v3.26.3
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2026
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS [Abstract]  
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

(3)  RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

Expense Support and Conditional Reimbursement Agreement

 

On March 11, 2025, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Expense Support and Conditional Reimbursement Agreement (the “Expense Support Agreement”) with the Adviser, effective as of November 4, 2024 and pursuant to which the Adviser is able to elect to pay certain expenses of the Company on the Company’s behalf (each, an “Expense Payment”), provided that no portion of the payment will be used to pay shareholders servicing and/or distribution fees of the Company. Any Expense Payment that the Adviser committed to pay is to be paid by the Adviser to the Company in any combination of cash or other immediately available funds and/or offset against amounts due from the Company to the Adviser or its affiliates no later than forty-five (45) days after such obligation was incurred.

 

Pursuant to the Expense Support Agreement, the Company has entered into with the Adviser, the Adviser is obligated to advance all of the Company’s Other Operating Expenses (each, a “Required Expense Payment”) to the effect that such expenses do not exceed 0.70% (on an annualized basis) of the Company’s NAV. Any Required Expense Payment must be paid by the Adviser to the Company in any combination of cash or other immediately available funds and/or offset against amounts due from the Company to the Adviser or its affiliates. “Other Operating Expenses” means the Company’s organizational and offering expenses, professional fees, trustee fees, administration fees, and other general and administrative expenses (including the Company’s allocable portion of compensation, overhead (including rent, office equipment and utilities) and other expenses incurred by the Administrator in performing its administrative obligations under the Administration Agreement), excluding the Company’s base management and incentive fees owed to the Adviser, financing fees and costs (other than upfront fees on the Company’s initial credit facility), brokerage commissions, placement agent fees, costs and expenses of distributing and placing the Company’s common shares (“Common Shares”), extraordinary expenses and any interest expenses owed by the Company, all as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

 

The Adviser may elect to pay, at such times as the Adviser determines, certain expenses on the Company’s behalf (each, a “Voluntary Expense Payment” and together with a Required Expense Payment, the “Expense Payments”), provided that no portion of the payment will be used to pay shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees, if any, of the Company. Any Voluntary Expense Payment that the Adviser has committed to pay must be paid by the Adviser to the Company in any combination of cash or other immediately available funds no later than 45 days after such commitment was made in writing, and/or offset against amounts due from the Company to the Adviser or its affiliates.

 

Following any month in which Other Operating Expenses are below 0.70% (on an annualized basis) of the Company’s NAV (the “Expense Cap”), the Adviser may be reimbursed (a “Required Reimbursement Payment”) for any Required Expense Payment to the extent that (i) the Other Operating Expenses, inclusive of such Required Reimbursement Payment, remain at or below the Expense Cap and (ii) the applicable Required Expense Payment was made no more than three (3) years prior to the Required Reimbursement Payment.

 

Following any calendar month in which Available Operating Funds exceed the cumulative distributions accrued to the Company’s shareholders based on distributions declared with respect to record dates occurring in such calendar month (the amount of such excess being hereinafter referred to as “Excess Operating Funds”), we shall pay such Excess Operating Funds, or a portion thereof, to the Adviser until such time as all Voluntary Expense Payments made by the Adviser to the Company within three (3) years prior to the last business day of such calendar month have been reimbursed. Any payments required to be made by the Company with respect to Voluntary Expense Payments shall be referred to herein as a “Voluntary Reimbursement Payment”, and together with the Required Reimbursement Payments, the “Reimbursement Payments”. “Available Operating Funds” means the sum of (i) our net investment company taxable income (including net short-term capital gains reduced by net long-term capital losses), (ii) our net capital gains (including the excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) and (iii) dividends and other distributions paid to us on account of investments in portfolio companies (to the extent such amounts listed in clause (iii) are not included under clauses (i) and (ii) above).

