Form N-2
Table of Contents

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 20, 2012

Securities Act File No. 333-            

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM N-2

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933    x
Pre-Effective Amendment No.        ¨
Post-Effective Amendment No.        ¨

 

 

FIDUS INVESTMENT CORPORATION

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

 

 

1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820

Evanston, Illinois 60201

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

(847) 859-3940

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code)

 

 

Edward H. Ross

Chief Executive Officer

1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820

Evanston, Illinois 60201

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

 

 

WITH COPIES TO:

John A. Good

Helen W. Brown

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

100 Peabody Place, Suite 900

Memphis, Tennessee 38103-3672

Telephone: (901) 543-5901

Facsimile: (888) 543-4644

Approximate date of proposed public offering: From time to time after the effective date of the Registration Statement.

If any securities being registered on this form will be offered on a delayed or continuous basis in reliance on Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered in connection with a dividend reinvestment plan, check the following box.  x

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

 

  x when declared effective pursuant to section 8(c).

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

 

Title of Securities Being Registered   Amount Being
Registered
  Proposed
Maximum
Aggregate Offering
Price(1)
  Amount of
Registration Fee

Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share(2)

           

Preferred Stock(2)

           

Subscription Rights(2)

           

Debt Securities(3)

           

Warrants(4)

           

Total

      $300,000,000(5)   $34,380

 

 

 

(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee. Pursuant to Rule 457(o) of the rules and regulations under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which permits the registration fee to be calculated on the basis of the maximum offering price of all the securities listed, the table does not specify by each class information as to the amount to be registered, proposed maximum offering price per unit or proposed maximum aggregate offering price.
(2) Subject to Note 5 below, there is being registered hereunder an indeterminate principal amount of common stock, preferred stock, or subscription rights, from time to time.
(3) Subject to Note 5 below, there is being registered hereunder an indeterminate principal amount of debt securities as may be sold, from time to time. If any debt securities are issued at an original issue discount, then the offering price shall be in such greater principal amount as shall result in an aggregate price to investors not to exceed $300,000,000.
(4) Subject to Note 5 below, there is being registered hereunder an indeterminate principal amount of warrants as may be sold, from time to time, representing rights to purchase common stock, preferred stock or debt securities.
(5) In no event will the aggregate offering price of all securities issued from time to time pursuant to this Registration Statement exceed $300,000,000.

 

 

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


Table of Contents

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

Subject To Completion, Dated July 20, 2012

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

$300,000,000

 

LOGO

Common Stock

Preferred Stock

Subscription Rights

Debt Securities

Warrants

We may offer, from time to time, in one or more offerings or series, together or separately, up to $300,000,000 of our common stock, preferred stock, subscription rights, debt securities, or warrants representing rights to purchase shares of our common stock, preferred stock, or debt securities, which we refer to collectively as the “securities.” We may sell our securities through underwriters or dealers, “at-the-market” to or through a market maker into an existing trading market or otherwise directly to one or more purchasers or through agents or through a combination of methods of sale. The identities of such underwriters, dealers, market makers or agents, as the case may be, will be described in one or more supplements to this prospectus. The securities may be offered at prices and on terms to be described in one or more supplements to this prospectus.

We may offer shares of common stock at a discount to net asset value per share in certain circumstances. On June 6, 2012, our common stockholders voted to allow us to sell or otherwise issue common stock at a price below net asset value per share for a period of one year ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or the date of our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Sales of common stock at prices below net asset value per share dilute the interests of existing stockholders, have the effect of reducing our net asset value per share and may reduce our market price per share. In addition, continuous sales of common stock below net asset value may have a negative impact on total returns and could have a negative impact on the market price of our shares of common stock. See “Risk Factors” on page 11 and “Sales of Common Stock Below Net Asset Value” on page 97 of this prospectus for more information.

Our stockholders specified that the cumulative number of shares sold in each offering during the one-year period ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or the date of our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders may not exceed 25.0% of our outstanding common stock immediately prior to such sale. In addition, as approved by our stockholders, we cannot issue shares of our common stock below net asset value unless our board of directors determines that it would be in our and our stockholders’ best interests to do so. Shares of closed-end investment companies such as us frequently trade at a discount to their net asset value. This risk is separate and distinct from the risk that our net asset value per share may decline. We cannot predict whether our common stock will trade above, at or below net asset value. You should read this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement carefully before you invest in our common stock.

We provide customized debt and equity financing solutions to lower middle-market companies located throughout the United States. We are an externally managed, closed-end, non-diversified management investment company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Our investment objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating both current income from our debt investments and capital appreciation from our equity related investments. Our strategy includes partnering with business owners, management teams and financial sponsors by providing customized financing for ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, business expansion and other growth initiatives.

We generally invest in securities that would be rated below investment grade if they were rated. Below investment grade securities, which are often referred to as “high yield” or “junk,” have speculative characteristics with respect to our capacity to pay interest and repay principal.

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “FDUS.” On July 18, 2012, the last reported sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market was $15.05 per share and our net asset value on March 31, 2012 was $14.94 per share.

Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC serves as our investment advisor and as our administrator.

Investing in our securities is speculative and involves numerous risks, and you could lose your entire investment if any of the risks occur. Among these risks is the risk associated with leverage and dilution. For more information regarding these risks, please see “Risk Factors “ beginning on page 11.

Please read this prospectus and the accompanying prospectus supplement, if any, before investing, and keep it for future reference. It concisely sets forth important information about us that a prospective investor ought to know before investing in our securities. We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information about us with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This information is available free of charge by contacting us at 1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820, Evanston, Illinois 60201, Attention: Investor Relations, by accessing our website at http://www.fdus.com or by calling us collect at (847) 859-3940. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into, and you should not consider that information to be part of, this prospectus or any prospectus supplement. The Securities and Exchange Commission also maintains a website at http://www.sec.gov that contains such information.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

The date of this prospectus is             , 2012


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

SUMMARY

     1   

FEES AND EXPENSES

     8   

RISK FACTORS

     11   

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     38   

USE OF PROCEEDS

     40   

FORMATION TRANSACTIONS

     41   

PRICE RANGE OF COMMON STOCK AND DISTRIBUTIONS

     42   

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

     44   

SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA

     46   

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

     47   

SENIOR SECURITIES

     61   

THE COMPANY

     62   

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

     73   

MANAGEMENT

     76   

MANAGEMENT AND OTHER AGREEMENTS

     87   

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

     94   

CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

     96   

SALES OF COMMON STOCK BELOW NET ASSET VALUE

     97   

DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN

     101   

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

     103   

DESCRIPTION OF OUR CAPITAL STOCK

     113   

DESCRIPTION OF OUR PREFERRED STOCK

     119   

DESCRIPTION OF OUR SUBSCRIPTION RIGHTS

     120   

DESCRIPTION OF OUR DEBT SECURITIES

     121   

DESCRIPTION OF OUR WARRANTS

     131   

REGULATION

     133   

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

     139   

CUSTODIAN, TRANSFER AND DIVIDEND PAYING AGENT AND REGISTRAR

     141   

BROKERAGE ALLOCATION AND OTHER PRACTICES

     141   

LEGAL MATTERS

     141   

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

     141   

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

     141   

PRIVACY NOTICE

     142   

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1   

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, using the “shelf” registration process. Under the shelf registration process, we may offer, from time to time, up to $300,000,000 worth of our common stock, preferred stock, subscription rights, debt securities, or warrants representing rights to purchase shares of our common stock, preferred stock or debt securities on terms to be determined at the time of the offering. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities that we may offer. Each time we use this prospectus to offer securities, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. To the extent required by law, we will amend or supplement the information contained in this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement to reflect any material changes to such information subsequent to the date of the prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement and prior to the completion of any offering

 

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pursuant to the prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement. Please carefully read this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement together with the additional information described under “Available Information” and “Risk Factors” before you make an investment decision. During an offering, we will disclose material amendments to this prospectus through a post-effective amendment or prospectus supplement.

No dealer, salesperson or other person is authorized to give any information or to represent anything not contained in this prospectus or any accompanying supplement to this prospectus. You must not rely on any unauthorized information or representations not contained in this prospectus or any accompanying prospectus supplement as if we had authorized it. This prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement do not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any security other than the registered securities to which they relate, nor do they constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction. The information contained in this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement is accurate as of the dates on their covers.

 

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SUMMARY

This summary highlights some of the information in this prospectus. It is not complete and may not contain all of the information that you may want to consider. You should read the entire prospectus and any prospectus supplement carefully, including “Risk Factors,” “Selected Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus.

Fidus Investment Corporation is a Maryland corporation, formed on February 14, 2011, for the purpose of acquiring 100.0% of the equity interests in Fidus Mezzanine Capital, L.P., or the Fund, and its general partner, Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, raising capital in its initial public offering, or IPO, which was completed in June 2011, and thereafter, operating as an externally managed business development company, or BDC, under the Investment Company Act of 1940, or the 1940 Act. The Fund is licensed as a small business investment company, or SBIC, by the United States Small Business Administration, or SBA. Simultaneously with the consummation of our IPO, we acquired all of the equity interests in the Fund and its former general partner as described elsewhere in this prospectus under “Formation Transactions,” whereby the Fund became our wholly owned subsidiary. Unless otherwise noted in this prospectus or any accompanying prospectus supplement, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company” and “Fidus” refer to the Fund prior to the IPO and to Fidus Investment Corporation and its subsidiaries, including the Fund, for the periods after the IPO.

As used in this prospectus the term “our investment advisor” refers to Fidus Capital, LLC prior to the Formation Transactions and Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC after the Formation Transactions. The investment professionals of Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC were also the investment professionals of Fidus Capital, LLC.

Fidus Investment Corporation

We provide customized debt and equity financing solutions to lower middle-market companies, which we define as U.S. based companies having revenues between $10.0 million and $150.0 million. Our investment objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating both current income from our debt investments and capital appreciation from our equity related investments. We were formed to continue and to expand the business of the Fund, which was formed in February 2007 and is licensed by the SBA as a SBIC. Our investment strategy includes partnering with business owners, management teams and financial sponsors by providing customized financing for ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, business expansion and other growth initiatives. We seek to maintain a diversified portfolio of investments in order to help mitigate the potential effects of adverse economic events related to particular companies, regions or industries.

We invest in companies that possess some or all of the following attributes: predictable revenues; positive cash flows; defensible and/or leading market positions; diversified customer and supplier bases; and proven management teams with strong operating discipline. We target companies in the lower middle-market with annual earnings, before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, between $3.0 million and $20.0 million; however, we may from time to time opportunistically make investments in larger or smaller companies. Our investments typically range between $5.0 million and $15.0 million per portfolio company.

As of March 31, 2012, we had debt and equity investments in 25 portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of $217.0 million. The weighted average yield on all of our debt investments as of March 31, 2012 was 15.5%. Yields are computed using the effective interest rates as of March 31, 2012, including accretion of original issue discount, divided by the weighted average cost of debt investments. There can be no assurance that the weighted average yield will remain at its current level.

 

 

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Market Opportunity

We believe that the limited amount of capital available to lower middle-market companies, coupled with the desire of these companies for flexible and partnership-oriented sources of capital, creates an attractive investment environment for us. From our perspective, lower middle-market companies have faced difficulty raising debt capital in both the capital markets and private markets. As a result of the difficulties in the credit markets and fewer sources of capital for lower middle-market companies, we see opportunities for improved risk-adjusted returns. Furthermore, we believe with a large pool of uninvested private equity capital seeking debt capital to complete transactions and a substantial supply of refinancing opportunities, there is an opportunity to attain appealing risk-adjusted returns on debt and equity investments. See “The Company” for more information.

Business Strategy

We intend to accomplish our goal of becoming the premier provider of capital to and value-added partner of lower middle-market companies by:

 

   

Leveraging the experience of our investment advisor;

 

   

Capitalizing on our strong transaction sourcing network;

 

   

Serving as a value-added partner with customized financing solutions;

 

   

Employing rigorous due diligence and underwriting processes focused on capital preservation;

 

   

Actively managing our portfolio;

 

   

Maintaining portfolio diversification; and

 

   

Benefiting from lower cost of capital through our SBIC subsidiary.

Investment Criteria/Guidelines

We use the following criteria and guidelines in evaluating investment opportunities and constructing our portfolio. However, not all of these criteria and guidelines have been, or will be, met in connection with each of our investments.

Value Orientation / Positive Cash Flow. Our investment advisor places a premium on analysis of business fundamentals from an investor’s perspective and has a distinct value orientation. We focus on companies with proven business models in which we can invest at relatively low multiples of operating cash flow. We also typically invest in companies with a history of profitability and minimum trailing twelve month EBITDA of $3.0 million. We do not invest in start-up companies, “turn-around” situations or companies that we believe have unproven business plans.

Experienced Management Teams with Meaningful Equity Ownership. We target portfolio companies that have management teams with significant experience and/or relevant industry experience coupled with meaningful equity ownership. We believe management teams with these attributes are more likely to manage the companies in a manner that protects our debt investment and enhances the value of our equity investment.

Niche Market Leaders with Defensible Market Positions. We invest in companies that have developed defensible and/or leading positions within their respective markets or market niches and are well positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities. We favor companies that demonstrate significant competitive advantages, which we believe helps to protect their market position and profitability.

Diversified Customer and Supplier Base. We prefer to invest in companies that have a diversified customer and supplier base. Companies with a diversified customer and supplier base are generally better able to endure economic downturns, industry consolidation and shifting customer preferences.

 

 

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Significant Invested Capital. We believe the existence of significant underlying equity value provides important support to our debt investments. With respect to our debt investments, we look for portfolio companies where we believe aggregate enterprise value significantly exceeds aggregate indebtedness, after consideration of our investment.

Viable Exit Strategy. We invest in companies that we believe will provide a steady stream of cash flow to repay our loans and reinvest in their respective businesses. In addition, we also seek to invest in companies whose business models and expected future cash flows offer attractive exit possibilities for our equity investments. We expect to exit our investments typically through one of three scenarios: (a) the sale of the company resulting in repayment of all outstanding debt and equity; (b) the recapitalization of the company through which our investments are replaced with debt or equity from a third party or parties; or (c) the repayment of the initial or remaining principal amount of our debt investment from cash flow generated by the company. In some investments, there may be scheduled amortization of some portion of our debt investment which would result in a partial exit of our investment prior to the maturity of the debt investment.

