
| | 5 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Number of Private Loan equity portfolio investments (2) | 11 |
| | 9 |
| | 5 |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Number of Other Portfolio investments | 7 |
| | 3 |
| | 3 |
| | 1 |
| | — |
|
Expense ratios (as percentage of average net assets): | | | | | | | | | |
Total expenses | 7.14 | % | | 7.12 | % | | 7.23 | % | | 5.62 | % | | 4.24 | % |
Operating expenses excluding interest expense | 4.23 | % | | 4.25 | % | | 4.44 | % | | 3.29 | % | | 2.55 | % |
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(1) | Weighted-average effective yield is calculated based on our investments at the end of each period and includes accretion of original issue discounts and amortization of premiums, and the amortization of fees received in connection with transactions. Investments on non-accrual status are assumed to have a zero yield in the calculation of weighted-average effective yield. |
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(2) | Investments were non-income producing during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015. |
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.
Statements we make in the following discussion which express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not historical fact, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, could differ materially from those we express in the following discussion as a result of a variety of factors, including the risks and uncertainties we have referred to under the headings “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I of this Form 10-K.
OVERVIEW
We are a specialty finance company sponsored by Hines that makes debt and equity investments in Middle Market and LMM companies. We are an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end management investment company that has elected to be treated as a BDC under the 1940 Act. We are, therefore, required to comply with certain regulatory requirements. We have elected to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code.
Our primary investment objective is to generate current income through debt and equity investments. A secondary objective is to generate long-term capital appreciation through equity and equity-related investments, including warrants, convertible securities and other rights to acquire equity securities. Our portfolio strategy is to invest primarily in illiquid debt and equity securities issued by LMM companies and Middle Market companies in private placements and negotiated transactions, which are traded in private over-the-counter markets for institutional investors. We will also invest in, and a significant portion of our assets are invested in, customized direct secured and unsecured loans to and equity securities of LMM companies, referred to as LMM securities. Typically, our investments in LMM companies require us to co-invest with Main Street and/or its affiliates. We categorize some of our investments in LMM companies and Middle Market companies as Private Loan portfolio investments. Private Loan investments, often referred to in the debt markets as “club deals,” are investments, generally in debt instruments, that we originate on a collaborative basis with other investment funds. Private Loan investments are typically similar in size, structure, terms and conditions to investments we hold in our LMM portfolio and Middle Market portfolio. Our portfolio also includes Other Portfolio investments, primarily consisting of our investment in HMS-ORIX and investments managed by third parties, which differ from the typical profiles for our other types of investments.
As a BDC, we are subject to certain regulatory restrictions in making our investments, including limitations on our ability to co-invest with certain affiliates, including Main Street. However, we received exemptive relief from the SEC that permits us, subject to certain conditions, to co-invest with Main Street and/or its affiliates in certain transactions originated by Main Street and/or our Advisers. The exemptive relief permits us, and certain of our directly or indirectly wholly owned subsidiaries on one hand, and Main Street, and/or certain of its affiliates, on the other hand, to co-invest in the same investment opportunities where such investment may otherwise be prohibited under Section 57(a)(4) of the 1940 Act. In addition, we may continue to co-invest with Main Street and/or its affiliates in syndicated deals and secondary loan market purchases in accordance with applicable regulatory guidance or interpretations where price is the only negotiated point.
As of December 31, 2017, we had investments in 59 Middle Market debt investments, 38 Private Loan debt investments, 28 LMM debt investments, 29 LMM equity investments, 11 Private Loan equity investments, four Middle Market equity investments and seven Other Portfolio investments with an aggregate fair value of approximately $1,049.4 million, a cost basis of approximately $1,064.3 million, and a weighted average effective annual yield of approximately 8.9%. The weighted average annual yield was calculated using the effective interest rates for all investments at December 31, 2017, including accretion of original issue discount and amortization of the premium to par value, the amortization of fees received in connection with transactions, and assumes zero yield for investments on non-accrual status. As of December 31, 2017, approximately 79.1% and 9.3% of our total portfolio investments (at fair value) were secured by first priority liens and second priority liens on portfolio company assets, respectively, with the remainder in unsecured debt investments and equity investments.
The level of new portfolio investment activity will fluctuate from period to period based upon our view of the current economic fundamentals, our ability to identify new investment opportunities that meet our investment criteria and our ability to close on the identified transactions. The level of new investment activity and associated interest and fee income will directly impact future investment income. While we intend to grow our portfolio and our investment income over the long-term, our growth and our operating results may be more limited during depressed economic periods. However, we intend to appropriately manage our cost structure and liquidity position based on applicable economic conditions and our investment outlook. The level of realized gains or losses and unrealized appreciation or depreciation will also fluctuate depending upon portfolio activity and the performance of
our individual portfolio companies. The changes in realized gains and losses and unrealized appreciation or depreciation could have a material impact on our operating results.
Investment Income
We have generated, and plan to continue to generate, investment income primarily in the form of interest on the debt securities that we hold, dividends and other distributions with respect to any equity interests that we hold and capital gains, if any, on our investments. In addition, we may generate revenue in the form of commitment, origination, structuring or diligence fees, monitoring fees, and possibly consulting fees and performance-based fees. All such fees will be generated in connection with our investments and recognized as earned or as additional yield over the life of the debt investment. To date our investment income has been interest income on debt investments, accretion of original issue discounts, dividend income, amortization of premiums and fees received from transactions, net realized appreciation (depreciation) and net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation).
Expenses
On both a short-term and long-term basis, our primary use of funds will be investments in portfolio companies and cash distributions to our stockholders. Our primary operating expenses will be debt service payments, general and administrative expenses and payment of advisory fees under the Investment Advisory Agreement. The investment advisory fees paid to our Adviser (and the fees paid by our Adviser to our Sub-Adviser pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement) will compensate our Advisers for their work in identifying, evaluating, negotiating, executing, monitoring and servicing our investments.