 

No Voluntary Reimbursement Payment for any calendar month shall be made if: (1) the Effective Rate of Distributions Per Share declared by the Company at the time of such Voluntary Reimbursement Payment is less than the Effective Rate of Distributions Per Share at the time the Expense Payment was made to which such Voluntary Reimbursement Payment relates, (2) the Company’s Operating Expense Ratio at the time of such Voluntary Reimbursement Payment is greater than the Operating Expense Ratio at the time the Expense Payment was made to which such Voluntary Reimbursement Payment relates, or (3) the Company’s Other Operating Expenses at the time of such Voluntary Reimbursement Payment exceed 0.70% of the Company’s NAV. “Effective Rate of Distributions Per Share” means the annualized rate (based on a 365-day year) of regular cash distributions per share exclusive of returns of capital and declared special dividends or special distributions, if any. The “Operating Expense Ratio” is calculated by dividing Operating Expenses, less organizational and offering expenses, base management and incentive fees owed to the Adviser, shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees, if any, and interest expense, by the Company’s net assets. “Operating Expenses” means all of the Company’s operating costs and expenses incurred, as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP for investment companies.

 

The Company’s obligation to make a Reimbursement Payment shall automatically become a liability of the Company on the last business day of the applicable calendar month, except to the extent the Adviser has waived its right to receive such payment for the applicable month.

The Expense Support Agreement is effective until April 1, 2027 and will renew automatically for successive one-year terms thereafter unless either the Company or the Adviser determines to terminate it and so notifies the other party. Either the Company or the Adviser may terminate the Expense Support Agreement at any time, with or without notice, without the payment of any penalty, provided that any Expense Payments that have not been reimbursed by the Company to the Adviser will remain the obligation of the Company following any such termination, subject to the terms of the Expense Support Agreement.

 

Based on the terms described above, the Company may be obligated to make Reimbursement Payments to the Adviser in accordance with the Expense Support Agreement.

 

The following table presents a cumulative summary of the expense payments and reimbursement payments as of September 30, 2026.

 

For the Quarter Ended  Required Expense
Payments by
Adviser
  Required
Reimbursement
Payments to Adviser
  Unreimbursed
Expense Payments
  Reimbursement Eligibility
Expiration
December 31, 2024  $95  $(39)  $56  December 31, 2027
March 31, 2025   413   —    413  March 31, 2028
June 30, 2025   316   —    316  June 30, 2028
September 30, 2025   310   —    310  September 30, 2028
December 31, 2025   639   —    639  December 31, 2028
March 31, 2026   203   —    203  March 31, 2029
June 30, 2026   195   —    195  June 30, 2029
September 30, 2026   525   —    525  September 30, 2029
Total  $2,696  $(39)  $2,657   

 

Due to / Due From Affiliate

 

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, the Investment Adviser provided $525 and $923, respectively, of expense support, in accordance with the Expense Support Agreement. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, the Investment Adviser provided $310 and $1,039, respectively, of expense support, in accordance with the Expense Support Agreement. As of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, $378 and $0, respectively, remains receivable from the Adviser and are included in Due from affiliate on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

 

Management Fee

 

Prior to the BDC Election Date, the Company did not incur management fees. Following the BDC Election Date, the Company began to accrue management fees. The management fee is payable monthly in arrears at an annual rate of 1.00% of the value of the Company’s net assets as of the beginning of the first calendar day of the applicable month, adjusted for any share issuances or repurchases during the applicable month. For purposes of the Advisory Agreement, net assets mean the Company’s total assets less liabilities determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, the Company recognized $538 and $1,434, respectively, in management fees and the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, the Company recognized $273 and $409, respectively, in management fees, net of voluntary management fees waived. As of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, $188 and $106 of management fees, respectively, were unpaid and are included in management fees payable on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

 

Incentive Fees

 

The incentive fee will consist of two components that are independent of each other, with the result that one component may be payable even if the other is not. A portion of the incentive fee is based on a percentage of our income and a portion is based on a percentage of our capital gains, each as described below.

 

Incentive Fee Based on Income

 

The portion based on our income is based on Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns attributable to our Common Shares. “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns” means dividends, cash interest or other distributions or other cash income and any third-party fees received from portfolio companies such as upfront fees, commitment fees, origination fee, amendment fees, ticking fees and break-up fees, as well as prepayment premiums, but excluding fees for providing managerial assistance and fees earned by the Adviser or an affiliate accrued during the month, minus operating expenses for the month (including the management fee, taxes, any expenses payable under the Advisory Agreement and an Administration Agreement with our Administrator, any expense of securitizations, and interest expense or other financing fees and any dividends paid on preferred stock, but excluding the Incentive Fee and shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees, if any). Shareholders may be charged a

fee on an income amount that is higher than the income shareholders may ultimately receive. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns includes, in the case of investments with a deferred interest feature (such as original issue discount, debt instruments with PIK interest and zero-coupon securities), accrued income that we have not yet received in cash. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns do not include any realized capital gains, realized capital losses, or unrealized gain (loss).