About Our Advisor

Our investment activities are managed by Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC, our investment advisor. Pursuant to the terms of the investment advisory and management agreement, which we refer to as the Investment Advisory Agreement, our investment advisor is responsible for determining the composition of our portfolio, including sourcing potential investments, conducting research and diligence on potential investments and equity sponsors, analyzing investment opportunities, structuring our investments and monitoring our investments and portfolio companies on an ongoing basis. Our investment advisor’s investment professionals seek to capitalize on their significant deal origination and sourcing, credit underwriting, due diligence, investment structuring, execution, portfolio management and monitoring experience. These professionals have developed a broad network of contacts within the investment community, have gained extensive experience investing in assets that constitute our primary focus and have expertise in investing across all levels of the capital structure of lower middle-market companies. For information regarding the people who control our investment advisor and their affiliations with the Company, see “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions—Investment Advisory Agreement.”

Our relationship with our investment advisor is governed by and dependent on the Investment Advisory Agreement and may be subject to conflicts of interest. We pay our investment advisor a fee for its services under the Investment Advisory Agreement consisting of two components—a base management fee and an incentive fee. The base management fee is calculated at an annual rate of 1.75% of the average value of our total assets (other than cash or cash equivalents but including assets purchased with borrowed amounts). The incentive fee consists of two parts. The first part is calculated and payable quarterly in arrears and equals 20.0% of our “pre-incentive fee net investment income” for the immediately preceding quarter, subject to a 2.0% preferred return, or “hurdle,” and a “catch up” feature. The second part is determined and payable in arrears as of the end of each fiscal year in an amount equal to 20.0% of our realized capital gains and unrealized capital appreciation, if any, on a cumulative basis from inception through the end of the year, computed net of all realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation on a cumulative basis, less the aggregate amount of any previously paid capital gain incentive fees. For more information about how we compensate our investment advisor and the related conflicts of interest, see “Management and Other Agreements—Investment Advisory Agreement” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions —Conflicts of Interest.”

Our board of directors is charged with protecting our interests by monitoring how our investment advisor addresses conflicts of interest associated with its management services and compensation. While our board of directors is not expected to review or approve each borrowing or incurrence of leverage, our independent directors periodically review our investment advisor’s services and fees as well as its portfolio management

 

 

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decisions and portfolio performance. In connection with these reviews, our independent directors consider whether the fees and expenses (including those related to leverage) that we pay to our investment advisor remain appropriate.

Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company that is registered as an investment advisor under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, or the Advisers Act. In addition, Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC serves as our administrator and provides us with office space, equipment and clerical, book-keeping and record-keeping services pursuant to an administration agreement, which we refer to as the Administration Agreement.

Operating and Regulatory Structure

Our investment activities are managed by our investment advisor under the direction of our board of directors, a majority of whom are independent of us.

As a BDC, we are required to comply with certain regulatory requirements. For example, while we are permitted to finance investments using leverage, which may include the issuance of shares of preferred stock, or notes and other borrowings, our ability to use leverage is limited in significant respects. See “Regulation.” Any decision on our part to use leverage will depend upon our assessment of the attractiveness of available investment opportunities in relation to the costs and perceived risks of such leverage. The use of leverage to finance investments creates certain risks and potential conflicts of interest. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure—Regulations governing our operation as a BDC affect our ability to raise, and the way in which we raise additional capital which may have a negative effect on our growth.” and “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure—Because we borrow money and may in the future issue additional senior securities including preferred stock and debt securities, the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested in us is magnified and may increase the risk of investing in us.”

We intend to elect to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a regulated investment company, or RIC, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. In order to be treated as a RIC, we must satisfy certain source of income, asset diversification and distribution requirements. See “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.”

Risk Factors

The value of our assets, as well as the market price of our shares, will fluctuate. Our investments may be risky, and you may lose part of or all of your investment in us. Investing in our securities involves other risks, including the following:

 

   

our inexperience operating a BDC;

 

   

our dependence on key personnel of our investment advisor and our executive officers;

 

   

our ability to maintain or develop referral relationships;

 

   

our ability to manage our business effectively;

 

   

our use of leverage;

 

   

uncertain valuations of our portfolio investments;

 

   

competition for investment opportunities;

 

   

potential divergent interests of our investment advisor and our stockholders arising from our management and incentive fee structure;

 

 

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actual and potential conflicts of interest with our investment advisor;

 

   

constraint on investment due to access to material nonpublic information;

 

   

other potential conflicts of interest;

 

   

SBA regulations affecting our wholly-owned SBIC subsidiary;

 

   

changes in interest rates;

 

   

the impact of a protracted decline in the liquidity of credit markets on our business and portfolio investments;

 

   

fluctuations in our quarterly operating results;

 

   

our ability to qualify and maintain our qualification as a RIC and as a BDC;

 

   

risks associated with the timing, form and amount of any distributions to our stockholders;

 

   

changes in laws or regulations applicable to us;

 

   

dilutions risks related to issuing shares below our current net asset value;

 

   

possible resignation of our investment advisor;

 

   

the general economy and its impact on the industries in which we invest;

 

   

risks associated with investing in lower middle-market companies;

 

   

our ability to invest in qualifying assets; and

 

   

our ability to identify and timely close on investment opportunities.

See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 11 and the other information included in this prospectus, and any prospectus supplement, for additional discussion of factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in our securities.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820, Evanston, Illinois 60201, and our telephone number is (847) 859-3940. Our corporate website is located at http://www.fdus.com. Information on our website is not incorporated into this prospectus or any supplements to this prospectus, and you should not consider information contained on our website to be part of this prospectus or any supplements to this prospectus.

 

 

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The Offering

We may offer, from time to time, up to $300,000,000 worth of our securities, on terms to be determined at the time of the offering. Our securities may be offered at prices and on terms to be disclosed in one or more prospectus supplements.

Our securities may be offered directly to one or more purchasers by us or through agents designated from time to time by us, or to or through underwriters or dealers. The prospectus supplement relating to the offering will disclose the terms of the offering, including the name or names of any agents or underwriters involved in the sale of our securities by us, the purchase price, and any fee, commission or discount arrangement between us and our agents or underwriters or among our underwriters or the basis upon which such amount may be calculated. See “Plan of Distribution.” We may not sell any of our securities through agents, underwriters or dealers without delivery of a prospectus supplement describing the method and terms of the offering of our securities.

 

The Nasdaq Global Select Market Symbol

FDUS

 

Use of proceeds

We intend to use the net proceeds from selling our securities to make investments in lower middle-market companies in accordance with our investment objective and strategies and for working capital and general corporate purposes. See “Use of Proceeds.”

 

Dividends and distributions

We pay quarterly distributions to our stockholders out of assets legally available for distribution. Our distributions, if any, will be determined by our board of directors. Our ability to declare distributions depends on our earnings, our overall financial condition (including our liquidity position), qualification for or maintenance of our RIC status and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time.

 

  When we make distributions, we will be required to determine the extent to which such distributions are paid out of current or accumulated earnings, recognized capital gains or capital. To the extent there is a return of capital, investors will be required to reduce their basis in our stock for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In the future, our distributions may include a return of capital.

 

Dividend reinvestment plan

We have adopted a dividend reinvestment plan for our common stockholders, which is an “opt out” dividend reinvestment plan. Under this plan, if we declare a cash distribution, our stockholders who have not opted out of our dividend reinvestment plan will have their cash distribution automatically reinvested in additional shares of our common stock, rather than receiving the cash distribution. If a stockholder opts out, that stockholder will receive cash distributions. Stockholders who receive distributions in the form of shares of common stock generally are subject to the same U.S. federal income tax consequences as stockholders who elect to receive their distributions in cash; however, since their cash distributions will be reinvested, such stockholders will not receive cash with which to pay any applicable taxes on reinvested distributions. See “Dividend Reinvestment Plan.”

 

 

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Taxation

We intend to elect to be treated, and intend to qualify thereafter, as a RIC under the Code, beginning with our taxable year ended December 31, 2011. As a RIC, we generally will not have to pay corporate-level U.S. federal income taxes on any net ordinary income or capital gains that we distribute to our stockholders. To obtain and maintain RIC tax treatment, we must distribute at least 90.0% of our net ordinary income and net short-term capital gains in excess of our net long-term capital losses, if any. See “Distributions” and “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.”

 

Effective trading at a discount

Shares of closed-end investment companies, including business development companies, frequently trade at a discount to their net asset value. The risk that our shares may trade at a discount to our net asset value is separate and distinct from the risk that our net asset value per share may decline. We cannot predict whether our shares will trade above, at or below net asset value. See “Risk Factors.”

 

Sales of common stock below net asset value

Generally, the offering price per share of our common stock, exclusive of any underwriting commissions or discounts, may not be less than the net asset value per share of our common stock at the time we make the offering except (1) in connection with a rights offering to our existing stockholders, (2) with the consent of the majority of our common stockholders and approval of our board of directors, or (3) under such circumstances as the SEC may permit. On June 6, 2012, our common stockholders voted to allow us to sell or otherwise issue common stock at a price below net asset value per share for a period of one year ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Sales or other issuances by us of our common stock at a discount from our net asset value pose potential risks for our existing stockholders whether or not they participate in the offering, as well as for new investors who participate in the offering. See “Sales of Common Stock Below Net Asset Value” in this prospectus and in the prospectus supplement, if applicable.

 

Available information

We are required to file periodic reports, current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. This information is available on the SEC’s Internet website at www.sec.gov. You can also inspect any materials we file with the SEC, without charge, at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the Public Reference Room. We intend to provide much of the same information on our website at www.fdus.com. Information contained on our website is not part of this prospectus or any prospectus supplement and should not be relied upon as such.

 

 

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FEES AND EXPENSES

The following table is intended to assist you in understanding the costs and expenses that an investor in our common stock will bear, directly or indirectly, based on the assumptions set forth below. We caution you that some of the percentages indicated in the table below are estimates and may vary. Except where the context suggests otherwise, whenever this prospectus contains a reference to fees or expenses paid by “you,” “us,” “the Company” or “Fidus,” or that “we” will pay fees or expenses, stockholders will indirectly bear such fees or expenses as investors in us.

 

Stockholder transaction expenses:

  

Sales load (as a percentage of offering price)

     —   (1) 

Offering expenses borne by us (as a percentage of offering price)

     —   (2) 

Dividend reinvestment plan expenses

     —   (3) 

Total stockholder transaction expenses paid by us (as a percentage of offering price)

     —   (4) 

Annual expenses (as a percentage of net assets attributable to common stock)(5):

  

Base management fee

     2.7 %(6) 

Incentive fees payable under Investment Advisory Agreement

     2.6 %(7) 

Interest payments on borrowed funds

     4.1 %(8) 

Other expenses

     2.0 %(9) 
  

 

 

 

Total annual expenses

     11.4 %(10) 
  

 

 

 

 

(1) In the event that securities to which this prospectus relates are sold to or through underwriters, a corresponding prospectus supplement will disclose the applicable sales load.
(2) In the event that we conduct an offering of any of our securities, a corresponding prospectus supplement will disclose the estimated offering expenses because they will be ultimately borne by us.
(3) The expenses of administering our dividend reinvestment plan are included in other expenses.
(4) Total stockholder transaction expenses may include a sales load and will be disclosed in a future prospectus supplement, if any.
(5) Net assets attributable to common stock equals average net assets as of March 31, 2012.
(6) Our base management fee is 1.75% of the average value of our total assets (other than cash and cash equivalents but including assets purchased with borrowed amounts) and are estimated by assuming the base management fee remains consistent with the fees incurred for the three months ended March 31, 2012. We may from time to time decide it is appropriate to change the terms of the Investment Advisory Agreement. Under the 1940 Act, any material change to our Investment Advisory Agreement must be submitted to stockholders for approval. The 2.7% reflected in the table is calculated on our net assets (rather than our total assets). See “Management and Other Agreements—Investment Advisory Agreement.”
(7) This item represents our investment advisor’s incentive fees based on annualizing actual amounts earned on our pre-incentive fee net investment income for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and assumes that the capital gains incentive fees payable at the end of the 2012 calendar year will be based on the actual cumulative realized capital gains net of cumulative realized losses and unrealized capital depreciation as of March 31, 2012.

The incentive fee consists of two parts:

The first, payable quarterly in arrears, equals 20.0% of our pre-incentive fee net investment income (including interest that is accrued but not yet received in cash), subject to a 2.0% quarterly (8.0% annualized) hurdle rate and a “catch-up” provision measured as of the end of each calendar quarter. Under this provision, in any calendar quarter, our investment advisor receives no incentive fee until our pre-incentive fee net investment income equals the hurdle rate of 2.0% but then receives, as a “catch-up,” 100.0% of our pre-incentive fee net investment income with respect to that portion of such pre-incentive fee

 

 

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net investment income, if any, that exceeds the hurdle rate but is less than 2.5%. The effect of this provision is that, if pre-incentive fee net investment income exceeds 2.5% in any calendar quarter, our investment advisor will receive 20.0% of our pre-incentive fee net investment income as if a hurdle rate did not apply.

The second part, payable annually in arrears, equals 20.0% of our realized capital gains and unrealized capital appreciation, if any, on a cumulative basis from inception through the end of the fiscal year, if any (or upon the termination of the Investment Advisory Agreement, as of the termination date), computed net of all realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation on a cumulative basis, less the aggregate amount of any previously paid capital gain incentive fees. We accrue, but do not pay, a capital gains incentive fee in connection with any net unrealized capital appreciation, as appropriate. “Incentive fees payable under Investment Advisory Agreement” does not include an accrual reversal (in accordance with GAAP) for a capital gains incentive fee of ($20,391) for the three months ended March 31, 2012 because no capital gains incentive fee was earned and payable under the Investment Advisory Agreement.

See “Management and Other Agreements—Investment Advisory Agreement.”