We bear all other expenses of our operations and transactions, including fees and expenses relating to:
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• | corporate and organizational expenses relating to offerings of our common stock, subject to certain limitations; |
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• | the cost of calculating our NAV, including the cost of any third-party valuation services; |
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• | the cost of effecting sales and repurchase of shares of our common stock and other securities; |
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• | fees payable to third parties relating to, or associated with, monitoring our financial and legal affairs, making investments, and valuing investments, including fees and expenses associated with performing due diligence reviews of prospective investments; |
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• | interest payable on debt, if any, including any hedging costs; |
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• | investment advisory fees; |
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• | transfer agent and custodial fees; |
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• | fees and expenses associated with marketing efforts; |
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• | federal and state registration fees; |
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• | federal, state and local taxes; |
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• | independent directors’ fees and expenses, including travel expenses; |
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• | costs of director and stockholder meetings, proxy statements, stockholders’ reports and notices; |
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• | cost of fidelity bond, directors and officers/errors and omissions liability insurance and other insurance premiums; |
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• | direct costs such as printing of stockholder reports and advertising or sales materials, mailing, long distance telephone, and staff; |
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• | fees and expenses associated with independent audits and outside legal costs, including compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the 1940 Act, and other applicable federal and state securities laws; |
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• | costs associated with our reporting and compliance obligations under the 1940 Act and other applicable federal and state securities laws and regulations; |
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• | brokerage commissions for our investments; |
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• | all other expenses incurred by our Advisers in performing their obligations, subject to the limitations included in the Investment Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement; and |
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• | all other expenses incurred by us or any administrator in connection with administering our business, including payments under any administration agreement that will be based upon our allocable portion of overhead and other expenses incurred by any administrator in performing its obligations under any proposed administration agreement, including rent and our allocable portion of the costs of compensation and related expenses of our Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Financial Officer and their respective staffs. |
During periods of asset growth, we expect our general and administrative expenses to be relatively stable or decline as a percentage of total assets and increase during periods of asset declines.
Base Management Fee and Incentive Fee Waiver Agreements and Administrative Services Expense Reimbursement Waiver Agreements
From time to time, our Advisers may waive certain fees and expense reimbursements accrued under the Investment Advisory Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement, as applicable. We may reimburse such waived fees and expenses within three years from the date of each respective fee or expense reimbursement waiver. See Note 11 - Related Party Transactions and Arrangements - Advisory Agreements and Conditional Fee Waiver and - Administration to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K for additional information on our fee and expense reimbursement waivers.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation and Consolidation
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-K and accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and include the accounts of our wholly owned consolidated subsidiaries: HMS Funding, HMS Equity Holding and HMS Equity Holding II. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Under the 1940 Act rules, regulations pursuant to Articles 6, 10 and 12 of Regulation S-X and Topic 946, Financial Services - Investment Companies, of the Accounting Standards Codification, as amended (the “ASC”), of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), we are precluded from consolidating portfolio company investments, including those in which we have a controlling interest, unless the portfolio company is a wholly owned investment company. An exception to this general principle occurs if we own a controlled operating company whose purpose is to provide services to us such as an investment adviser or transfer agent. None of our investments qualify for this exception. Therefore, our portfolio company investments, including those in which we have a controlling interest, are carried on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at fair value with changes to fair value recognized as “Net Change in Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation)” on the Consolidated Statements of Operations until the investment is realized, usually upon exit, resulting in any gain or loss on exit being recognized as a realized gain or loss. However, in the event that any controlled subsidiary exceeds the tests of significance set forth in Rules 3-09 or 4-08(g) of Regulation S-X, we will include required financial information for such subsidiary in the notes or as an attachment to our consolidated financial statements.
Investment Classification
We classify our investments in accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act. Under the 1940 Act, (a) “Control” investments are defined as investments in companies in which the Company owns more than 25% of the voting securities or has rights to nominate greater than 50% of the directors or managers of the entity, (b) “Affiliate” investments are defined as investments in which between 5% and 25% of the voting securities are owned, or an investment in an investment company’s investment adviser, and the investments are not classified as Control investments and (c) “Non-Control/Non-Affiliate” investments are defined as investments that are neither Control investments nor Affiliated investments.
Valuation of Portfolio Investments
We account for our portfolio investments at fair value under the provisions of ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (“ASC 820”). ASC 820 defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value, establishes a fair value hierarchy based on the quality of inputs used to measure fair value and enhances disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. ASC 820 requires us to assume that the portfolio investment is to be sold in the principal market to independent market participants, which may be a hypothetical market. Market participants are defined as buyers and sellers in the principal market that are independent, knowledgeable, and willing and able to transact.
Our portfolio strategy calls for us to invest primarily in illiquid debt and equity securities issued by private, LMM companies and debt securities issued by Middle Market companies that are generally larger in size than the LMM companies. We categorize some of our investments in LMM companies and Middle Market companies as Private Loan portfolio investments. Private Loan investments, often referred to in the debt markets as “club deals,” are investments, generally in debt instruments, that we originate on a collaborative basis with other investment funds or lenders. Private Loan investments are typically similar in size, structure, terms and conditions to the investments we hold in our LMM portfolio and Middle Market portfolio. Our portfolio also includes Other Portfolio investments, primarily consisting of our investment in HMS-ORIX and investments managed by third parties, which differ from the typical profiles for our LMM portfolio investments, Middle Market portfolio investments or Private Loan
portfolio investments. Our portfolio investments may be subject to restrictions on resale. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Investments — The lack of liquidity in our investments may adversely affect our business.”
LMM investments and Other Portfolio investments generally have no established trading market while Middle Market securities generally have established markets that are not active. Private Loan investments may include investments which have no established trading market or have established markets that are not active. We determine in good faith the fair value of our investment portfolio pursuant to a valuation policy in accordance with ASC 820 and a valuation process approved by our board of directors and in accordance with the 1940 Act. Our valuation policies and processes are intended to provide a consistent basis for determining the fair value of the portfolio.
For LMM portfolio investments, we generally review external events, including private mergers, sales and acquisitions involving comparable companies, and include these events in the valuation process by using an enterprise value waterfall (“Waterfall”) for our LMM equity investments and an income approach using a yield-to-maturity model (“Yield-to-Maturity”) for our LMM debt investments. For Middle Market portfolio investments, we use observable inputs such as quoted prices in the valuation process. We determine the appropriateness of the use of third-party broker quotes, if any, in determining fair value based on our understanding of the level of actual transactions used by the broker to develop the quote and whether the quote was an indicative price or binding offer, the depth and consistency of broker quotes and the correlation of changes in broker quotes with underlying performance of the portfolio company and other market indices. We often cannot observe the inputs considered by the third party in determining their quotes. For Middle Market and Private Loan portfolio investments in debt securities for which it has determined that third-party quotes or other independent pricing are not available or appropriate, we generally estimate the fair value based on the assumptions that we believe hypothetical market participants would use to value the investment in a current hypothetical sale using the Yield-to-Maturity valuation method. For our Other Portfolio equity investments, we generally calculate the fair value of the investment primarily based on the NAV of the fund. All of the valuation approaches for our portfolio investments estimate the value of the investment as if we were to sell, or exit, the investment as of the measurement date.
