Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: PSEC) (“Prospect”) announced Prospect has surpassed its 20th anniversary as one of the largest ($7.9 billion in total assets as of the recently completed fiscal year end) and longest running publicly traded business development companies (“BDCs”). Prospect during its history has invested over $20 billion with more than 300 portfolio company exits.
Founded in 2004, Prospect is one of the few BDCs established prior to the Global Financial Crisis, unlike the vast bulk of other BDCs with much shorter histories and untested by severe economic downturns.
Prospect is managed by Prospect Capital Management, which has more than 120 employees and which together with predecessors has been in business since 1988, representing a nearly 37-year history spanning three major business cycles with a history of judiciously managing risk and investor capital over that time period.
Over Prospect’s lengthy 20-year history, Prospect has been a BDC industry innovator with a long list of firsts by a BDC, including:
• First BDC to achieve an investment grade rating post the Global Financial Crisis (commencing with S&P in November 2009 and expanding to five such ratings today).
• First BDC to acquire another BDC (Patriot Capital in December 2009).
• First BDC to complete at the market issuance programs for common stock (beginning March 2010) and listed senior unsecured notes (beginning July 2018).
• First BDC to issue a convertible bond (December 2010 with multiple issuances thereafter).
• First BDC to issue medium term program notes (February 2012 and continuing today).
• First BDC to issue senior unsecured institutional notes post the Global Financial Crisis (March 2013 with multiple issuances thereafter).
• First BDC to issue non-traded perpetual preferred stock to unaffiliated investors (October 2020 and continuing today).
• First and only BDC to issue traded perpetual preferred stock (July 2021).
“We are proud of our long history of providing strategically important capital to U.S. middle market businesses,” said John Barry, CEO of Prospect.
About Prospect Capital Corporation
Prospect is a business development company that focuses on lending to and investing in private businesses. Prospect’s investment objective is to generate both current income and long-term capital appreciation through debt and equity investments.
Prospect has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”). Prospect is required to comply with a series of regulatory requirements under the 1940 Act as well as applicable NASDAQ, federal and state rules and regulations. We have elected to be treated as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, whose safe harbor for forward-looking statements does not apply to business development companies. Any such statements, other than statements of historical fact, are highly likely to be affected by other unknowable future events and conditions, including elements of the future that are or are not under our control, and that we may or may not have considered; accordingly, such statements cannot be guarantees or assurances of any aspect of future performance. Actual developments and results are highly likely to vary materially from any forward-looking statements. Such statements speak only as of the time when made, and we undertake no obligation to update any such statement now or in the future.
For further information, contact:
Grier Eliasek, President and Chief Operating Officer
grier@prospectcap.com
Telephone (212) 448-0702