 

(8) Interest payments on borrowed funds represent our estimated annual interest payments on our outstanding SBA-guaranteed debentures.
(9) Other expenses represent our estimated annual operating expenses, including professional fees, directors’ fees, insurance costs, expenses of our dividend reinvestment plan and payments under the Administration Agreement based on our allocable portion of overhead and other expenses incurred by our administrator. See “Management and Other Agreements—Administration Agreement.” Other expenses exclude interest payments on borrowed funds, and if we issue debt securities or preferred stock, interest payments on debt securities and distributions with respect to preferred stock. We currently do not have any class of securities outstanding other than common stock. “Other expenses” are based on actual other expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and annualized for a full year.
(10) “Total annual expenses” as a percentage of consolidated net assets attributable to common stock are higher than the total annual expenses percentage would be for a company that is not leveraged. We borrow money to leverage our net assets and increase our total assets. The SEC requires that the “total annual expenses” percentage be calculated as a percentage of net assets (defined as total assets less indebtedness and before taking into account any incentive fees payable during the period), rather than the total assets, including assets that have been purchased with borrowed amounts. If the “total annual expenses” percentage were calculated instead as a percentage of average consolidated total assets, our “total annual expenses” would be 6.1% of average consolidated total assets.

Example

The following example demonstrates the projected dollar amount of total cumulative expenses over various periods with respect to a hypothetical investment in us. In calculating the following expense amounts, we have assumed we would have no additional leverage, that none of our assets are cash or cash equivalents and that our annual operating expenses would remain at the levels set forth in the table above. Transaction expenses are not included in the following example.

 

     1 year      3 years      5 years      10 years  

You would pay the following expenses on a $1,000 investment, assuming a 5.0% annual return

   $ 117       $ 328       $ 511       $ 873   

The foregoing table is to assist you in understanding the various costs and expenses that an investor in our common stock will bear directly or indirectly. While the example assumes, as required by the SEC, a 5.0% annual return, our performance will vary and may result in a return greater or less than 5.0%. The incentive fee

 

 

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under the Investment Advisory Agreement, which, assuming a 5.0% annual return, would either not be payable or have an insignificant impact on the expense amounts shown above, is not included in the example. If we achieve sufficient returns on our investments, including through the realization of capital gains, to trigger an incentive fee of a material amount, our expenses, and returns to our investors, would be higher. In addition, while the example assumes reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value, if our board of directors authorizes and we declare a cash dividend, participants in our dividend reinvestment plan who have not otherwise elected to receive cash will receive a number of shares of our common stock, determined by dividing the total dollar amount of the distribution payable to a participant by the market price per share of our common stock at the close of trading on the valuation date for the distribution. See “Dividend Reinvestment Plan” for additional information regarding our dividend reinvestment plan.

This example and the expenses in the table above should not be considered a representation of our future expenses, and actual expenses (including the cost of debt, if any, and other expenses) may be greater or less than those shown.

 

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves a number of significant risks. You should carefully consider these risk factors, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus, or any prospectus supplement. The risks set out below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or not presently deemed material by us may also impair our operations and performance. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In such case, our net asset value and the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure

We have a limited operating history as a BDC and have not yet elected to be treated as a RIC, and our investment advisor has limited experience managing a BDC or a RIC, and we may not be able to operate our business successfully or generate sufficient revenue to make or sustain distributions to our stockholders.

The Fund commenced operations and obtained a license to operate as an SBIC in 2007. Prior to the completion of the Formation Transactions and our IPO in June 2011, we did not operate as a BDC and had not qualified to be treated as a RIC, and our investment advisor had never managed any BDC. As a result, we have limited operating results under these regulatory frameworks that can demonstrate to you either their effect on our business or our ability to manage our business under these frameworks. We are subject to the business risks and uncertainties associated with recently formed businesses, including the risk that we will not achieve our investment objective, or that we will not qualify or maintain our qualification to be treated as a RIC, and that the value of your investment could decline substantially.

The 1940 Act and the Code impose numerous constraints on the operations of BDCs and RICs. BDCs are required, for example, to invest at least 70.0% of their total assets in qualifying assets, which generally include securities of 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. Any failure to comply with the requirements imposed on BDCs by the 1940 Act could cause the SEC to bring an enforcement action against us and/or expose us to claims of private litigants. Moreover, qualification for treatment as a RIC requires satisfaction of source-of-income, asset diversification and distribution requirements. Both we and our investment advisor have limited experience operating under these constraints, which may hinder our ability to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities and to achieve our investment objective.

We are dependent upon our investment advisor’s managing members and our executive officers for our future success. If our investment advisor was to lose any of its managing members or we lose any of our executive officers, our ability to achieve our investment objective could be significantly harmed.

We depend on the investment expertise, skill and network of business contacts of the managing members of our investment advisor, who evaluate, negotiate, structure, execute and monitor our investments. Our future success will depend to a significant extent on the continued service and coordination of the investment professionals of our investment advisor and executive officers, particularly Edward H. Ross, John J. Ross, II, B. Bragg Comer, III, Thomas C. Lauer, W. Andrew Worth and Cary L. Schaefer. Although Messrs. E. Ross, Comer, Lauer and Worth and Ms. Schaefer intend to devote all of their business time to our operations, they may have other demands on their time in the future. Mr. J. Ross will not devote all of his business time to our operations and will have other demands on his time as a result of other activities. The departure of any of these individuals could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objective.

 

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Our business model depends to a significant extent upon strong referral relationships with financial institutions, sponsors and investment professionals. Any inability of our investment advisor to maintain or develop these relationships, or the failure of these relationships to generate investment opportunities, could adversely affect our business.

We depend upon the investment professionals of our investment advisor to maintain their relationships with financial institutions, sponsors and investment professionals, and we intend to rely to a significant extent upon these relationships to provide us with potential investment opportunities. If the investment professionals of our investment advisor fail to maintain such relationships, or to develop new relationships with other sources of investment opportunities, we will not be able to grow our investment portfolio. In addition, individuals with whom the investment professionals of our investment advisor have relationships are not obligated to provide us with investment opportunities, and, therefore, we can offer no assurance that these relationships will generate investment opportunities for us in the future.

Our financial condition and results of operation depends on our ability to manage our business effectively.

Our ability to achieve our investment objective and grow depends on our ability to manage our business and deploy our capital effectively. This depends, in turn, on our investment advisor’s ability to identify, evaluate and monitor companies that meet our investment criteria. The achievement of our investment objectives on a cost-effective basis depends upon our investment advisor’s execution of our investment process, its ability to provide competent, attentive and efficient services to us and, to a lesser extent, our access to financing on acceptable terms. Our investment advisor will have substantial responsibilities under the Investment Advisory Agreement. In addition, our investment advisor’s investment professionals may be called upon to provide managerial assistance to our portfolio companies. These activities may distract them or slow our rate of investment. Any failure to manage our business and our future growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Even if we are able to grow and build upon our investment operations in a manner commensurate with the increased capital available to us as a result of being a publicly-traded company, any failure to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Our results of operations depend on many factors, including the availability of opportunities for investment, readily accessible short and long-term funding alternatives in the financial markets and economic conditions. Furthermore, if we cannot successfully operate our business or implement our investment policies and strategies, it could negatively impact our ability to distributions to our stockholders and could cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

We may suffer credit losses and our investments could be rated below investment grade.

Private debt in the form of mezzanine, senior secured or unitranche loans to corporate and asset-based borrowers is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk of credit loss, and therefore an investment in our shares of common stock may not be suitable for someone with a low tolerance for risk. These risks are likely to increase during an economic recession, such as the economic recession or downturn that the U.S. and many other countries have recently experienced or are experiencing.

In addition, investments in our portfolio are typically not rated by any rating agency. We believe that if such investments were rated, the vast majority would be rated below investment grade due to speculative characteristics of the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. Our investments may result in an amount of risk, volatility or potential loss of principal that is greater than that of alternative investments.

 

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Because we borrow money and may in the future issue additional senior securities, including preferred stock and debt securities, 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 amounts invested and, therefore, increase the risks associated with investing in us. The Fund borrows from and issues debt securities to the SBA, and we may borrow from banks and other lenders in the future. The SBA has fixed dollar claims on the Fund’s assets that are superior to the claims of our stockholders. We may also borrow from banks and other lenders or issue additional senior securities including preferred stock and debt securities in the future. If the value of our assets increases, then leveraging would cause the net asset value attributable to our common stock to increase more sharply than it would have had we not used leverage. Conversely, if the value of the our assets decreases, leveraging would cause net asset value to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have had we not leveraged. Similarly, any increase in our income in excess of interest payable on the borrowed funds would cause our net income to increase more than it would without the leverage, while any decrease in our income would cause net income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not borrowed. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. Leverage is generally considered a speculative investment technique.

Our ability to achieve our investment objectives may depend in part on our ability to achieve additional leverage on favorable terms by borrowing from the SBA, banks or other lenders, and there can be no assurance that such additional leverage can in fact be achieved.

As a BDC, we are generally required to meet a coverage ratio of total assets to total borrowings and other senior securities, which include all of our borrowings (other than SBA leverage) and any preferred stock we may issue in the future, of at least 200.0%. If this ratio declines below 200.0%, we may not be able to incur additional debt and may need to sell a portion of our investments to repay some debt when it is disadvantageous to do so, and we may not be able to make distributions.

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.

Assumed Return on Our Portfolio

(Net of Expenses)

 

     (10.0)%     (5.0)%     0.0%     5.0%     10.0%  

Corresponding return to common stockholder (1)

     (22.8 )%     (13.5 )%     (4.1 )%     5.2 %     14.5 %

 

(1) Assumes $262.8 million in total assets, $119.0 million in outstanding SBA debentures and $140.8 million in net assets as of March 31, 2012 and an average cost of funds of 4.9%.

Funding a portion of our investments with preferred stock magnifies the potential for gain or loss and the risks of investing in us in the same way as our other borrowings.

Preferred stock, which is another form of leverage, has the same risks to our common stockholders as borrowings because the distributions with respect to any preferred stock must be cumulative. Payment of such distributions and repayment of the liquidation preference of such preferred stock must take preference over any distributions or other payments to our common stockholders, and preferred stockholders are not subject to any of our expenses or losses and are not entitled to participate in any income or appreciation in excess of their stated preference.

 

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Many of our portfolio investments are recorded at fair value as determined in good faith by our board of directors, and, as a result, there is uncertainty as to the value of our portfolio investments.

Many of our portfolio investments take the form of debt and equity securities that are not publicly-traded. The debt and equity securities in which we invest for which market quotations are not readily available are valued at fair value as determined in good faith by our board of directors. As part of the valuation process, we may take into account the following types of factors, if relevant, in determining the fair value of our investments:

 

   

a comparison of the portfolio company’s securities to publicly-traded securities;

 

   

the enterprise value of a portfolio company;

 

   

the nature and realizable value of any collateral;

 

   

the portfolio company’s ability to make payments and its earnings and discounted cash flow;

 

   

the markets in which the portfolio company does business; and

 

   

changes in the interest rate environment and the credit markets generally that may affect the price at which similar investments may be made in the future and other relevant factors.

We adjust quarterly the valuation of our portfolio to reflect the determination of our board of directors of the fair value of each investment in our portfolio. Any changes in fair value from the prior period are recorded in our statement of operations as net change in unrealized appreciation or depreciation.

Due to the inherent uncertainty of determining the fair value of investments that do not have a readily available market value, the fair value of our investments may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a readily available market value existed for such investments, and the differences could be material. Declines in prices and liquidity in the corporate debt markets may also result in significant net unrealized depreciation in our debt portfolio. Our net asset value could be adversely affected if our determinations regarding the fair value of our investments were materially higher than the values that we ultimately realize upon the disposal of such investments.

We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities, which could reduce returns and result in losses.

A number of entities compete with us to make the types of investments that we plan to make. We compete with public and private funds, commercial and investment banks, commercial financing companies and, to the extent they provide an alternative form of financing, private equity and hedge funds. Many of our competitors are substantially larger and have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. For example, we believe some of our competitors may have 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. 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 offer. We may lose investment opportunities if we do not match our competitors’ pricing, terms and structure. If we match our competitors’ pricing, terms and structure, we may experience a decrease in net investment income or an increase in risk of capital loss. A significant part of our competitive advantage stems from the fact that the lower middle-market is underserved by traditional commercial and investment banks, and generally has less access to capital. 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 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 RIC status. The competitive pressures we face may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As a result of this existing and potentially increasing competition, we may not be able to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time, and we may not be able to identify and make investments that are consistent with our investment objective.

 

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Our management and incentive fee structure may create incentives for our investment advisor that are not fully aligned with the interests of our stockholders.

In the course of our investing activities, we pay management and incentive fees to our investment advisor. These fees are based on our total assets (other than cash or cash equivalents but including assets purchased with borrowed amounts). As a result, investors in our common stock invest on a “gross” basis and receive distributions on a “net” basis after expenses, resulting in a lower rate of return than one might achieve through direct investments. Because these fees are based on our total assets (other than cash or cash equivalents but including assets purchased with borrowed amounts), our investment advisor benefits when we incur debt or use leverage. This fee structure may encourage our investment advisor to cause us to borrow money to finance additional investments. Under certain circumstances, the use of borrowed money may increase the likelihood of default, which would disfavor our stockholders. Our board of directors is charged with protecting our interests by monitoring how our investment advisor addresses these and other conflicts of interests associated with its management services and compensation. While our board of directors is not expected to review or approve each borrowing or incurrence of leverage, our independent directors periodically review our investment advisor’s services and fees as well as its portfolio management decisions and portfolio performance. In connection with these reviews, our independent directors consider whether our fees and expenses (including those related to leverage) remain appropriate. As a result of this arrangement, our investment advisor may from time to time have interests that differ from those of our stockholders, giving rise to a conflict.

The part of the incentive fee payable to our investment advisor that relates to our net investment income is computed and paid on income that includes interest income that has been accrued but not yet received in cash. This fee structure may be considered to involve a conflict of interest for our investment advisor to the extent that it may encourage our investment advisor to favor debt financings that provide for deferred interest, rather than current cash payments of interest. Our investment advisor may have an incentive to invest in deferred interest securities in circumstances where it would not have done so but for the opportunity to continue to earn the incentive fee even when the issuers of the deferred interest securities would not be able to make actual cash payments to us on such securities. This risk could be increased because our investment advisor is not obligated to reimburse us for any incentive fees received even if we subsequently incur losses or never receive in cash the deferred income that was previously accrued.