Under the Waterfall valuation method, we estimate the enterprise value of a portfolio company using a combination of market and income approaches or other appropriate valuation methods, such as considering recent transactions in the equity securities of the portfolio company or third-party valuations of the portfolio company, and then perform a Waterfall calculation by using the enterprise value over the portfolio company’s securities in order of their preference relative to one another. The enterprise value is the fair value at which an enterprise could be sold in a transaction between two willing parties, rather than through a forced or liquidation sale. Typically, private companies are bought and sold based on multiples of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, cash flows, net income, revenues, or in limited cases, book value. There is no single methodology for estimating enterprise value. For any one portfolio company, enterprise value is generally described as a range of values from which a single estimate of enterprise value is derived. In estimating the enterprise value of a portfolio company, we analyze various factors including the portfolio company’s historical and projected financial results. The operating results of a portfolio company may include unaudited, projected, budgeted or pro forma financial information and may require adjustments for non-recurring items or to normalize the operating results that may require significant judgment in its determination. In addition, projecting future financial results requires significant judgment regarding future growth assumptions. In evaluating the operating results, we also analyze the impact of exposure to litigation, loss of customers or other contingencies. After determining the appropriate enterprise value, we allocate the enterprise value to investments in order of the legal priority of the various components of the portfolio company’s capital structure. In applying the Waterfall valuation method, we assume the loans are paid off at the principal amount in a change in control transaction and are not assumed by the buyer, which we believe is consistent with our past transaction history and standard industry practices.
Under the Yield-to-Maturity valuation method, we also use the income approach to determine the fair value of debt securities based on projections of the discounted future free cash flows that the debt security will likely generate, including analyzing the discounted cash flows of interest and principal amounts for the debt security, as set forth in the associated loan agreements, as well as the financial position and credit risk of the portfolio investments. We estimate the expected repayment date of our debt securities is generally the legal maturity date of the instrument, as we generally intend to hold our loans and debt securities to maturity. The Yield-to-Maturity analysis also considers changes in leverage levels, credit quality, portfolio company performance and other factors. We will generally use the value determined by the Yield-to-Maturity analysis as the fair value for that security. However, it is our position that assuming a borrower is outperforming underwriting expectations and because these respective investments do not generally contain pre-payment penalties, the borrower would most likely prepay or refinance the borrowing if the market interest rate, given the borrower’s credit quality, is lower than the stated loan interest rate. Therefore, we do not believe that a market participant would pay a premium for the investment, and because of our general intent to hold its loans to maturity, we generally do not believe that the fair value of the investment should be adjusted in excess of the face amount. A change in the assumptions that we use to estimate the fair value of our debt securities using the Yield-to-Maturity valuation method could have a material impact on the determination of fair value. If there is deterioration in credit quality or if a debt security is in workout status, we may consider other factors in determining the fair value of the debt security, including the value attributable
to the debt security from the enterprise value of the portfolio company or the proceeds that would most likely be received in a liquidation analysis.
Under the NAV valuation method, for an investment in an investment fund that does not have a readily determinable fair value, we measure the fair value of the investment predominately based on the NAV of the investment fund as of the measurement date. However, in determining the fair value of the investment, we may consider whether adjustments to the NAV are necessary in certain circumstances, based on the analysis of any restrictions on redemption of our investment as of the measurement date, recent actual sales or redemptions of interests in the investment fund, and expected future cash flows available to equity holders, including the rate of return on those cash flows compared to an implied market return on equity required by market participants, or other uncertainties surrounding our ability to realize the full NAV of our interests in the investment fund.
With respect to investments for which market quotations are not readily available or an indicator exists that the available market prices are not reliable for a particular security, a multi-step valuation process is undertaken, as described below:
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• | Our valuation process will begin with our Sub-Adviser preparing draft valuations of each investment based upon the methodology contained in our Sub-Adviser’s valuation policy and submitting such draft valuations to our Adviser. |
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• | Our Adviser then prepares its own initial draft valuation for each investment based upon our Adviser’s valuation policy. |
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• | The Advisers obtain and potentially take into account information received from a third-party valuation firm retained by our board of directors, if applicable, and then individually set the initial draft value of each investment. |
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• | Team members from our Advisers then confer regarding their respective draft valuations, and our Adviser’s team members issue such clarifying questions regarding discrepancies in value estimates to our Sub-Adviser for mutual resolution. After receiving responses to such inquiries from our Sub-Adviser, our Adviser then prepares and presents its recommended fair value for each of the investments for consideration by our Adviser’s valuation committee. |
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• | Our Adviser’s valuation committee meets to review our Adviser’s initial draft values, to analyze and discuss the proposed valuations and to document its conclusions. Our Adviser’s valuation committee approves the fair values that are recommended to our audit committee and our board of directors. |
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• | Team members from our Adviser prepare written valuation materials for distribution to our audit committee and our board of directors containing final recommended valuations, as approved by our Adviser’s valuation committee. |
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• | Our audit committee reviews our Adviser’s preliminary recommended valuations with representatives of our Advisers, and our audit committee recommends the fair value of our portfolio for approval by our board of directors. |
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• | At this point, our board of directors then approves the fair value of our investment portfolio in good faith based on several factors, including the input and recommendation of our Advisers, our Adviser’s valuation committee, our audit committee, and any third-party valuation firm, if applicable, and further determines that the valuation of investments held by us and presented in our financial statements was approved in accordance with our valuation policy. |
Pursuant to our internal valuation process and the requirements under the 1940 Act, we perform valuation procedures on our unquoted investments in LMM portfolio companies and certain Private Loan portfolio companies (the “Internally Valued Investments”) at least once a quarter. Among other things, we generally consult with a nationally recognized independent valuation firm on the Internally Valued Investments at least once in every calendar year, and for new Internally Valued Investments, at least once in the twelve-month period subsequent to the initial investment. In certain instances, we may determine that it is not cost-effective, and as a result is not in our stockholders’ best interest, to consult with the nationally recognized independent valuation firm on our investments in one or more of these Internally Valued Investments. Such instances include situations where the fair value of our investment is determined to be insignificant relative to the total investment portfolio. For the year ended December 31, 2017, we consulted with our independent valuation firm in arriving at our determination of fair value on our investments in 22 of the 25 LMM portfolio companies and in 19 of the 38 Private Loan portfolio companies. For the year ended December 31, 2016, we consulted with our independent valuation firm in arriving at our determination of fair value on our investments in 21 of the 23 LMM portfolio companies and in 15 of the 29 Private Loan portfolio companies.