 

Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns, expressed as a rate of return on the value of our net assets at the end of the immediate preceding quarter, adjusted for any share issuances or repurchases during the applicable quarter in which the Incentive Fee is calculated, is compared to a “hurdle rate” of return of 1.50% per quarter (6.00% annualized).

 

We will pay the Adviser an incentive fee quarterly in arrears with respect to our Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns in each calendar quarter as follows:

 

• No incentive fee based on Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns in any calendar quarter in which our Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns do not exceed the hurdle rate of 1.50% per quarter (6.00% annualized);
   
• 100% of the dollar amount of our Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns, if any, that exceeds the hurdle rate but is less than a rate of return of 1.71% (6.84% annualized). We refer to this portion of our Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns (which exceeds the hurdle rate but is less than 1.71%) as the “catch-up.” The “catch-up” is meant to provide the Adviser with approximately 12.5% of our Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns as if a hurdle rate did not apply if this net investment income exceeds 1.71% in any calendar quarter; and
   
• 12.5% of the dollar amount of our Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns, if any, that exceed a rate of return of 1.71% (6.84% annualized). This reflects that once the hurdle rate is reached and the catch-up is achieved, 12.5% of all Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns thereafter are allocated to the Adviser.

 

These calculations are pro-rated for any period of less than three (3) months and adjusted for any share issuances or repurchases during the relevant quarter.

 

Prior to the BDC Election Date, the Company did not incur incentive fees. Following the BDC Election Date, the Company began to accrue incentive fees. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, the income based incentive fees were $759 and $1,976, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, the income based incentive fees were $369 and $652, respectively. As of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, $759 and $429, respectively, of income based incentive fees were unpaid and are included in Income incentive fees payable on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

 

Incentive Fee Based on Capital Gains

 

The second component of the incentive fee, the capital gains incentive fee, is payable at the end of each calendar year in arrears. The amount payable equals:

 

  • 12.5% of cumulative realized capital gains from the BDC Election Date through the end of such calendar year, computed net of all realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation on a cumulative basis, less the aggregate amount of any previously paid Incentive Fee on capital gains as calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

 

Each year, the fee paid for the capital gains incentive fee is net of the aggregate amount of any previously paid capital gains incentive fee for all prior periods. We will accrue, but will not pay, a capital gains incentive fee with respect to unrealized appreciation because a capital gains incentive fee would be owed to the Adviser if we were to sell the relevant investment and realize a capital gain. In no event will the capital gains incentive fee payable pursuant to the Advisory Agreement be in excess of the amount permitted by the Advisers Act, including Section 205 thereof.

 

For purposes of computing the Company’s incentive fee on income and the incentive fee on capital gains, the calculation methodology will look through derivative financial instruments or swaps as if we owned the reference assets directly. The fees that are payable under the Advisory Agreement for any partial period will be appropriately prorated.

 

Prior to the BDC Election Date, the Company did not incur incentive fees. Following the BDC Election Date, the Company began to accrue incentive fees. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, accrued capital gains based incentive fees were $0 and $(85), respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, accrued capital gains based incentive fees were $28 and $63, respectively. The accrual for any capital gains incentive fees under U.S. GAAP in a given period may result in an additional expense if such cumulative amount is greater than in the prior period or a reduction of previously recorded expense if such cumulative amount is less in the prior period. If such cumulative amount is negative, then there is no accrual. As of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, $0 and $85, respectively, were accrued for capital gains incentive fees and included in capital gains incentive fees payable on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

Administration Fees

 

From time to time, the Adviser, the Administrator or their affiliates may pay third-party providers of goods or services. Unless such expenses are specifically assumed by the Adviser, Administrator or their affiliates under the Advisory Agreement or Administration Agreement, as applicable, the Company will reimburse the Adviser, the Administrator or such affiliates thereof for any such amounts paid on the Company’s behalf. From time to time, the Adviser or the Administrator may defer or waive fees and/or rights to be reimbursed for expenses. As of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, the Company owed the Adviser, $205 and $1,161, respectively, for reimbursements under the terms of the Administration Agreement, which are included in Due to affiliate on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

 

The Company will pay the Administrator a fee payable monthly in arrears at an annual rate of 0.25% of the value of the Company’s net assets as of the beginning of the first calendar day of the applicable month, adjusted for any share issuances or repurchases during the applicable month.