The valuation process for certain of our portfolio holdings creates a conflict of interest.

A substantial portion of our portfolio investments are made in the form of securities that are not publicly traded. As a result, our board of directors determines the fair value of these securities in good faith pursuant to our valuation policy. In connection with that determination, investment professionals from our investment advisor prepare portfolio company valuations based upon the most recent portfolio company financial statements available and projected financial results of each portfolio company. In addition, certain members of our board of directors, including Messrs. E. Ross and Lauer, have a pecuniary interest in our investment advisor. The participation of our investment advisor’s investment professionals in our valuation process, and the pecuniary interest in our investment advisor by certain members of our board of directors, would result in a conflict of interest as the management fee that we will pay our investment advisor is based on our gross assets less cash.

Our incentive fee may induce our investment advisor to make speculative investments.

Our investment advisor receives an incentive fee based, in part, upon net capital gains realized on our investments. Unlike that portion of the incentive fee based on income, there is no hurdle rate applicable to the portion of the incentive fee based on net capital gains. As a result, our investment advisor may have a tendency to invest more capital in investments that are likely to result in capital gains as compared to income producing securities. Such a practice could result in our investing in more speculative securities than would otherwise be the case, which could result in higher investment losses, particularly during economic downturns.

 

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We may be obligated to pay our investment advisor incentive compensation even if we incur a loss and may pay more than 20.0% of our net capital gains because we cannot recover payments made in previous years.

Our investment advisor will be entitled to incentive compensation for each fiscal quarter in an amount equal to a percentage of the excess of our net investment income for that quarter above a threshold return for that quarter. Our pre-incentive fee net investment income for incentive compensation purposes excludes realized and unrealized capital losses that we may incur in the fiscal quarter, even if such capital losses result in a net loss on our statement of operations for that quarter. Thus, we may be required to pay our investment advisor incentive compensation for a fiscal quarter even if there is a decline in the value of our portfolio or we incur a net loss for that quarter. Further, if we pay an incentive fee of 20.0% of our realized capital gains (net of all realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation on a cumulative basis) and thereafter experience additional realized capital losses or unrealized capital depreciation, we will not be able to recover any portion of the incentive fee previously paid.

We may have potential conflicts of interest related to obligations that our investment advisor may have to other clients.

Although currently we and the Fund are the only investment vehicles managed by our investment advisor, we may in the future have conflicts of interest with our investment advisor or its respective other clients that elect to invest in similar types of securities as we will invest. Our investment advisor’s investment committee serves or may serve as officers, directors or principals of entities that operate in the same or a related line of business as we do, or of investment funds or other investment vehicles managed by our investment advisor. In serving in these multiple capacities, they may have obligations to other clients or investors in those entities, the fulfillment of which may not be in the best interests of us or our stockholders. Our investment advisor will seek to allocate investment opportunities among eligible accounts in a manner that is fair and equitable over time and consistent with an allocation policy approved by our board of directors.

Our investment advisor or its investment committee may, from time to time, possess material non-public information, limiting our investment discretion.

The investment professionals of our investment advisor may serve as directors of, or in a similar capacity with, companies in which we invest, the securities of which are purchased or sold on our behalf. In the event that material non-public information is obtained 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 may have conflicts related to other arrangements with our investment advisor.

We entered into a license agreement with Fidus Partners, LLC under which Fidus Partners, LLC granted us a non-exclusive (provided that there is not a change in control of Fidus Partners, LLC), royalty-free license to use the name “Fidus.” Some of the members of our investment advisor’s investment committee and the senior origination professionals of our investment advisor are professionals of Fidus Partners, LLC. See “Management and Other Agreements — License Agreement.” In addition, we rent office space from our investment advisor and pay to our investment advisor our allocable portion of overhead and other expenses incurred in performing its obligations under the Administration Agreement, such as our allocable portion of the cost of our chief financial officer and chief compliance officer. This creates conflicts of interest that our board of directors must monitor.

The Investment Advisory Agreement and the Administration Agreement with our investment advisor 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 Administration Agreement were negotiated between related parties. Consequently, their terms, including fees payable to our investment advisor and our administrator, may

 

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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 investment advisor and our administrator.

The Fund is licensed by the SBA, and therefore, subject to SBA regulations.

The Fund is licensed to operate as an SBIC and is regulated by the SBA. Under current SBA regulations, a licensed SBIC can provide capital to those entities that have a tangible net worth not exceeding $18.0 million and an average annual net income after U.S. federal income taxes not exceeding $6.0 million for the two most recent fiscal years. In addition, a licensed SBIC must devote 25.0% of its investment activity to those entities that have a tangible net worth not exceeding $6.0 million and an average annual net income after U.S. federal income taxes not exceeding $2.0 million for the two most recent fiscal years. The SBA regulations also provide alternative size standard criteria to determine eligibility, which depend on the industry in which the business is engaged and are based on either the number of employees or the gross sales. The SBA regulations permit licensed SBICs to make long term loans to small businesses, invest in the equity securities of such businesses and provide them with consulting and advisory services. The SBA also places certain limitations on the financing terms of investments by SBICs in portfolio companies and prohibits SBICs from providing funds for certain purposes or to businesses in certain prohibited industries. Further, the SBA regulations require that a licensed SBIC be periodically examined and audited by the SBA staff to determine its compliance with the relevant SBA regulations. Compliance with these SBA requirements may cause the Fund to forego attractive investment opportunities that are not permitted under the SBA regulations, and may cause the Fund to make investments it otherwise would not make in order to remain in compliance with these regulations.

Failure to comply with the SBA regulations could result in the loss of the SBIC license and the resulting inability to participate in the SBA debenture program. The SBA prohibits, without prior SBA approval, a “change of control” of an SBIC or transfers that would result in any person (or a group of persons acting in concert) owning 10.0% or more of a class of capital stock of a licensed SBIC. Current SBA regulations provide the SBA with certain rights and remedies if an SBIC violates their terms. A key regulatory metric for SBA is the extent of “Capital Impairment,” which is the extent of realized (and, in certain circumstances, net unrealized) losses compared with the SBIC’s private capital commitments. Interest payments, management fees, organization and other expenses are included in determining “realized losses.” SBA regulations preclude the full amount of “unrealized appreciation” from portfolio companies from being considered when calculating Capital Impairment in certain circumstances. Remedies for regulatory violations are graduated in severity depending on the seriousness of Capital Impairment or other regulatory violations. For minor regulatory infractions, the SBA issues a warning. For more serious infractions, the use of SBA debentures may be limited or prohibited, outstanding debentures can be declared to be immediately due and payable, restrictions on distributions and making new investments may be imposed management fees may be required to be reduced. In severe cases, the SBA may require the removal of a general partner of an SBIC or its officers, directors, managers or partners, or the SBA may obtain appointment of a receiver for the SBIC.

SBA regulations limit the amount that may be borrowed from the SBA by an SBIC.

The SBA regulations currently limit the amount that is available to be borrowed by any SBIC and guaranteed by the SBA to 300.0% of an SBIC’s regulatory capital or $150.0 million, whichever is less. For two or more SBICs under common control, the maximum amount of outstanding SBA debentures cannot exceed $225.0 million. As of March 31, 2012, the Fund had $119.0 million of SBA debentures. With $75.0 million of regulatory capital as of March 31, 2012, the Fund has the current capacity to issue up to a total of $150.0 million of SBA debentures. If the Fund borrows the maximum amount from the SBA and thereafter requires additional capital, our cost of capital may increase, and there is no assurance that we will be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms.

Moreover, the Fund’s current status as an SBIC does not automatically assure that it will continue to receive SBA debenture funding. Receipt of SBA debenture funding is dependent upon the Fund continuing to be in

 

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compliance with SBA regulations and policies and there being funding available. The amount of SBA debenture funding available to SBICs is dependent upon annual Congressional authorizations and in the future may be subject to annual Congressional appropriations. There can be no assurance that there will be sufficient SBA debenture funding available at the times desired by the Fund.

The debentures issued by the Fund to the SBA have a maturity of ten years and bear interest semi-annually at fixed rates. The Fund will need to generate sufficient cash flow to make required debt payments to the SBA. If the Fund is unable to generate such cash flow, the SBA, as a debt holder, will have a superior claim to our assets over our stockholders in the event it liquidates or the SBA exercises its remedies under such debentures as the result of a default by the Fund.

The Fund, as an SBIC, is limited in its ability to make distributions to us, which could result in us being unable to meet the minimum distribution requirements to qualify as a RIC.

In order to qualify as a RIC, we are required to distribute to our stockholders on an annual basis 90.0% of our net ordinary income and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses. For this purpose, our taxable income will include the income of the Fund (and any other entities that are disregarded as separate from us for U.S. federal income tax purposes). The Fund’s ability to make distributions to us may be limited by the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. As a result, in order to qualify and maintain our status as a RIC, we may be required to make distributions attributable to the Fund’s income without receiving any corresponding cash distributions from it with respect to such income. We can make no assurances that the Fund will be able to make, or not be limited in making, distributions to us. If we are unable to satisfy the annual distribution requirements, we may fail to qualify or maintain our status as a RIC, which would result in the imposition of corporate-level U.S. federal income tax on our entire taxable income without regard to any distributions made by us. See “— We will be subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income tax if we are unable to qualify or maintain qualification as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code.”

Changes in interest rates will affect our cost of capital and net investment income.

Most of our debt investments bear interest at fixed rates and the value of these investments could be negatively affected by increases in market interest rates. In addition, to the extent that we borrow additional funds to make investments, an increase in interest rates would make it more expensive for us to use debt to finance our investments. As a result, a significant increase in market interest rates could both reduce the value of our portfolio investments and increase our cost of capital, which would reduce our net investment income. Conversely, a decrease in interest rates may have an adverse impact on our returns by requiring us to seek lower yields on our debt investments and by increasing the risk that our portfolio companies will prepay the debt investments, resulting in the need to redeploy capital at potentially lower rates.

You should also be aware that a rise in market interest rates typically leads to higher interest rates applicable to our debt investments. Accordingly, an increase in interest rates may result in an increase of the amount of incentive fees payable to our investment advisor.

An extended continuation of the disruption in the capital markets and the credit markets could negatively affect our business.

As a BDC, it is essential for us to maintain our ability to raise additional capital for investment purposes. Without sufficient access to the capital markets or credit markets, we may be forced to curtail our business operations or we may not be able to pursue new business opportunities. Since the middle of 2007, the capital markets and the credit markets have been experiencing extreme volatility and disruption and, accordingly, there has been and will continue to be uncertainty in the financial markets in general. Ongoing disruptive conditions in the financial industry and the impact of new legislation in response to those conditions could restrict our business operations and could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 

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From time to time, we may borrow from financial institutions in order to obtain additional capital. Unfavorable economic conditions result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to us. Our ability to incur indebtedness (including by issuing preferred stock) is limited by applicable regulations such that our asset coverage under the 1940 Act must equal at least 200.0% of total indebtedness immediately after each time we incur indebtedness exclusive of the SBA debentures pursuant to our SEC exemptive relief. Additionally, shrinking portfolio values will negatively impact our ability to borrow additional funds because our net asset value is reduced for purposes of the 200.0% asset leverage test. If the fair value of our assets declines substantially, we may fail to maintain the asset coverage ratio stipulated by the 1940 Act, which could, in turn, cause us to lose our status as a BDC and materially impair our business operations. A protracted disruption in the credit markets could also materially decrease demand for our investments.

We will access the capital markets periodically to issue debt or equity securities. Volatility or dislocation in the capital markets may depress our stock price below our net asset value per share and create a challenging environment in which to raise debt and equity capital. As a BDC, we are generally not able to issue additional shares of our common stock at a price less than net asset value without first obtaining approval for such issuance from our stockholders and our independent directors. In addition, we are required to distribute at least 90.0% of our net ordinary income and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses, if any, to our stockholders in order to qualify and maintain our status as a RIC. As a result, earnings that we distribute to our stockholders will not be available to fund new investments. An inability to access the capital markets could limit our ability to grow our business and execute our business strategy fully and could decrease our earnings, if any, which may have an adverse effect on the value of our securities.

We may experience fluctuations in our quarterly operating results.

We could experience fluctuations in our quarterly operating results due to a number of factors, including our ability or inability to make investments in companies that meet our investment criteria, the interest rate payable on the debt securities we acquire, the default rate on such securities, the level of our expenses, variations in and the timing of the recognition of realized and unrealized gains or losses, the degree to which we encounter competition in our markets and general economic conditions. As a result of these factors, results for any period should not be relied upon as being indicative of performance in future periods.

We will be subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income tax if we are unable to qualify or maintain qualification as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code.

We intend to elect to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2011; however, no assurance can be given that we will be able to qualify for and maintain RIC status. To qualify as a RIC under the Code and to avoid the imposition of U.S. federal income taxes on income and gains distributed to our stockholders, we must meet certain requirements, including source-of-income, asset diversification and annual distribution requirements. The source-of-income requirement will be satisfied if we derive at least 90.0% of our gross income for each year from dividends, interest, gains from sale of securities or similar sources. To qualify and maintain our status as a RIC, we must also meet certain asset diversification requirements at the end of each calendar quarter. Failure to meet these requirements may result in our losing our RIC status or our having to dispose of certain investments quickly in order to prevent the loss of RIC status. Because most of our investments will be in private or thinly traded public companies, any such dispositions could be made at disadvantageous prices and may result in substantial losses. The annual distribution requirement applicable to RICs will be satisfied if we distribute at least 90.0% of our net ordinary income and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses, if any, to our stockholders on an annual basis. In addition, we will be subject to a 4.0% nondeductible federal excise tax to the extent that we do not satisfy certain additional minimum distribution requirements on a calendar-year basis. We will be subject, to the extent we use debt financing, to certain asset coverage ratio requirements under the 1940 Act and financial covenants under loan and credit agreements that could, under certain circumstances, restrict us from making annual distributions necessary to qualify as a RIC. If we are unable to obtain cash from other sources, we may

 

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fail to qualify and maintain our status as a RIC and, thus, may be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our entire taxable income without regard to any distributions made by us. If we fail to qualify as a RIC for any reason and become subject to U.S. corporate income tax, the resulting tax liability could substantially reduce our net assets, the amount of income available for distributions to stockholders and the amount of our distributions and the amount of funds available for new investments. Such a failure would have a material adverse effect on us and our stockholders. See “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Taxation as a RIC.”