Due to the inherent uncertainty in the valuation process, our estimate of fair value may differ materially from the values that would have been used had an active market for the securities existed. In addition, changes in the market environment, portfolio company performance and other events that may occur over the lives of the investments may cause the gains or losses ultimately realized on these investments to be materially different than the valuations currently assigned. We estimate the fair value of each individual investment and record changes in fair value as unrealized appreciation or depreciation in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
Interest, Fee and Dividend Income
Interest and dividend income are recorded on the accrual basis to the extent amounts are expected to be collected. Prepayment penalties received by us are recorded as income upon receipt. Dividend income is recorded when dividends are declared by the portfolio company or at the point an obligation exists for the portfolio company to make a distribution. Accrued interest and
dividend income are evaluated quarterly for collectability. When a debt security becomes 90 days or more past due and we do not expect the debtor to be able to service all of its debt or other obligations, it will generally be placed on non-accrual status, and we will cease recognizing interest income on that debt security until the borrower has demonstrated the ability and intent to pay contractual amounts due. If there is reasonable doubt that we will receive any previously accrued interest, then the interest income will be written off. Additionally, if a debt security has deferred interest payment terms and we become aware of a deterioration in the credit quality, we will evaluate the collectability of the deferred interest payment. If it is determined that the deferred interest is unlikely to be collected, we will place the security on non-accrual status and cease recognizing interest income on that debt security until the borrower has demonstrated the ability and intent to pay the contractual amounts due. Payments received on non-accrual investments may be recognized as income or applied to principal depending upon the collectability of the remaining principal and interest. If a debt security’s status significantly improves with respect to the debtor’s ability to service the debt or other obligations, or if a debt security is fully impaired, sold or written off, it will be removed from non-accrual status.
As of December 31, 2017, we had four debt investments in three portfolio companies that were more than 90 days past due, all of which were on non-accrual status. One of the three portfolio companies on non-accrual status was in default due to failure to pay its outstanding principal balance of $2.9 million due upon the maturity of its two loans, while the other two portfolio companies on non-accrual status were in default due to failure to pay required interest payments. Our Advisers are currently working with the borrowers to maximize recovery of the amounts borrowed. As of December 31, 2017, these four investments on non-accrual status comprised approximately 0.2% of the total investment portfolio at fair value and 0.9% of the total investment portfolio at cost. Each of these portfolio companies experienced a significant decline in credit quality raising doubt regarding our ability to collect the principal and interest contractually due. Given the credit deterioration, we ceased accruing interest income on the non-accrual debt investments and wrote off any previously accrued interest deemed uncollectable. There was no allowance recorded for the year ended December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2017, we are not aware of any other material changes to the creditworthiness of the borrowers underlying its debt investments. For those investments in which S&P credit ratings are available, approximately 32.4% of the portfolio, the portfolio had a weighted average effective credit rating of B as of December 31, 2017.
As of December 31, 2016, we had five debt investments in four portfolio companies that were more than 90 days past due (two of which were in the oil and gas industry), including three debt investments in two portfolio companies that were on non-accrual status. As of December 31, 2016, we had three investments in two portfolio companies that were on non-accrual status. These three investments on non-accrual status comprised approximately 0.2% of the total investment portfolio at fair value and 0.8% of the total investment portfolio at cost. Each of these portfolio companies experienced a significant decline in credit quality raising doubt regarding our ability to collect the principal and interest contractually due. Given the credit deterioration, we ceased accruing interest income on the non-accrual debt investments and wrote off any previously accrued interest deemed uncollectable. There was no allowance recorded for the year ended December 31, 2016.
From time to time, we may hold debt instruments in our investment portfolio that contain a PIK interest provision. If these borrowers elect to pay or are obligated to pay interest under the optional PIK provision, and, if deemed collectible, then the interest would be computed at the contractual rate specified in the investment’s credit agreement, recorded as interest income and periodically added to the principal balance of the investment. Thus, the actual collection of this interest may be deferred until the time of debt principal repayment. We stop accruing PIK interest and write off any accrued and uncollected interest in arrears when we determine that such PIK interest in arrears is no longer collectible.
At both December 31, 2017 and 2016, we held 19 investments, which contained a PIK provision. As discussed above, three of the 19 investments with PIK provisions as of December 31, 2017 and two of the 19 investments with PIK provisions as of December 31, 2016 were on non-accrual status. No PIK interest was recorded on these investments during the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016. For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we capitalized approximately $1.3 million, $469,000 and $1.2 million, respectively, of PIK interest. We stop accruing PIK interest and write off any accrued and uncollected interest in arrears when we determine that such PIK interest in arrears is no longer collectible.
We may periodically provide services, including structuring and advisory services, to our portfolio companies or other third parties. The income from such services is non-recurring. For services that are separately identifiable and evidence exists to substantiate fair value, income is recognized as earned, which is generally when the investment or other applicable transaction closes. For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company recognized $2.4 million, $1.3 million and $1.1 million, respectively, of non-recurring fee income received from its portfolio companies or other third parties, which accounted for approximately 2.3%, 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively, of the Company’s total investment income during such periods. Fees received in connection with debt financing transactions for services that do not meet these criteria are treated as debt origination fees and are deferred and accreted into interest income over the life of the financing.
A presentation of the investment income we received from our investment portfolio in each of the periods presented (dollars in thousands) is as follows:
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| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, |
| 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 |
| | | | | |
Interest, Fee and Dividend Income: | | | | | |
Interest Income | $ | 97,672 |
| | $ | 86,006 |
| | $ | 63,864 |
|
Fee Income | 2,374 |
| | 1,260 |
| | 1,073 |
|
Dividend Income | 3,614 |
| | 2,133 |
| | 452 |
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Total Interest, Fee and Dividend Income | $ | 103,660 |
| | $ | 89,399 |
| | $ | 65,389 |
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Unearned Income – Original Issue Discount / Premium to Par Value
We generally purchase our debt investments for an amount different than their respective principal values. For purchases at less than par value a discount is recorded at acquisition, which is accreted into interest income based on the effective interest method over the life of the debt investment. For purchases at greater than par value, a premium is recorded at acquisition, which is amortized as a reduction to interest income based on the effective interest method over the life of the investment. Upon repayment or sale, any unamortized discount or premium is also recognized into interest income. For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we accreted approximately a net of $15.1 million, $11.9 million and $4.4 million, respectively, into interest income.