 

Prior to the BDC Election Date, the Company did not incur administration fees. Following the BDC Election Date, the Company began to accrue administration fees. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, the Company recognized $134 and $358, respectively, of administration fees. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, the Company recognized $68 and $114, respectively, of administration fees. As of September 30, 2026 and as of December 31, 2025, $47 and $27, respectively, of administration fees were unpaid and are included in administration fees payable on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

 

Distribution Fee, Shareholder Servicing Fee and Other Distribution Expenses

 

The Company may pay to any distributor, in its capacity as principal underwriter (or placement agent) of the Shares (the “Distributor”), with respect to and at the expense of Common shares (which may be amended from time to time), a fee for (i) distribution and sales support services (the “Distribution Fee”), as applicable, and/or (ii) shareholder services (the “Servicing Fee”), and each as more fully described below (together, the “Shareholder Servicing and/or Distribution Fee”). The Distribution Fee under the Plan will be used primarily to compensate a Distributor for such services provided in connection with the offering and sale of shares of the Common shares, and to reimburse the Distributor for related expenses incurred, including payments by the Distributor to compensate or reimburse brokers, other financial institutions or other industry professionals (collectively, “Selling Agents”), for distribution services and sales support services provided and related expenses incurred by such Selling Agents. All payments made hereunder pursuant to the Plan shall be in accordance with the terms and limitations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Conduct Rules. The Company may pay for expenses related to its distribution out of its own assets, including but not limited to, expenses associated with advertising, compensation of underwriters, dealers, and sales personnel, the printing and mailing of prospectuses to other than current shareholders, and the printing and mailing of sales literature, each as may be determined to be in the best interests of the Company.

 

Subject to any applicable Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, limitations on underwriting compensation, the Company will pay the Placement Agent a shareholder servicing and/or Distribution Fee, or the Distribution/Servicing Fees, for Common shares equal to 0.85% per annum of the aggregate NAV, as of the beginning of the first calendar day of the applicable month, for the Common shares. The annual Distribution/Servicing Fees are paid by the Company to the Placement Agent pursuant to the Company’s distribution and servicing plan, or the Distribution and Servicing Plan. The Distribution and Service Fees are accrued and payable monthly. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Fees incurred were $457 and $1,219, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Fees incurred were $232 and $348, respectively. As of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, $160 and $90, respectively, of Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Fees were unpaid and are included in Distribution and Shareholder Servicing Fees payable on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.

 

The Board, including a majority of the members of the Board who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Company, or the Independent Trustees, have reviewed and approved the Placement Agency Agreement in accordance with Section 15(c) of the 1940 Act, and will annually review the Placement Agency Agreement and Distribution/Servicing Fees to determine that the provisions of the Placement Agency Agreement are carried out satisfactorily and to determine, among other things, whether the fees payable under such agreements are reasonable in light of the services provided and that there is a reasonable likelihood that the continuation of the plan for the Distribution/Servicing Fees will benefit the Company and its shareholders. The Board assesses the reasonableness of such fees based on the breadth, depth and quality of the distribution services to be provided to the Company, and reviews other information relating to the Placement Agent, such as their relationships with financial intermediaries and the adequacy of their compliance program.

 

Controlled/Affiliated Companies

 

Under the 1940 Act, the Company is required to separately identify non-controlled investments where it owns 5% or more of a portfolio company’s outstanding voting securities and/or has the power to exercise control over the management or policies of such portfolio company as investments in “affiliated” companies. In addition, under the 1940 Act, the Company is required to separately identify investments where it owns more than 25% of a portfolio company’s outstanding voting securities and/or has the power to exercise control over the management or policies of such portfolio company as investments in “controlled” companies. Under the 1940 Act, “non-affiliated investments” are defined as investments that are neither controlled investments nor affiliated investments. Detailed information with respect to the Company’s non-controlled, non-affiliated; non-controlled, affiliated; and controlled affiliated investments is contained in the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements, including the

Consolidated Schedule of Investments. The Company has made investments in a joint venture that is considered a controlled/affiliated company. For further information, see “Note 4 - Investments”.