We may not be able to pay you distributions, our distributions may not grow over time, a portion of distributions paid to you may be a return of capital, and investors in our debt securities may not receive all of the interest income to which they are entitled.

We intend to pay quarterly distributions to our stockholders out of assets legally available for distribution. We cannot assure you that we will achieve investment results that will allow us to make a specified level of cash distributions or year-to-year increases in cash distributions. Our ability to pay distributions might be harmed by, among other things, the risk factors described in this prospectus. In addition, the inability to satisfy the asset coverage test applicable to us as a BDC could, in the future, 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 RIC status, compliance with applicable BDC regulations, SBA 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.

If we issue debt securities in the future, the above-referenced restrictions on distributions may also inhibit our ability to make required interest payments to holders of any such debt securities, which may cause a default under the terms of our then-existing debt agreements. Such a default could materially increase our cost of raising capital, as well as cause us to incur penalties under the terms of our then-existing debt agreements.

When we make quarterly distributions, we will be required to determine the extent to which such distributions are paid out of current and accumulated earnings and profits, recognized capital gain or capital. To the extent there is a return of capital, investors will be required to reduce their basis in our stock for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

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

For U.S. federal income tax purposes, we are required to include in our income certain amounts that we have not yet received in cash, such as original issue discount, which may arise if we receive warrants in connection with the making of a loan or in other circumstances, and contracted payment-in-kind interest, which represents contractual interest added to the loan balance and due at the end of the loan term. Such original issue discount, or increases in loan balances as a result of contracted payment-in-kind arrangements, will be included in our income before we receive any corresponding cash payments. We also may be required to include in our income certain other amounts that we will not receive in cash.

Since in certain cases we may be required to recognize income before or without receiving cash representing such income, we may have difficulty meeting the requirement to distribute on an annual basis at least 90.0% of our net ordinary income and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses, if any, to qualify and maintain our status as a RIC. In such a case, 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 to satisfy the annual distribution requirements. In such circumstances, if we are unable to obtain such cash from other sources, we may fail to qualify and maintain our status as a RIC and thus be subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income tax. See “ Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Taxation as a RIC.”

 

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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. Our investment advisor will not be under any obligation to reimburse us for any part of the incentive fee it received that was based on accrued income that we never receive as a result of a default by an entity on the obligation that resulted in the accrual of such income. That part of the incentive fee payable by us that relates to our net investment income will be computed and paid on income that may include interest that has been accrued but not yet received in cash, such as market discount, debt instruments with payment-in-kind interest, preferred stock with payment-in-kind dividends and zero coupon securities.

You may have a current tax liability on distributions you elect to reinvest in our common stock but would not receive cash to pay such tax liability.

If you participate in our dividend reinvestment plan, you will be deemed to have received, and for U.S. 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 as a result of the distribution.

Because we expect to distribute substantially all of our net investment income and net realized capital gains to our stockholders, we will need additional capital to finance our growth, and such capital may not be available on favorable terms or at all.

We intend to elect to be taxed for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2011. If we meet certain requirements, including source-of-income, asset diversification and distribution requirements, and if we continue to be regulated as a BDC, we will qualify to be taxed as a RIC and therefore will not have to pay U.S. federal corporate income tax on income that we timely distribute to our stockholders, allowing us to substantially reduce or eliminate our corporate-level income tax liability. As a BDC, we are generally required to meet a coverage ratio of total assets to total senior securities, which includes all of our borrowings (other than SBA leverage) and any preferred stock we may issue in the future, of at least 200.0% at the time we issue any debt or preferred stock. This requirement limits the amount of our leverage. Because we will continue to need capital to grow our investment portfolio, this limitation may prevent us from incurring debt or issuing preferred stock and require us to raise additional equity at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so.

While we expect to be able to borrow and to issue additional debt and equity securities, we cannot assure you that debt and equity financing will be available to us on favorable terms, or at all. If additional funds are not available to us, we could be forced to curtail or cease new investment activities, and our net asset value could decline. In addition, as a BDC, we generally are not permitted to issue equity securities priced below net asset value without stockholder approval. At our Annual Stockholders Meeting on June 6, 2012, our stockholders voted to allow us to issue common stock at a price below net asset value per share for a period of one year ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or the date of our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The maximum number of shares issuable below net asset value pursuant to the authority granted by our stockholders that could result in such dilution is limited to 25.0% of the Company’s then outstanding common stock immediately prior to each such sale. We do not intend to issue shares of our common stock below net asset value unless our board of directors determines that it would be in our stockholders’ best interests to do so. For an illustration on the potential dilutive effect of an offering of our common stock at a price below net asset value, please see the illustration below.

Illustration: Examples of Dilutive Effect of the Issuance of Shares Below Net Asset Value. The following table illustrates the level of net asset value dilution that would be experienced by a nonparticipating stockholder in three different hypothetical offerings of different sizes and levels of discount from net asset value per share, although it is not possible to predict the level of market price decline that may occur. Actual sales prices and discounts may differ from the presentation below.

 

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Assume that Company XYZ has 1,000,000 common shares outstanding, $15,000,000 in total assets and $5,000,000 in total liabilities. The current net asset value and net asset value per share are thus $10,000,000 and $10.00, respectively. The table illustrates the dilutive effect on nonparticipating Stockholder A of (1) an offering of 50,000 shares (5.0% of the outstanding shares) at $9.50 per share after offering expenses and commission (a 5.0% discount from net asset value), (2) an offering of 100,000 shares (10.0% of the outstanding shares) at $9.00 per share after offering expenses and commissions (a 10.0% discount from net asset value) and (3) an offering of 200,000 shares (20.0% of the outstanding shares) at $8.00 per share after offering expenses and commissions (a 20.0% discount from net asset value). The acronym “NAV” stands for “net asset value.”

In any offering of common stock, we will present the actual dilution to stockholders in tabular form in the prospectus supplement specific to that offering.

 

          Example 1
5.0% Offering
at 5.0% Discount
    Example 2
10.0% Offering
at 10.0% Discount
    Example 3
20.0% Offering
at 20.0% Discount
 
  Prior to Sale
Below NAV
    Following
Sale
    %
Change
    Following
Sale
    %
Change
    Following
Sale
    %
Change
 

Offering Price

             

Price per Share to Public

    —        $ 10.00        —        $ 9.47        —        $ 8.42        —     

Net Proceeds per Share to Issuer

    —        $ 9.50        —        $ 9.00        —        $ 8.00        —     

Decrease to NAV

             

Total Shares Outstanding

    1,000,000        1,050,000        5.00 %     1,100,000        10.00 %     1,200,000        20.00 %

NAV per Share

  $ 10.00      $ 9.98        (0.24 )%   $ 9.91        (0.91 )%   $ 9.67        (3.33 )%

Dilution to Stockholder

             

Shares Held by Stockholder A

    10,000        10,000        —          10,000        —          10,000        —     

Percentage Held by Stockholder A

    1.0 %     0.95 %     (4.76 )%     0.91 %     (9.09 )%     0.83 %     (16.67 )%

Total Asset Values

             

Total NAV Held by Stockholder A

  $ 100,000      $ 99,762        (0.24 )%   $ 99,091        (0.91 )%   $ 96,667        (3.33 )%

Total Investment by Stockholder A (Assumed to Be $10.00 per Share)

  $ 100,000      $ 100,000        —        $ 100,000        —        $ 100,000        —     

Total Dilution to Stockholder A (Total NAV Less Total Investment)

    —        $ (238 )     —        $ (909 )     —        $ (3,333 )     —     

Per Share Amounts

             

NAV per Share Held by Stockholder A

    —        $ 9.98        —        $ 9.91        —        $ 9.67        —     

Investment per Share Held by Stockholder A (Assumed to be $10.00 per Share)

  $ 10.00      $ 10.00        —        $ 10.00        —        $ 10.00        —     

Dilution per Share Held by Stockholder A (NAV per Share Less Investment per Share)

    —        $ (0.02 )     —        $ (0.09 )     —        $ (0.33 )     —     

Percentage Dilution to Stockholder A (Dilution per Share Divided by Investment per Share)

    —          —          (0.24 )%     —          (0.91 )%     —          (3.33 )%

Our board of directors may change our investment objective, operating policies and strategies without prior notice or stockholder approval, the effects of which may be adverse.

Our board of directors has the authority, except as otherwise provided by the 1940 Act, to modify or waive certain of our operating policies and strategies without prior notice and without stockholder approval. Under Maryland law, we also cannot be dissolved without prior stockholder approval except by judicial action. In addition, upon approval of a majority of our stockholders, we may elect to withdraw our status as a BDC. If we, or the Fund, decide to withdraw our election, or if we otherwise fail to qualify, or maintain our qualification, as a BDC, we may be subject to the substantially greater regulation under the 1940 Act as a closed-end investment company. Compliance with such regulations would significantly decrease our operating flexibility, and could significantly increase our costs of doing business. We cannot predict the effect any changes to our current operating policies and strategies would have on our business, operating results or the value of our common stock. Nevertheless, any such changes could adversely affect our business and impair our ability to make distributions.

 

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Any failure on our part to maintain our status as a BDC would reduce our operating flexibility.

If we, or the Fund, fail to qualify or maintain our status as a BDC, we might be regulated as a closed-end investment company under the 1940 Act, which would subject us to substantially more onerous regulatory restrictions under the 1940 Act and correspondingly decrease our operating flexibility.

Regulations governing our operation as a BDC affect our ability to raise, and the way in which we raise, additional capital which may have a negative effect on our growth.

Our business will require capital to operate and grow. We may acquire such additional capital from the following sources:

Senior Securities. Currently we, through our SBIC subsidiary, issue debt securities guaranteed by the SBA. In the future, we may issue debt securities or preferred stock and/or borrow money from banks or other financial institutions, which we refer to collectively as senior securities. As a result of issuing senior securities, we will be exposed to additional risks, including, but not limited to, the following:

 

   

Under the provisions of the 1940 Act, we are permitted, as a BDC, to issue senior securities only in amounts such that our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, equals at least 200.0% after each issuance of senior securities. If the value of our assets declines, we may be unable to satisfy this test. If that happens, we may be required to sell a portion of our investments and, depending on the nature of our leverage, repay a portion of our debt at a time when such sales and/or repayments may be disadvantageous. Further, we may not be permitted to declare or make any distribution to stockholders or repurchase shares until such time as we satisfy this test.

 

   

Any amounts that we use to service our debt or make payments on preferred stock will not be available for distributions to our common stockholders.

 

   

It is likely that any senior securities or other indebtedness we issue will be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting our operating flexibility. Additionally, some of these securities or other indebtedness may be rated by rating agencies, and in obtaining a rating for such securities and other indebtedness, we may be required to abide by operating and investment guidelines that further restrict operating and financial flexibility.

 

   

We and, indirectly, our stockholders will bear the cost of issuing and servicing such securities and other indebtedness.

 

   

Preferred stock or any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock, including separate voting rights and could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control to the detriment of the holders of our common stock.

Additional Common Stock. Under the provisions of the 1940 Act, we are not generally able to issue and sell our common stock at a price below net asset value per share. We may, however, sell our common stock, warrants, options or rights to acquire our common stock, at a price below the current net asset value of the common stock if our board of directors determines that such sale is in the best interests of our stockholders, and our stockholders approve such sale. At our Annual Stockholders Meeting on June 6, 2012, our stockholders voted to allow us to sell or otherwise issue common stock at a price below net asset value per share for a period of one year ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or the date of our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The maximum number of shares issuable below net asset value pursuant to the authority granted by our stockholders that could result in such dilution is limited to 25.0% of the Company’s then outstanding common stock immediately prior to each such sale. We do not intend to sell or otherwise issue shares of our common stock below net asset value unless our board of directors determines that it would be in our stockholders’ best interests to do so. In any such case, however, the price at which our common stock are to be issued and sold may not be

 

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less than a price which, in the determination of our board of directors, closely approximates the market value of such securities (less any distributing commission or discount). We may also make rights offerings to our stockholders at prices per share less than the net asset value per share, subject to applicable requirements of the 1940 Act. If we raise additional funds by issuing more common stock or senior securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, our common stock, the percentage ownership of our stockholders at that time would decrease, and they may experience dilution. Moreover, we can offer no assurance that we will be able to issue and sell additional equity securities in the future, on favorable terms or at all.

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

We 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. In addition, any change to the SBA’s current debenture program could have a significant impact on our ability to obtain low-cost leverage and, therefore, our competitive advantage over other funds.

Additionally, any changes to the laws and regulations governing our operations related to permitted investments may cause us to alter our investment strategy in order to meet our investment objectives. Such changes could result in material differences to the strategies and plans set forth in this prospectus and may shift our investment focus from the areas of expertise of our investment advisor to other types of investments in which our investment advisor may have little or no expertise or experience. Any such changes, if they occur, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment.

The impact of recent financial reform legislation on us is uncertain.

In light of current conditions in the U.S. and global financial markets and the U.S. and global economy, legislators, the presidential administration and regulators have increased their focus on the regulation of the financial services industry. The Dodd-Frank Reform Act became effective on July 21, 2010; however, many provisions of the Dodd-Frank Reform Act have delayed effectiveness or will not become effective until the relevant federal agencies issue new rules to implement the Dodd-Frank Reform Act. Nevertheless, the Dodd-Frank Reform Act may have a material adverse impact on the financial services industry as a whole and on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Accordingly, we cannot predict the effect the Dodd-Frank Reform Act or its implementing regulations will have on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our ability to enter into and exit investment transactions with our affiliates will be restricted.