Offering Costs
In accordance with the Investment Advisory Agreement and the Sub-Advisory Agreement, we reimburse our Advisers for any offering costs that are paid on our behalf, which consist of, among other things, actual legal, accounting, bona fide out-of-pocket itemized and detailed due diligence costs, printing, filing fees, transfer agent costs, postage, escrow fees, data processing fees, advertising and sales literature and other offering costs. We expect to reimburse the Advisers for such costs incurred on our behalf on a monthly basis, up to a maximum aggregate amount of 1.5% of the gross stock offering proceeds. The Advisers are responsible for the payment of offering costs to the extent they exceed 1.5% of the aggregate gross stock offering proceeds.
Prior to January 1, 2016, offering costs were capitalized as incurred by our Advisers, and such costs, up to 1.5% of the gross proceeds, were recorded as a charge to additional paid in capital and a reduction of deferred offering costs. Effective January 1, 2016 through the closing of the Offering to new investors, offering costs were capitalized as incurred by us as we became obligated to reimburse our Advisers for such costs and subsequently amortized to expense over a 12-month period to more closely track applicable guidance. Deferred offering costs were fully amortized to expense upon the closing of the Offering to new investors as previously discussed, and are currently expensed as incurred by us as we become obligated to reimburse our Advisers for such costs.
Income Taxes
Certain of our investment practices are subject to special and complex U.S. federal income tax provisions that may, among other things, (i) convert dividends that would otherwise constitute qualified dividend income into ordinary income, (ii) treat dividends that would otherwise be eligible for deductions available to certain U.S. corporations under the Code as ineligible for such treatment, (iii) disallow, suspend or otherwise limit the allowance of certain losses or deductions, (iv) convert long-term capital gains into short-term capital gains or ordinary income, (v) convert short-term capital losses into long-term capital losses, (vi) convert an ordinary loss or deduction into a capital loss (the deductibility of which is more limited), (vii) cause us to recognize income or gain without a corresponding receipt of cash, (viii) adversely alter the characterization of certain complex financial transactions, and (ix) produce gross income that will not constitute qualifying gross income for purposes of the gross income requirement that applies to RICs. These rules also could affect the amount, timing and character of distributions to stockholders. We intend to monitor our transactions and may make certain tax elections to mitigate the effect of these provisions on our ability to be subject to tax as a RIC.
Some of the income that we might otherwise earn, such as fees for providing managerial assistance, certain fees earned with respect to our investments, income recognized in a work-out or restructuring of a portfolio investment, or income recognized from an equity investment in an operating partnership, may not satisfy the 90% Income Test. To manage the risk that such income might disqualify us as a RIC for failure to satisfy the 90% Income Test, we may establish one or more Taxable Subsidiaries to hold assets
from which we do not anticipate earning qualifying income under the 90% Income Test. Any investments held through a Taxable Subsidiary generally will be subject to U.S. federal income and other taxes, and therefore we can expect to achieve a reduced after-tax yield on such investments).
In December 2017, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” legislation was enacted. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes significant changes to the U.S. corporate tax system, including a U.S. federal corporate income tax rate reduction from 35% to 21% and other changes. ASC 740, Income Taxes, requires the effects of changes in tax rates and laws on deferred tax balances to be recognized in the period in which the legislation was enacted. As such, we have accounted for the tax effects as a result of the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as of December 31, 2017.
Uncertainty in Income Taxes
We evaluate our tax positions in accordance with ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes, to determine if the tax positions taken meet the minimum recognition threshold in connection with accounting for uncertainties in income tax positions taken or expected to be taken for the purposes of measuring and recognizing tax benefits or liabilities in the consolidated financial statements. Recognition of a tax benefit or liability with respect to an uncertain tax position is required only when the position is “more likely than not” to be sustained assuming examination by taxing authorities. We recognize interest and penalties, if any, related to unrecognized tax liabilities as income tax expense in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT COMPOSITION
Our Middle Market portfolio investments primarily consist of direct or secondary purchases of interest-bearing debt securities in companies that are generally larger in size than the LMM companies included in our LMM portfolio. While our Middle Market debt investments are generally secured by a first priority lien, 17.0% of the fair value of our Middle Market portfolio is secured by second priority liens.
Our LMM portfolio consists of debt investments secured by a first priority lien (64.7% of the total fair value of the LMM portfolio) on the assets of the portfolio companies and equity investments (35.3% of the total fair value of the LMM portfolio) in privately held LMM companies as of December 31, 2017. The LMM debt investments generally mature between five and seven years from the original investment date. The LMM equity investments represent an equity position or the right to acquire an equity position through warrants.
Our Private Loan portfolio primarily consists of debt investments secured by first and second priority liens (92.4% and 1.5% of the total fair value of the Private Loan portfolio, respectively) on the assets of the portfolio companies, unsecured debt investments (3.4% of the total fair value of the Private Loan portfolio) and equity investments (2.7% of the total fair value of the Private Loan portfolio) in eight Private Loan companies as of December 31, 2017. The Private Loan debt investments typically have stated terms between three and seven years from the original investment date. The Private Loan equity investments represent an equity position or the right to acquire an equity position through warrants.
Our Other Portfolio investments primarily consist of our investment in HMS-ORIX (discussed in more detail below) and investments managed by third parties, which differ from the typical profiles for LMM, Middle Market and Private Loan portfolio investments. In the Other Portfolio investments, we may incur indirect fees and expenses in connection with investments managed by third parties, such as investments in other investment companies or private funds.
During the year ended December 31, 2017, we funded investment purchases of approximately $551.8 million and had three investments under contract to purchase as of December 31, 2017, for approximately $29.3 million, which settled or we scheduled to settle after December 31, 2017. We also received proceeds from sales and repayments of existing portfolio investments of approximately $525.0 million including $97.4 million in sales. Additionally, we had two investments under contract to sell as of December 31, 2017, for approximately $5.0 million, which represented the contract sales price. The combined result of these transactions increased our portfolio, on a cost basis, by approximately $61.9 million, or 6.2%, and the number of portfolio investments decreased by two, or 1.1%, compared to the portfolio as of December 31, 2016. As of December 31, 2017, the largest investment in an individual portfolio company represented approximately 2.9% of our portfolio’s fair value with the remaining investments in an individual portfolio company ranging from 0.0% to 1.8%. The average single investment in our portfolio is approximately $6.0 million or 0.6% of the total portfolio. As a result of these transactions, our portfolio has become increasingly broadened across individual portfolio investments, geographic regions, and industries. Further, our total portfolio’s investment composition (excluding our Other Portfolio investments) at fair value is comprised of 83.0% first lien debt securities and 9.8% second lien debt securities, with the remainder in unsecured debt investments and equity investments. First lien debt securities have priority over subordinated debt owed by the issuer with respect to the collateral pledged as security for the loan. Due to the relative priority of payment of first lien investments, these generally have lower yields than lower priority, less secured investments.