Except in those instances where we have received prior exemptive relief from the SEC, we will be prohibited under the 1940 Act from knowingly participating in certain transactions with our affiliates without the prior approval of our independent directors. Any person that owns, directly or indirectly, 5.0% or more of our outstanding voting securities is deemed our affiliate for purposes of the 1940 Act and we are generally prohibited from buying or selling any security from or to such affiliate, absent the prior approval of our independent directors. The 1940 Act also prohibits “joint” transactions with an affiliate, which could include investments in the same portfolio company (whether at the same or different times), without prior approval of our independent directors. If a person acquires more than 25.0% of our voting securities, we will be prohibited from buying or selling any security from or to such person, or entering into joint transactions with such person, absent the prior approval of the SEC. These restrictions could limit or prohibit us from making certain attractive investments that we might otherwise make absent such restrictions.

 

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Our investment advisor can resign on 60 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 investment advisor has the right, under the Investment Advisory Agreement, to resign at any time upon not less than 60 days’ written notice, whether we have found a replacement or not. If our investment advisor resigns, we may not be able to find a new investment advisor or hire internal management with similar expertise and ability to provide the same or equivalent services on acceptable terms within 60 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. In addition, investment activities are likely to suffer if we are unable to identify and reach an agreement with a single institution or group of executives having the expertise possessed by our investment advisor and its affiliates. 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 financial condition, business and results of operations.

Our investment advisor can resign from its role as our administrator under the Administration Agreement, and we may not be able to find a suitable replacement, resulting in a disruption in our operations that could adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.

Our investment advisor has the right to resign under the Administration Agreement, whether we have found a replacement or not. If our investment advisor resigns, we may not be able to find a new administrator or hire internal management with similar expertise and ability to provide the same or equivalent services on acceptable terms, 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. In addition, administrative activities are likely to suffer if we are unable to identify and reach an agreement with a service provider or individuals with the expertise possessed by our investment advisor. Even if we are able to retain a comparable service provider or individuals to perform such services, whether internal or external, their integration into our business and lack of familiarity with our investment objective may result in additional costs and time delays that may adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.

Efforts to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will involve significant expenditures, and non-compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may adversely affect us and the market price of our common stock.

As a publicly-traded company, we incur legal, accounting and other expenses, including costs associated with the periodic reporting requirements applicable to a company whose securities are registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, as well as additional corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and other rules implemented by the SEC.

As a public company, we are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the related rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC. Under current SEC rules, beginning with its fiscal year ending December 31, 2012, our management will be required to report on its internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and rules and regulations of the SEC thereunder. We will then be required to review on an annual basis its internal controls over financial reporting, and on a quarterly and annual basis to evaluate and disclose changes in our internal controls over financial reporting. As a result, we expect to incur significant additional expenses in the near term, which may negatively impact our financial performance and our ability to make distributions. This process also will result in a diversion of our management’s time and attention. We cannot be certain as to the timing of completion of our evaluation, testing and remediation actions or the impact of the same on our operations and may not be able to ensure that the process is effective or that the internal

 

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controls are or will be effective in a timely manner. There can be no assurance that our quarterly reviews will not identify material weaknesses. In the event that we are unable to maintain or achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related rules, our value and results or operations may be adversely affected.

We are highly dependent on information systems and systems failures could significantly disrupt our business, which may, in turn, negatively affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Our business is highly dependent on the communications and information systems of our investment advisor. Any failure or interruption of such systems could cause delays or other problems in our activities. This, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and negatively affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Risks Relating to Our Investments

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

Many of our portfolio companies are susceptible to economic slowdowns or recessions and may be unable to repay our loans during these periods. Therefore, our non-performing assets are likely to increase and the value of our portfolio is likely to decrease during these periods. Adverse economic conditions may decrease the value of collateral securing some of our loans and the value of our equity investments. Economic slowdowns or recessions could lead to financial losses in our portfolio and a decrease in revenues, net income and assets. Unfavorable economic conditions also could increase our funding costs, limit our access to the capital markets or result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to us. These events could prevent us from increasing our investments and harm our operating results.

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

Investing in lower middle-market companies involves a number of significant risks. Among other things, these companies:

 

   

may have limited financial resources and may be unable to meet their obligations under their debt instruments 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 from subsidiaries or affiliates of portfolio companies that we may have obtained in connection with our investment;

 

   

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

 

   

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;

 

   

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; and

 

   

generally have less publicly available information about their businesses, operations and financial condition. If we are unable to uncover all material information about these companies, we may not make a fully informed investment decision, and may lose all or part of our investment.

In addition, in the course of providing significant managerial assistance to certain portfolio companies, certain of our management and directors may serve as directors on the boards of such companies. To the extent

 

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that litigation arises out of investments in these companies, our management and directors may be named as defendants in such litigation, which could result in an expenditure of funds (through our indemnification of such officers and directors) and the diversion of management time and resources.

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

All of our assets may be invested in illiquid securities, and a substantial portion of our investments in leveraged companies will be subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or will otherwise be less liquid than more broadly traded public securities. The illiquidity of these investments may make it difficult for us to sell such 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 have previously recorded these investments. As a result, we do not expect to achieve liquidity in our investments in the near-term. However, to maintain the election to be regulated as a BDC and as a RIC that we intend to make, we may have to dispose of investments if they do not satisfy one or more of the applicable criteria under the respective regulatory frameworks. We may also face other restrictions on our ability to liquidate an investment in a portfolio company to the extent that we or our investment advisor have material nonpublic information regarding such portfolio company.

We may not have the funds to make additional investments in our portfolio companies which could impair the value of our portfolio.

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 yield on the investment. Even if we have sufficient capital to make a desired follow-on investment, we may elect not to make a follow-on investment because we may not want to increase our level of risk, because we prefer other opportunities or because we are inhibited by compliance with BDC requirements or the desire to maintain our RIC status. Our ability to make follow-on investments may also be limited by our investment advisor’s allocation policy.

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

We will invest primarily in mezzanine debt as well as equity issued by lower middle-market companies. The 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 senior 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 mezzanine 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 could be subject to lender liability claims.

Even though we may have structured certain of our investments as senior loans, if one of our portfolio companies were to go bankrupt, depending on the facts and circumstances, including the extent to which we actually provided managerial assistance to that portfolio company, a bankruptcy court might recharacterize our

 

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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. It is possible that we could become subject to a lender’s liability claim, including as a result of actions taken in rendering significant managerial assistance.

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

Certain loans we make to portfolio companies are and will 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 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 us. In addition, the value of the collateral in the event of liquidation will depend on market and economic conditions, the availability of buyers and other factors. There can be no assurance that the proceeds, if 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 portfolio companies with senior debt outstanding may also be limited pursuant to the terms of one or more intercreditor agreements entered into with the holders of senior debt. Under an intercreditor agreement, at any time that obligations having the benefit of the first priority liens are outstanding, any of the following actions that may be taken in respect to 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.

We may hold the debt securities of leveraged companies that may, due to the significant volatility of such companies, enter into bankruptcy proceedings.

Leveraged companies may experience bankruptcy or similar financial distress. The bankruptcy process has a number of significant inherent risks. Many events in a bankruptcy proceeding are the product of contested matters and adversary proceedings and are beyond the control of the creditors. A bankruptcy filing by an issuer may adversely and permanently affect the issuer. If the proceeding is converted to a liquidation, the value of the issuer may not equal the liquidation value that was believed to exist at the time of the investment. The duration of a bankruptcy proceeding is also difficult to predict, and a creditor’s return on investment can be adversely affected by delays until the plan of reorganization or liquidation ultimately becomes effective. The administrative costs in connection with a bankruptcy proceeding are frequently high and would be paid out of the debtor’s estate prior to any return to creditors. Because the standards for classification of claims under bankruptcy law are vague, our influence with respect to the class of securities or other obligations we own may be lost by increases in the number and amount of claims in the same class or by different classification and treatment. In the early

 

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stages of the bankruptcy process, it is often difficult to estimate the extent of, or even to identify, any contingent claims that might be made. In addition, certain claims that have priority by law (for example, claims for taxes) may be substantial.

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 assets. This could trigger cross-defaults under other agreements and jeopardize the portfolio company’s ability to meet its obligations under the debt or equity securities that we hold. We may incur expenses to the extent necessary to seek recovery upon default or to negotiate new terms, which may include the waiver of certain financial covenants, with a defaulting portfolio company.

We do not expect to control many of our portfolio companies.

We do not expect to control many of our portfolio companies, even though we may have board representation or board observation rights, and the 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 the company’s 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 private companies in the lower middle-market, 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 a non-diversified investment company within the meaning of the 1940 Act; therefore we will not be limited with respect to the proportion of our assets that may be invested in securities of a single issuer.

We will be classified as a non-diversified investment company within the meaning of the 1940 Act, which means that we will not be limited by the 1940 Act with respect to the proportion of our assets that we may invest in securities of a single issuer. To the extent that we assume large positions in the securities of a small number of issuers, our net asset value 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 and the aggregate returns we realize may be significantly adversely affected if a small number of investments perform poorly or if we need to write down the value of any one investment. Additionally, while we are not targeting any specific industries, our investments may be concentrated in relatively few industries. As a result, a downturn in any particular industry in which we are invested could also significantly impact the aggregate returns we realize. We may also be more susceptible to any single economic or regulatory occurrence than a diversified investment company. Beyond the asset diversification requirements applicable to RICs, we do not have fixed guidelines for diversification, and our investments could be concentrated in relatively few portfolio companies.

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

We are subject to the risk that the investments we make in our portfolio companies may be repaid prior to maturity. When this occurs, we will generally reinvest these proceeds in temporary investments, pending their future investment in new portfolio companies. These temporary investments will typically have substantially lower yields than the debt being repaid, and we could experience significant delays in reinvesting these amounts. In addition, any future investment of such amounts in a new portfolio company may also be at lower yields than the investment that was repaid. As a result, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected if one or more of our portfolio companies elects to prepay amounts owed to us. Additionally, prepayments could negatively impact our return on equity, which could result in a decline in the market price of our common stock.

 

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We may not realize gains from our equity investments.

Certain investments that we have made in the past and may make in the future include warrants or other equity or equity-related securities. In addition, we may from time to time make non-control, equity co-investments in companies. Our goal is to realize gains upon our disposition of such equity interests. However, the equity interests we receive may not appreciate in value and, in fact, may decline in value. 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 often seek 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. 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.

If our primary investments are deemed not to be qualifying assets, we could be precluded from investing in our desired manner or deemed to be in violation of the 1940 Act.

In order to maintain our status as a BDC, we will need to not acquire any assets other than “qualifying assets” unless, at the time of and after giving effect to such acquisition, at least 70.0% of our total assets are qualifying assets. We believe that most of the investments that we may acquire in the future will constitute qualifying assets. However, we may be precluded from investing in what we believe are attractive investments if such investments are not qualifying assets for purposes of the 1940 Act. If we do not invest a sufficient portion of our assets in qualifying assets, we could violate the 1940 Act provisions applicable to BDCs. As a result of such violation, specific rules under the 1940 Act could prevent us, for example, from making follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies (which could result in the dilution of our position) or could require us to dispose of investments at inappropriate times in order to come into compliance with the 1940 Act. If we need to dispose of such investments quickly, it could be difficult to dispose of such investments on favorable terms. We may not be able to find a buyer for such investments and, even if we do find a buyer, we may have to sell the investments at a substantial loss. Any such outcomes would 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 involve private securities and we expect that a significant portion of our investments will continue to involve 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 potential liabilities. These arrangements may result in contingent liabilities that ultimately result in funding obligations that we must satisfy through its return of distributions previously made to it.

Our investment advisor’s liability will be limited under the Investment Advisory Agreement, and we have agreed to indemnify our investment advisor against certain liabilities, which may lead our investment advisor to act in a riskier manner on our behalf than it would when acting for its own account.

Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, our investment advisor does not assume any responsibility to us other than to render the services called for under that agreement, and it is not be responsible for any action of our board of directors in following or declining to follow our investment advisor’s advice or recommendations. Our investment advisor maintains a contractual relationship, as opposed to a fiduciary relationship except to the extent specified in section 36(b) of the Investment Advisory Act concerning loss from a breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of compensation for services, with us. Under the terms of the Investment Advisory Agreement, our investment advisor and its officers, directors, members, managers, partners, stockholders and employees will not be liable to us, any subsidiary of ours, our directors, our stockholders or any subsidiary’s

 

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stockholders or partners for acts or omissions performed in accordance with and pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement, except those resulting from acts constituting gross negligence, willful misconduct, bad faith or reckless disregard of our investment advisor’s duties under the Investment Advisory Agreement. In addition, we have agreed to indemnify our investment advisor and its officers, directors, members, managers, partners, stockholders and employees from and against any claims or liabilities, including reasonable legal fees and other expenses reasonably incurred, arising out of or in connection with our business and operations or any action taken or omitted on our behalf pursuant to authority granted by the Investment Advisory Agreement, except where attributable to gross negligence, willful misconduct, bad faith or reckless disregard of such person’s duties under the Investment Advisory Agreement. These protections may lead our investment advisor to act in a riskier manner when acting on our behalf than it would when acting for its own account.

Risks Relating to an Offering of Our Securities

We may be unable to invest a significant portion of the net proceeds raised from our offerings on acceptable terms, which would harm our financial condition and operating results.

Delays in investing the net proceeds raised in our offerings may cause our performance to be worse than that of other fully invested BDCs or other lenders or investors pursuing comparable investment strategies. 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 the net proceeds from any offering on acceptable terms within the time period that we anticipate or at all, which could harm our financial condition and operating results. We anticipate that, depending on market conditions, it may take a substantial period of time to invest substantially all of the net proceeds of any offering in securities meeting our investment objective. During such a period, we will continue to invest the net proceeds of any offering 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, and given our expense ratio and the prevailing interest rate climate, there is a possible risk of losing money on the offering proceeds of certain securities, such as debt securities during this interval. As a result, any distributions that we pay during such period may be substantially lower than the distributions that we may be able to pay when our portfolio is fully invested in securities meeting our investment objective. In addition, until such time as the net proceeds of any offering are invested in securities meeting our investment objective, the market price for our securities may decline. Thus, the return on your investment may be lower than when, if ever, our portfolio is fully invested in securities meeting our investment objective.