During the year ended December 31, 2016, we funded investment purchases of approximately $464.9 million and had three investments under contract to purchase as of December 31, 2016 for approximately $11.0 million, which settled or we scheduled to settle after December 31, 2016. We also received proceeds from sales and repayments of existing portfolio investments of approximately $349.6 million including $106.6 million in sales. Additionally, we had two investments under contract to sell as of December 31, 2016, for approximately $7.6 million, which represented the contract sales price. The combined result of which increased our portfolio, on a cost basis, by approximately $97.7 million, or 10.8%, and the number of portfolio investments by 31, or 21.1%, compared to the portfolio as of December 31, 2015. As of December 31, 2016, the largest investment in an individual portfolio company represented approximately 1.8% of our portfolio’s fair value with the remaining investments in an individual portfolio company ranging from 0.01% to 1.6%. The average single investment in our portfolio as of December 31, 2016 was approximately $5.6 million or 0.6% of the total portfolio. Further, our total portfolio’s investment composition (excluding our Other Portfolio investments) at fair value as of December 31, 2016 was comprised of 81.5% first lien debt securities, 11.8% second lien debt securities, with the remainder in unsecured debt investments and equity investments.
During the year ended December 31, 2015, we funded investment purchases of approximately $631.1 million and had five investments under contract to purchase as of December 31, 2015 for approximately $11.7 million, which settled or we scheduled to settle after December 31, 2015. We also received proceeds from sales and repayments of existing portfolio investments of approximately $176.1 million including $45.7 million in sales. Additionally, we had one investment under contract to sell as of December 31, 2015, for approximately $2.0 million, which represented the contract sales price. The combined result of which increased our portfolio, on a cost basis, by approximately $417.1 million, or 85.5%, and the number of portfolio investments by 38, or 34.9%, compared to the portfolio as of December 31, 2014. As of December 31, 2015, the largest investment in an individual portfolio company represented approximately 2.3% of our portfolio’s fair value with the remaining investments in an individual portfolio company ranging from 0.03% to 1.8%. The average single investment in our portfolio as of December 31, 2015 was approximately $5.8 million or 0.7% of the total portfolio. Further, our total portfolio’s investment composition (excluding our Other Portfolio investments) at fair value as of December 31, 2015 was comprised of 80.3% first lien debt securities, 16.7% second lien debt securities, with the remainder in unsecured debt investments and equity investments.
As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the weighted average rating of our LMM investments was approximately 2.7 and 2.6, respectively. Lastly, from December 31, 2016 to December 31, 2017, the overall weighted average effective yield on our investment portfolio has remained unchanged at 8.9%.
Summaries of the composition of our total investment portfolio at cost and fair value are shown in the following tables (this information excludes Other Portfolio investments):
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| December 31, 2017 | | December 31, 2016 |
Cost: | LMM | | Private Loan | | Middle Market | | Total | | LMM | | Private Loan | | Middle Market | | Total |
First Lien Secured Debt | 69.8 | % | | 92.5 | % | | 83.1 | % | | 84.3 | % | | 67.9 | % | | 92.0 | % | | 81.5 | % | | 82.3 | % |
Second Lien Secured Debt | — |
| | 1.5 |
| | 16.2 |
| | 9.6 |
| | 3.5 |
| | 0.7 |
| | 16.9 |
| | 11.9 |
|
Unsecured Debt | — |
| | 3.3 |
| | 0.1 |
| | 1.1 |
| | — |
| | 4.9 |
| | 0.9 |
| | 1.6 |
|
Equity (1) | 29.2 |
| | 2.5 |
| | 0.6 |
| | 4.8 |
| | 26.9 |
| | 2.0 |
| | 0.7 |
| | 3.9 |
|
Equity Warrants | 1.0 |
| | 0.2 |
| | — |
| | 0.2 |
| | 1.7 |
| | 0.4 |
| | — |
| | 0.3 |
|
| 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % |
(1) Includes our investment in HMS-ORIX.
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| December 31, 2017 | | December 31, 2016 |
Fair Value: | LMM | | Private Loan | | Middle Market | | Total | | LMM | | Private Loan | | Middle Market | | Total |
First Lien Secured Debt | 64.7 | % | | 92.4 | % | | 82.1 | % | | 83.0 | % | | 64.3 | % | | 91.5 | % | | 81.3 | % | | 81.5 | % |
Second Lien Secured Debt | — |
| | 1.5 |
| | 17.0 |
| | 9.8 |
| | 3.3 |
| | 0.7 |
| | 17.0 |
| | 11.8 |
|
Unsecured Debt | — |
| | 3.4 |
| | 0.1 |
| | 1.1 |
| | — |
| | 4.9 |
| | 0.9 |
| | 1.7 |
|
Equity (1) | 34.3 |
| | 2.5 |
| | 0.8 |
| | 5.9 |
| | 30.7 |
| | 2.1 |
| | 0.8 |
| | 4.6 |
|
Equity Warrants | 1.0 |
| | 0.2 |
| | — |
| | 0.2 |
| | 1.7 |
| | 0.8 |
| | — |
| | 0.4 |
|
| 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % | | 100.0 | % |
(1) Includes our investment in HMS-ORIX.
See Note 3 — Fair Value Hierarchy for Investments — Portfolio Investment Composition to the financial statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K for summaries of the composition of our investments by geographic region and by industry.
Investment in HMS-ORIX
We co-invest in broadly-syndicated loans with Orix through our investment in HMS-ORIX, which is organized as a Delaware limited liability company. Pursuant to the terms of the limited liability company agreement and through representation on the HMS-ORIX Board of Managers, we and Orix each have 50% voting control of HMS-ORIX and together will agree on all portfolio and investment decisions as well as all other significant actions for HMS-ORIX. We do not operationally control HMS-ORIX, and, accordingly, we do not consolidate the operations of HMS-ORIX within the consolidated financial statements. As of December 31, 2017, we and Orix have committed to provide, and have funded, an aggregate of $50.0 million of equity to HMS-ORIX, with us providing $30.0 million (60% of the equity) and Orix providing $20.0 million (40% of the equity).
As of December 31, 2017, HMS-ORIX had total assets of $142.9 million and HMS-ORIX’s portfolio consisted of 74 broadly-syndicated loans, generally in industries similar to those in which we may directly invest. As of December 31, 2017, there were no loans in HMS-ORIX’s portfolio that were on non-accrual status.
On April 5, 2017, HMS-ORIX closed on a $100.0 million credit facility with Bank of America, N.A. The facility has a maturity date of April 5, 2020 and borrowings under the facility bear interest at a rate equal to LIBOR plus 1.65% per annum. As of December 31, 2017, $86.5 million was outstanding under this facility. Borrowings under the facility are secured by substantially all of the assets of HMS-ORIX. If we were to include our pro-rata share of the borrowings under the HMS-ORIX credit facility as leverage on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2017, our asset coverage ratio as of such date would have been 223.0%, assuming unfunded commitments are treated as senior securities.
The following table presents a summary of HMS-ORIX’s portfolio as of December 31, 2017 (dollars in thousands):
|
| | | |
| As of December 31, 2017 |
| |
Total debt investments (1) | $ | 138,908 |
|
Weighted average effective yield on loans(2) | 4.95 | % |
Largest loan to a single borrower(1) | $ | 3,496 |
|
Total of 10 largest loans to borrowers(1) | $ | 30,790 |
|
(1) At principal amount.
(2) Weighted average effective annual yield is calculated based on the investments at the end of each period and includes accretion of original issue discounts and amortization of premiums, and the amortization of fees received in connection with transactions.
The following table presents a listing of HMS-ORIX’s individual loans as of December 31, 2017:
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| | | | | | | | | | | |
HMS-ORIX |
Loan Portfolio |
As of December 31, 2017 |
(dollars in thousands) |
Portfolio Company | Industry | Type of Investment | Principal | Cost | Fair Value |
| | | | | |
Acosta, Inc. | Commercial Services and Supplies | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - September 26, 2021) | $ | 2,000 |
| $ | 1,881 |
| $ | 1,766 |
|
Acrisure, LLC | Insurance | LIBOR (2 months) + 4.25%, Current Coupon 5.65%, Secured Debt (Maturity - November 22, 2023) | 2,115 |
| 2,122 |
| 2,139 |
|
Advantage Sales & Marketing Inc. | Commercial Services and Supplies | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.63%, Secured Debt (Maturity - July 23, 2021) | 1,990 |
| 1,938 |
| 1,945 |
|
Air Medical Group Holdings Inc | Health Care Providers & Services | LIBOR (6 months) + 4.00%, Current Coupon 5.67%, Secured Debt (Maturity - April 28, 2022) | 1,990 |
| 1,981 |
| 1,993 |
|
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
HMS-ORIX |
Loan Portfolio |
As of December 31, 2017 |
(dollars in thousands) |
Portfolio Company | Industry | Type of Investment | Principal | Cost | Fair Value |
| | | | | |
Albany Molecular Research, Inc. | Life Sciences Tools & Services | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - August 28, 2024) | $ | 100 |
| $ | 100 |
| $ | 99 |
|
Alphabet Holding Company, Inc. | Food Products | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.50%, Current Coupon 5.07%, Secured Debt (Maturity - September 26, 2024) | 1,995 |
| 1,985 |
| 1,935 |
|
American Seafoods Group LLC | Food Products | Prime + 2.25%, Current Coupon 6.75%, Secured Debt (Maturity - August 21, 2023) | 1,500 |
| 1,493 |
| 1,513 |
|
Ancestry.com Operations Inc. | Internet Software & Services | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.66%, Secured Debt (Maturity - October 19, 2023) | 1,995 |
| 2,013 |
| 2,007 |
|
Arch Coal, Inc. | Metals & Mining | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - March 7, 2024) | 1,985 |
| 1,992 |
| 2,004 |
|
AshCo, Inc. | Specialty Retail | LIBOR (3 months) + 5.00%, Current Coupon 6.57%, Secured Debt (Maturity - September 25, 2024) | 1,995 |
| 1,951 |
| 1,993 |
|
Asurion, LLC | Insurance | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.57%, Secured Debt (Maturity - November 3, 2023) | 1,312 |
| 1,312 |
| 1,320 |
|
Atkore International, Inc. | Electric Equipment, Instruments & Components | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.70%, Secured Debt (Maturity - December 22, 2023) | 2,977 |
| 3,005 |
| 2,999 |
|
BCP Renaissance Parent L.L.C. | Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels | LIBOR (3 months) + 4.00%, Current Coupon 5.38%, Secured Debt (Maturity - October 31, 2024) | 600 |
| 602 |
| 608 |
|
BMC Software Finance, Inc. | Software | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - September 12, 2022) | 3,156 |
| 3,181 |
| 3,163 |
|
Builders FirstSource, Inc. | Building Products | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.69%, Secured Debt (Maturity - February 29, 2024) | 2,977 |
| 2,974 |
| 2,993 |
|
Calpine Corporation | Independent Power and Renewable Electricity Producers | LIBOR (3 months) + 2.50%, Current Coupon 4.20%, Secured Debt (Maturity - January 15, 2023) | 1,990 |
| 1,997 |
| 1,991 |
|
CHS/Community Health Systems, Inc. | Health Care Providers & Services | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.48%, Secured Debt (Maturity - January 27, 2021) | 1,613 |
| 1,608 |
| 1,543 |
|
ClubCorp Holdings, Inc. | Real Estate Management & Development | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.94%, Secured Debt (Maturity - September 18, 2024) | 1,959 |
| 1,949 |
| 1,969 |
|
Colorado Buyer Inc | Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.38%, Secured Debt (Maturity - May 1, 2024) | 2,985 |
| 2,995 |
| 3,008 |
|
Confie Seguros Holding II Co. | Insurance | LIBOR (1 month) + 5.25%, Current Coupon 6.73%, Secured Debt (Maturity - April 19, 2022) | 1,985 |
| 1,992 |
| 1,987 |
|
CPI International, Inc. | Aerospace & Defense | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.50%, Current Coupon 5.07%, Secured Debt (Maturity - July 26, 2024) | 1,995 |
| 1,995 |
| 2,011 |
|
Diamond Resorts International, Inc. | Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | LIBOR (1 month) + 4.50%, Current Coupon 6.07%, Secured Debt (Maturity - September 1, 2023) | 2,152 |
| 2,179 |
| 2,173 |
|
| | | | | |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
HMS-ORIX |
Loan Portfolio |