In addition, the SBA limits the Fund to investing idle funds in the following types of securities:

 

   

direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal and interest by, the United States government, which mature within 15 months from the date of the investment;

 

   

repurchase agreements with federally insured institutions with a maturity of seven days or less (and the securities underlying the repurchase obligations must be direct obligations of, or guaranteed by, the federal government);

 

   

certificates of deposit with a maturity of one year or less, issued by a federally insured institution; or

 

   

a deposit account in a federally insured institution that is subject to withdrawal restriction of one year or less.

Shares of closed-end investment companies, including business development companies, frequently trade at a discount to their net asset value.

Shares of closed-end investment companies, including BDCs, frequently trade at a discount from net asset value. This characteristic of closed-end investment companies and BDCs is separate and distinct from the risk that our net asset value per share may decline. We cannot predict whether our common stock will trade at, above

 

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or below net asset value. In addition, if our common stock trades below net asset value, we will generally not be able to issue additional common stock at the market price without first obtaining the approval of our stockholders and our independent directors. On June 6, 2012 our stockholders voted to allow us to sell or otherwise issue common stock at a price below net asset value per share for a period of one year ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or the date of our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Selling or otherwise issuing shares of the Company’s common stock below its then current net asset value per share would result in a dilution of the Company’s existing common stockholders. The maximum number of shares issuable below net asset value pursuant to the authority granted by our stockholders that could result in such dilution is limited to 25.0% of the Company’s then outstanding common stock immediately prior to each such sale. We do not intend to sell or otherwise issue shares of our common stock below net asset value unless our board of directors determines that it would be in our stockholders’ best interests to do so.

Stockholders may experience dilution in their ownership percentage if they do not participate in our dividend reinvestment plan.

All distributions declared in cash payable to stockholders that are participants in our dividend reinvestment plan are generally automatically reinvested in shares of our common stock. As a result, stockholders that do not participate in the dividend reinvestment plan may experience dilution over time. Stockholders who receive distributions in shares of common stock may experience accretion to the net asset value of their shares if our shares are trading at a premium and dilution if our shares are trading at a discount. The level of accretion or discount would depend on various factors, including the proportion of our stockholders who participate in the plan, the level of premium or discount at which our shares are trading and the amount of the distribution payable to a stockholder.

Recent market conditions may increase the risks associated with our business and an investment in us.

Beginning in the third quarter of 2007, the U.S. economy and financial markets began experiencing a high level of volatility, disruption and stress, which was exacerbated by the failure of several major financial institutions in the last few months of 2008. In addition, the U.S. economy entered a recession, which was severe and prolonged. Similar conditions occurred in the financial markets and economies of numerous other countries and could worsen, both in the U.S. and globally. These conditions raised the level of many of the risks described herein and, if repeated or continued, could have an adverse effect on our portfolio companies and on their results of operations, financial conditions, access to credit and capital. The stress in the credit market and upon banks has led other creditors to tighten credit and the terms of credit. In certain cases, senior lenders to our customers can block payments by our customers in respect of our loans to such customers. In turn, these could have adverse effects on our business, financial condition, results of operations, distributions to our stockholders, access to capital, valuation of our assets and our stock price. Notwithstanding recent gains across both the equity and debt markets, these conditions may continue for a prolonged period of time or worsen in the future.

If, in the future, we sell common stock at a discount to our net asset value per share, stockholders who do not participate in such sale will experience immediate dilution in an amount that may be material.

On June 6, 2012, our stockholders approved our ability to sell or otherwise issue shares of our common stock at a discount from net asset value per share, as long as the cumulative number of shares sold pursuant to such authority does not exceed 25.0% of our then outstanding common stock immediately prior to each such sale, for a period of one year ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or the date of our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. If we sell or otherwise issue shares of our common stock at a discount to net asset value, it will pose a risk of dilution to our stockholders. In particular, stockholders who do not purchase additional shares at or below the discounted price in proportion to their current ownership will experience an immediate decrease in net asset value per share (as well as in the aggregate net asset value of their shares if they do not participate at all). These stockholders will also experience a disproportionately greater decrease in their participation in our earnings and assets and their voting power than the increase we experience in our assets, potential earning power

 

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and voting interests from such issuances or sale. In addition, such issuances or sales may adversely affect the price at which our common stock trades. For additional information and hypothetical examples of these risks, see “Sales of Common Stock Below Net Asset Value,” and for actual dilution illustrations specific to an offering, see the prospectus supplement pursuant to which such sale is made.

Our net asset value may have changed significantly since our last valuation.

Our board of directors determines the fair value of our portfolio investments on a quarterly basis based on input from our investment advisor, our audit committee and, as to certain of our investments, a third party independent valuation firm. While the board of directors will review our net asset value per share in connection with any offering, it will not always have the benefit of input from the independent valuation firm when it does so. Moreover, our financial statements have not been audited by our independent registered public accounting firm for any periods since December 31, 2011. The fair value of various individual investments in our portfolio and/or the aggregate fair value of our investments may change significantly over time. If the fair value of our investment portfolio at December 31, 2012 is less than the fair value at the time of an offering during 2012, then we may record an unrealized loss on our investment portfolio and may report a lower net asset value per share than will be reflected in the Selected Financial Data and the financial statements included in the prospectus supplement of that offering. If the fair value of our investment portfolio at December 31, 2012 is greater than the fair value at the time of an offering during 2012, we may record an unrealized gain on our investment portfolio and may report a greater net asset value per share than so reflected in the prospectus supplement of that offering. Upon publication of this information in connection with our announcement of operating results for our fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, the market price of our common stock may fluctuate materially, and may be substantially less than the price per share you pay for our common stock in an offering.

The market price of our securities may fluctuate significantly.

The market price and liquidity of the market for shares of our common stock may be significantly affected by numerous factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be directly related to our operating performance. These factors include:

 

   

significant volatility in the market price and trading volume of securities of BDCs or other companies in our sector, which is not necessarily related to the operating performance of these companies;

 

   

changes in regulatory policies or tax guidelines, particularly with respect to RICs, BDCs or SBICs;

 

   

failure to qualify for treatment as a RIC or loss of RIC or BDC status;

 

   

loss of status as an SBIC for the Fund, or any other SBIC subsidiary we may form;

 

   

changes or perceived changes in earnings or variations in operating results;

 

   

changes or perceived changes in the value of our portfolio of investments;

 

   

changes in accounting guidelines governing valuation of our investments;

 

   

any shortfall in revenue or net income or any increase in losses from levels expected by investors or securities analysts;

 

   

departure of our investment advisor’s key personnel;

 

   

operating performance of companies comparable to us;

 

   

general economic trends and other external factors; and

 

   

loss of a major funding source.

 

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Investing in our securities 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 may be highly speculative; therefore, an investment in our securities may not be suitable for someone with lower risk tolerance.

Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

As of March 31, 2012, we had 9,427,021 shares of common stock outstanding. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock, or the availability of shares for sale, including those offered hereby, could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock. If this occurs and continues, it could impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities should we desire to do so.

Provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law and our charter and bylaws could deter takeover attempts and have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

Maryland General Corporation Law contains provisions that may discourage, delay or make more difficult a change in control of us or the removal of our directors. In addition, 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. Our charter and bylaws contain provisions that limit liability and provide for indemnification of our directors and officers. These provisions and others also may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers or delaying changes in control or management. We are generally prohibited from engaging in mergers and other business combinations with stockholders that beneficially own 15.0% or more of our voting stock, or with their affiliates, unless our directors or stockholders approve the business combination in the prescribed manner. Maryland law may discourage third parties from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating such an offer.

We have also adopted measures that may make it difficult for a third party to obtain control of us, including provisions of our charter authorizing our board of directors to classify or reclassify shares of our stock in one or more classes or series and to cause the issuance of additional shares of our stock, including preferred stock. In addition, we have adopted a classified board of directors. A classified board may render a change in control of us or removal of our incumbent management more difficult. These provisions, as well as other provisions of our charter and bylaws, may delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.

If we issue preferred stock and/or additional debt securities, the net asset value and market value of our common stock may become more volatile.

We cannot assure you that the issuance of preferred stock and/or additional debt securities would result in a higher yield or return to the holders of our common stock. The issuance of preferred stock and/or additional debt securities would likely cause the net asset value and market value of our common stock to become more volatile. If the distribution rate on the preferred stock, or the interest rate on the debt securities, were to approach the net rate of return on our investment portfolio, the benefit of leverage to the holders of our common stock would be reduced. If the distribution rate on the preferred stock, or the interest rate on the debt securities, were to exceed the net rate of return on our portfolio, the use of leverage would result in a lower rate of return to the holders of common stock than if we had not issued the preferred stock and/or debt securities. Any decline in the net asset value of our investment would be borne entirely by the holders of our common stock. Therefore, if the market value of our portfolio were to decline, the leverage would result in a greater decrease in net asset value to the holders of our common stock than if we were not leveraged through the issuance of preferred stock and/or debt securities. This decline in net asset value would also tend to cause a greater decline in the market price for our common stock.

 

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There is also a risk that, in the event of a sharp decline in the value of our net assets, we would be in danger of failing to maintain required asset coverage ratios which may be required by the preferred stock and/or debt securities or of a downgrade in the ratings of the preferred stock and/or debt securities or our current investment income might not be sufficient to meet the distribution requirements on the preferred stock or the interest payments on the debt securities. In order to counteract such an event, we might need to liquidate investments in order to fund redemption of some or all of the preferred stock and/or debt securities. In addition, we would pay (and the holders of our common stock would bear) all costs and expenses relating to the issuance and ongoing maintenance of the preferred stock and/or debt securities. Holders of preferred stock and/or debt securities may have different interests than holders of common stock and may at times have disproportionate influence over our affairs.

If we issue auction rate preferred stock and you purchase such auction rate preferred stock, you may not be able to sell your auction rate preferred stock at an auction if the auction fails.

If we issue auction rate preferred stock and you purchase such auction rate preferred stock, you may not be able to sell your auction rate preferred stock at an auction if the auction fails, i.e., if more shares of auction rate preferred stock are offered for sale than there are buyers for those shares. Also, if you place an order (a hold order) at an auction to retain auction rate preferred stock only at a specified rate that exceeds the rate set at the auction, you will not retain your auction rate preferred stock. Additionally, if you place a hold order without specifying a rate below which you would not wish to continue to hold your shares and the auction sets a below-market rate, you will receive a lower rate of return on your shares than any market rate of those securities. Finally, the distribution period of these securities may be changed, subject to certain conditions and with notice to the holders of the auction rate preferred stock, which could also affect the liquidity of your investment.

If you try to sell your auction rate preferred stock between auctions, you may not receive full value on your investment.

If you try to sell your auction rate preferred stock between auctions, you may not be able to sell them for their liquidation preference per share or such amount per share plus accumulated distributions. If we have designated a special distribution period of more than seven days, changes in interest rates could affect the price you would receive if you sold your shares in the secondary market. Broker-dealers that maintain a secondary trading market for the auction rate preferred stock are not required to maintain this market, and we will not be required to redeem auction rate preferred stock if either an auction or an attempted secondary market sale fails because of a lack of buyers. The auction rate preferred stock will likely not be registered on a stock exchange. If you sell your auction rate preferred stock to a broker-dealer between auctions, you may receive less than the price you paid for them, especially when market interest rates have risen since the last auction or during a special distribution period. Due to recent market disruption most auction-rate preferred stock have been unable to hold successful auctions and holders of such shares have suffered reduced liquidity, including the inability to sell such shares in a secondary market.

The trading market or market value of our debt securities or any convertible debt securities, if issued to the public, may be volatile.

Our debt securities or any convertible debt securities, if issued to the public, may or may not have an established trading market. We cannot assure investors that a trading market for our debt securities or any convertible debt securities, if issued to the public, would develop or be maintained if developed. In addition to our creditworthiness, many factors may materially adversely affect the trading market for, and market value of, our publicly issued debt securities or any convertible debt securities. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

   

the time remaining to the maturity of these debt securities;

 

   

the outstanding principal amount of debt securities with terms identical to these debt securities;

 

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the general economic environment;

 

   

the supply of debt securities trading in the secondary market, if any;

 

   

the redemption, repayment or convertible features, if any, of these debt securities;

 

   

the level, direction and volatility of market interest rates generally; and

 

   

market rates of interest higher or lower than rates borne by the debt securities.

There also may be a limited number of buyers for our debt securities. This too may materially adversely affect the market value of the debt securities or the trading market for the debt securities. Our debt securities may include convertible features that cause them to more closely bear risks associated with an investment in our common stock.

Our credit ratings, if any, may not reflect all risks of an investment in our debt securities or any convertible debt securities.

Our credit ratings, if any, will be an assessment by third parties of our ability to pay our obligations. Consequently, real or anticipated changes in our credit ratings will generally affect the market value of any publicly issued debt securities. Our credit ratings, however, may not reflect the potential impact of risks related to market conditions generally or other factors discussed herein about the market value of, or trading market for, any publicly issued debt securities.

Terms relating to redemption may materially adversely affect the return on any debt securities.

If we issue any debt securities or any convertible debt securities that are redeemable at our option, we may choose to redeem the debt securities at times when prevailing interest rates are lower than the interest rate paid on the debt securities. In addition, if the debt securities are subject to mandatory redemption, we may be required to redeem the debt securities at times when prevailing interest rates are lower than the interest rate paid on the debt securities. In this circumstance, a holder of our debt securities may not be able to reinvest the redemption proceeds in a comparable security at an effective interest rate as high as the debt securities being redeemed.

The issuance of subscription rights, warrants or convertible debt that are exchangeable for our common stock, will cause your interest in us to be diluted as a result of any such rights, warrants or convertible debt offering.

Stockholders who do not fully exercise rights, warrants or convertible debt issued to them in any offering of subscription rights, warrants or convertible debt to purchase our common stock should expect that they will, at the completion of the offering, own a smaller proportional interest in us than would otherwise be the case if they fully exercised their rights, warrants or convertible debt. We cannot state precisely the amount of any such dilution in share ownership because we do not know what proportion of the common stock would be purchased as a result of any such offering.