As of December 31, 2017 |
(dollars in thousands) |
Portfolio Company | Industry | Type of Investment | Principal | Cost | Fair Value |
| | | | | |
Duff & Phelps Corporation | Diversified Financial Services | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.94%, Secured Debt (Maturity - October 15, 2024) | $ | 491 |
| $ | 494 |
| $ | 493 |
|
| | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.63%, Secured Debt (Maturity - December 4, 2024) | 2,728 |
| 2,724 |
| 2,737 |
|
| | | 3,219 |
| 3,218 |
| 3,230 |
|
EFS Cogen Holdings I LLC | Electric Utilities | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.95%, Secured Debt (Maturity - June 28, 2023) | 1,904 |
| 1,917 |
| 1,925 |
|
Encapsys LLC | Chemicals | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - November 7, 2024) | 1,000 |
| 1,001 |
| 1,006 |
|
Endo Luxembourg Finance Company I S.a.r.l. | Pharmaceuticals | LIBOR (1 month) + 4.25%, Current Coupon 5.88%, Secured Debt (Maturity - April 29, 2024) | 1,990 |
| 2,009 |
| 2,005 |
|
Envision Healthcare Corporation | Health Care Providers & Services | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.57%, Secured Debt (Maturity - December 1, 2023) | 2,481 |
| 2,481 |
| 2,491 |
|
Everi Payments Inc. | Leisure Products | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.50%, Current Coupon 4.98%, Secured Debt (Maturity - May 9, 2024) | 1,990 |
| 1,983 |
| 2,013 |
|
Exgen Renewables IV, LLC | Electrical Production | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.47%, Secured Debt (Maturity - November 29, 2024) | 300 |
| 299 |
| 304 |
|
First American Payment Systems, L.P. | Diversified Financial Services | LIBOR (1 month) + 5.75%, Current Coupon 7.14%, Secured Debt (Maturity - January 5, 2024) | 952 |
| 963 |
| 958 |
|
Fitness International, LLC | Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.50%, Current Coupon 5.19%, Secured Debt (Maturity - July 1, 2020) | 1,735 |
| 1,757 |
| 1,760 |
|
Flex Acquisition Company Inc | Containers & Packaging | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.34%, Secured Debt (Maturity - December 29, 2023) | 1,995 |
| 2,004 |
| 2,008 |
|
Flexera Software LLC | Software | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.50%, Current Coupon 4.83%, Secured Debt (Maturity - April 2, 2020) | 1,995 |
| 2,013 |
| 2,008 |
|
Gardner Denver, Inc. | Machinery | LIBOR (1 month) + 2.75%, Current Coupon 4.44%, Secured Debt (Maturity - July 30, 2024) | 1,995 |
| 2,005 |
| 2,004 |
|
Golden Nugget, Inc. | Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.66%, Secured Debt (Maturity - October 4, 2023) | 1,990 |
| 1,990 |
| 2,008 |
|
Greatbatch Ltd. | Health Care Equipment & Supplies | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.66%, Secured Debt (Maturity - October 27, 2022) | 2,763 |
| 2,780 |
| 2,788 |
|
GYP Holdings III Corp. | Trading Companies & Distributors | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.38%, Secured Debt (Maturity - March 31, 2023) | 3,483 |
| 3,506 |
| 3,502 |
|
Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc. | Specialty Retail | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - August 18, 2023) | 1,980 |
| 1,987 |
| 1,996 |
|
HD Supply Waterworks, Ltd. | Trading Companies & Distributors | LIBOR (6 months) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.46%, Secured Debt (Maturity - August 1, 2024) | 140 |
| 140 |
| 141 |
|
Horizon Pharma, Inc. | Pharmaceuticals | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.75%, Secured Debt (Maturity - March 29, 2024) | 1,990 |
| 2,009 |
| 2,001 |
|
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
HMS-ORIX |
Loan Portfolio |
As of December 31, 2017 |
(dollars in thousands) |
Portfolio Company | Industry | Type of Investment | Principal | Cost | Fair Value |
| | | | | |
IG Investments Holdings, LLC | Professional Services | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.50%, Current Coupon 5.19%, Secured Debt (Maturity - October 29, 2021) | $ | 1,990 |
| $ | 2,002 |
| $ | 1,992 |
|
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. | Diversified Financial Services | LIBOR (1 month) + 7.00%, Current Coupon 8.38%, Secured Debt (Maturity - July 30, 2020) | 1,939 |
| 1,868 |
| 1,922 |
|
KMG Chemicals, Inc. | Chemicals | LIBOR (1 month) + 2.75%, Current Coupon 4.32%, Secured Debt (Maturity - June 17, 2024) | 863 |
| 859 |
| 868 |
|
KUEHG Corp. | Educational Services | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.75%, Current Coupon 5.44%, Secured Debt (Maturity - August 12, 2022) | 2,482 |
| 2,489 |
| 2,493 |
|
LANDesk Group, Inc. | Software | LIBOR (1 month) + 4.25%, Current Coupon 5.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - January 22, 2024) | 993 |
| 999 |
| 947 |
|
Learfield Communications LLC | Media | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - December 1, 2023) | 1,990 |
| 2,009 |
| 2,007 |
|
MA FinanceCo., LLC | Electric Equipment, Instruments & Components | LIBOR (1 month) + 2.75%, Current Coupon 4.32%, Secured Debt (Maturity - June 21, 2024) | 387 |
| 387 |
| 388 |
|
Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority | Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | LIBOR (1 month) + 4.00%, Current Coupon 5.57%, Secured Debt (Maturity - October 13, 2023) | 1,985 |
| 2,003 |
| 2,006 |
|
MPH Acquisition Holdings LLC | Health Care Technology | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.69%, Secured Debt (Maturity - June 7, 2023) | 2,896 |
| 2,935 |
| 2,905 |
|
NAB Holdings, LLC | IT Services | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.25%, Current Coupon 4.82%, Secured Debt (Maturity - July 1, 2024) | 1,990 |
| 1,981 |
| 2,000 |
|
Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc | Life Sciences Tools & Services | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.75%, Current Coupon 5.44%, Secured Debt (Maturity - June 30, 2021) | 1,985 |
| 1,980 |
| 1,992 |
|
PODS, LLC | Transportation & Logistics | LIBOR (1 month) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.40%, Secured Debt (Maturity - December 6, 2024) | 1,995 |
| 1,994 |
| 2,010 |
|
Rackspace Hosting, Inc. | Electric Equipment, Instruments & Components | LIBOR (3 months) + 3.00%, Current Coupon 4.38%, Secured Debt (Maturity - November 3, 2023) | 3,284 |
| 3,309 |
| 3,286 |
|
Radiate Holdco, LLC | |