In addition, if the subscription price, warrant price or convertible debt price is less than our net asset value per share of common stock at the time of such offering, then our stockholders would experience an immediate dilution of the aggregate net asset value of their shares as a result of the offering. The amount of any such decrease in net asset value is not predictable because it is not known at this time what the subscription price, warrant price, convertible debt price or net asset value per share will be on the expiration date of such offering or what proportion of our common stock will be purchased as a result of any such offering. The risk of dilution is greater if there are multiple rights offerings. However, our board of directors will make a good faith determination that any offering of subscription rights, warrants or convertible debt would result in a net benefit to existing stockholders.

 

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Future offerings of additional debt securities, which would be senior to our common stock upon liquidation, or equity securities, which could dilute our existing stockholders and may be senior to our common stock for the purposes of distributions, may harm the value of our common stock.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by making additional offerings of debt or equity securities, including commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior or subordinated notes and classes of preferred stock or common stock, subject to the restrictions of the 1940 Act. Upon a liquidation of our company, holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock and lenders with respect to other borrowings would receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Additional equity offerings by us may dilute the holdings of our existing stockholders or reduce the value of our common stock, or both. Any preferred stock we may issue would have a preference on distributions that could limit our ability to make distributions to the holders of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting their stock holdings in us. In addition, proceeds from a sale of common stock will likely be used to increase our total assets or to pay down our borrowings, among other uses. This would increase our asset coverage ratio and permit us to incur additional leverage under rules pertaining to BDCs by increasing our borrowings or issuing senior securities such as preferred stock or additional debt securities.

Terrorist attacks, acts of war or national disasters may affect any market for our securities, impact the businesses in which we invest and harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Terrorist acts, acts of war or national disasters may disrupt our operations, as well as the operations of the businesses in which we invest. Such acts have created, and continue to create, economic and political uncertainties and have contributed to global economic instability. Future terrorist activities, military or security operations, or natural disasters could further weaken the domestic/global economies and create additional uncertainties, which may negatively impact the businesses in which we invest directly or indirectly and, in turn, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Losses from terrorist attacks and natural disasters are generally uninsurable.

 

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about us, our current and prospective portfolio investments, our industry, our beliefs, and our assumptions. Words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “would,” “should,” “targets,” “projects” and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements, including without limitation:

 

   

our inexperience operating a BDC;

 

   

our dependence on key personnel of our investment advisor and our executive officers;

 

   

our ability to maintain or develop referral relationships;

 

   

our ability to manage our business effectively;

 

   

our use of leverage;

 

   

uncertain valuations of our portfolio investments;

 

   

competition for investment opportunities;

 

   

actual and potential conflicts of interest with our investment advisor;

 

   

potential divergent interests of our investment advisor and our stockholders arising from our management and incentive fee structure;

 

   

constraint on investment due to access to material nonpublic information;

 

   

other potential conflicts of interest;

 

   

SBA regulations affecting our wholly-owned SBIC subsidiary;

 

   

changes in interest rates;

 

   

the impact of a protracted decline in the liquidity of credit markets on our business and portfolio investments;

 

   

fluctuations in our quarterly operating results;

 

   

our ability to qualify and maintain our qualification as a RIC and as a BDC;

 

   

the timing, form and amount of any distributions from our portfolio companies;

 

   

changes in laws or regulations applicable to us;

 

   

possible resignation of our investment advisor or administrator;

 

   

the general economy and its impact on the industries in which we invest;

 

   

risks associated with investing in lower middle-market companies;

 

   

the ability of our investment advisor to identify, invest in and monitor companies that meet our investment criteria;

 

   

our ability to invest in qualifying assets; and

 

   

our ability to identify and timely close on investment opportunities.

 

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Although we believe that the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of those assumptions could prove to be inaccurate, and as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions also could be inaccurate. In light of these and other uncertainties, the inclusion of a projection or forward-looking statement in this prospectus should not be regarded as a representation by us that our plans and objectives will be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include those described or identified in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this prospectus. The forward-looking statements and projections contained in this prospectus are excluded from the safe harbor protection provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

Unless otherwise specified in any prospectus supplement accompanying this prospectus, we intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of our securities to invest in lower middle-market companies in accordance with our investment objective and strategies and for working capital and general corporate purposes. We will also pay operating expenses, including management, incentive and administrative fees, and may pay other expenses, from the net proceeds of any offering. We plan to raise new equity when we have attractive investment opportunities available. Pending such use, we will invest the net proceeds of any offering primarily in short-term securities consistent with our BDC election and our election to be taxed as a RIC. See “Regulation—Temporary Investments” for additional information about temporary investments we may make while waiting to make longer-term investments in pursuit of our investment objective.

Our ability to achieve our investment objective may be limited to the extent that the net proceeds from an offering, pending full investment, are held in interest-bearing deposits or other short-term instruments. The supplement to this prospectus relating to an offering will more fully identify the use of proceeds from such an offering.

 

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FORMATION TRANSACTIONS

Fidus Investment Corporation was formed on February 14, 2011, for the purpose of acquiring 100.0% of the equity interests in the Fund and Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, the former general partner of the Fund, raising capital in its IPO, which was completed in June 2011 and thereafter operating as an externally managed BDC under the 1940 Act.

On June 20, 2011, prior to the pricing of the IPO, we consummated the following formation transactions (“Formation Transactions”):

 

   

We acquired 100.0% of the limited partnership interests in the Fund through a merger of our wholly-owned subsidiary with and into the Fund, in which the limited partnership interests were exchanged for 3,702,778 shares of our common stock. The Fund became our wholly-owned subsidiary, retained its license by the SBA to operate as an SBIC, continued to hold its existing investments and made new investments with a portion of the net proceeds from the IPO.

 

   

We acquired 100.0% of the equity interests in Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, the former general partner of the Fund, through the merger of Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC with and into Fidus Investment GP, LLC, our wholly-owned subsidiary, in exchange for 353,743 shares of our common stock.

As a result of the IPO and the Formation Transactions described above, we and the Fund are externally managed, closed-end, non-diversified investment companies that have elected to be treated as BDCs under the 1940 Act. In addition, we intend to file an election and to qualify to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code, commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2011.

 

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PRICE RANGE OF COMMON STOCK AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Our common stock began trading on June 21, 2011 on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “FDUS.” Effective January 3, 2012, our common stock is included in the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Prior to June 21, 2011, there was no established public trading market for our common stock. The following table lists the high and low closing sale price for our common stock, and the closing sale price as a percentage of net asset value, or NAV, since shares of our common stock began being regularly quoted on Nasdaq.

 

            Closing Sales
Price
     Premium/
Discount of
High Sales
Price to
NAV (2)
    Premium/
Discount of
Low Sales
Price to
NAV (2)
    Cash
Distributions
Per Share (3)
 

Period

   NAV (1)      High      Low         

Year ended December 31, 2011

               

Second Quarter (4)

   $ 14.82       $ 15.00       $ 14.81         101.2 %     99.9   $ —     

Third Quarter

     14.77         15.00         11.33         101.6        76.7        0.32   

Fourth Quarter

     14.90         13.52         11.73         90.7        78.7        0.32   

Year ended December 31, 2012

               

First Quarter

     14.94         14.38         12.85         96.3        86.0        0.34   

Second Quarter

     *         15.17         13.22         *        *        0.36   

Third Quarter (to July 18, 2012)

     *         15.27         15.00         *        *        *   

 

(1) Net asset value per share is determined as of the last day in the relevant quarter and therefore may not reflect the net asset value per share on the date of the high and low sales prices. The net asset values shown are based on outstanding shares at the end of the each period.
(2) Calculated as of the respective high or low closing sales price divided by net asset value.
(3) Represents the distribution declared in the specified quarter. We have adopted an “opt out” dividend reinvestment plan for our common stockholders. As a result, if we declare a distribution, then stockholders’ cash distributions will be automatically reinvested in additional shares of our common stock, unless they specifically “opt out” of the dividend reinvestment plan so as to receive cash distributions. See “Dividend Reinvestment Plan.”
(4) From June 21, 2011 (commencement of trading) to June 30, 2011.
* Not determinable at the time of filing.

Shares of BDCs may trade at a market price that is less than the value of the net assets attributable to those shares. The possibilities that our shares of common stock will trade at a discount from net asset value or at premiums that are unsustainable over the long term are separate and distinct from the risk that our net asset value will decrease. It is not possible to predict whether any common stock that may be offered pursuant to any prospectus supplement will trade at, above, or below net asset value.

We intend to continue to pay quarterly distributions to our stockholders. Our quarterly distributions, if any, are determined by our board of directors. We intend to elect to be taxed as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. As long as we qualify as a RIC, we will not be taxed on our investment company taxable income or net capital gain, to the extent that such income or gain is distributed, or deemed to be distributed, to stockholders on a timely basis.

To obtain and maintain RIC tax treatment, we must, among other things, distribute at least 90.0% of our net ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gain in excess of realized net long-term capital loss, if any. In order to avoid certain excise taxes imposed on RICs, we currently intend to distribute during each calendar year an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98.0% of our net ordinary income for the calendar year, (2) 98.2% of our capital gain net income for the calendar year and (3) any net ordinary income and capital gain net income for

 

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the preceding calendar year that were not distributed during such year and on which we paid no U.S. federal income tax. We may retain for investment some or all of our net capital gain (i.e., realized net long-term capital gains in excess of realized net short-term capital losses) and treat such amounts as deemed distributions to our stockholders. If we do this, you will be treated as if you received an actual distribution of the capital gain we retain and then reinvested the net after-tax proceeds in our common stock. You also may be eligible to claim a tax credit (or, in certain circumstances, a tax refund) equal to your allocable share of the tax we paid on the capital gain deemed distributed to you. Please refer to “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” for further information regarding the consequences of our retention of net capital gain. We may, in the future, make actual distributions to our stockholders of our net capital gain. We can offer no assurance that we will achieve results that will permit the payment of any cash distributions and, if we issue senior securities, we will be prohibited from making distributions if doing so causes us to fail to maintain the asset coverage ratios stipulated by the 1940 Act or if distributions are limited by the terms of any of our borrowings. See “Regulation” and “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.”

We may make distributions that are payable in cash or shares of our common stock at the election of each stockholder. Under certain applicable provisions of the Code and the Treasury regulations, distributions payable in cash or in shares of stock at the election of stockholders are treated as taxable dividends to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits. The Internal Revenue Service has issued private rulings indicating that this rule will apply even where the total amount of cash that may be distributed is limited to no more than 20.0% of the total distribution. Under these rulings, if too many stockholders elect to receive their distributions in cash, each such stockholder would receive a pro rata share of the total cash to be distributed and would receive the remainder of their distribution in shares of stock. If we decide to make any distributions consistent with these rulings that are payable in part in our stock, taxable stockholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the full amount of such distributions (whether received in cash, our stock, or a combination thereof) as ordinary income (or as long-term capital gain to the extent such distributions are properly reported as a capital gain dividend) to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, a U.S. stockholder may be required to pay tax with respect to such distributions in excess of any cash received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock it receives in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the distribution, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such distributions, including in respect of all or a portion of such distribution that is payable in stock. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our stock in order to pay taxes owed on distributions, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our stock.

We will report the U.S. federal income tax characteristics of all distributions to our stockholders, as appropriate, on IRS Form 1099-DIV after the end of the year. Our ability to pay distributions could be affected by future business performance, liquidity, capital needs, alternative investment opportunities and loan covenants.

 

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SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The selected consolidated financial data below reflects the consolidated operations of Fidus Investment Corporation and its subsidiaries, including the Fund. The selected financial information as of December 31, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, is derived from the consolidated financial statements that have been audited by McGladrey LLP, independent auditors. Financial information prior to our IPO in June 2011 is that of the Fund. The selected financial data for the period from May 1, 2007 (inception) through December 31, 2007, statement of assets and liabilities data as of December 31, 2008, and the three months ended March 31, 2012 is unaudited. However, in our opinion, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation have been made. This financial data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus and with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

 

    Period from
May 1
(inception)
through
December 31,
2007
    Year Ended December 31,     Three Months
Ended March 31,
 
    2008     2009     2010     2011     2011     2012  
    (unaudited)                             (unaudited)  
    (dollars in thousands)  

Statement of operations data:

             

Total investment income

  $ 1,312      $ 7,504      $ 14,184      $ 17,985      $ 23,387      $ 4,794      $ 7,596   

Interest expense

    272        1,994        3,688        4,962        5,488        1,324        1,443   

Management fees, net

    1,787        3,087        2,969        3,436        3,182        1,036        939   

Incentive fees

    —          —          —          —          1,609        —          877   

All other expenses

    496        179        431        627        1,551        103        703   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net investment income (loss) before income taxes

    (1,243     2,244        7,096        8,960        11,557        2,330        3,634   

Income tax expense

    —          —          —          —          24        —          14   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net investment income (loss)

    (1,243     2,244        7,096        8,960        11,533        2,330        3,621   

Net realized (loss) on investments

    —          —          (5,551     (3,858     (12,318     (7,935 )     —     

Net unrealized (depreciation) on investments

    —          (750     (3,137     (78     16,170        8,948        (102

Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations

    (1,243     1,494        (1,592     5,024        15,385        3,343        3,519   

Per Share Data(1):

             

Net asset value (at end of period)

    n/a        n/a        n/a        n/a      $ 14.90      $ 14.42      $ 14.94   

Net investment income

    n/a        n/a        n/a        n/a        1.22        0.25        0.38   

Net gain (loss) on investments

    n/a        n/a        n/a        n/a        0.40        0.10        (0.01

Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations

    n/a        n/a        n/a        n/a        1.63        0.35        0.37   

Dividends (post IPO)

    n/a        n/a        n/a        n/a        0.64        n/a        0.34   

Other data:

             

Weighted average annual yield on debt investments(2)

    15.7     15.0     15.6     15.0     15.3     14.9     15.5

Number of portfolio companies at period end

    4        9        15        17        23        16        25   

Expense ratios (as percentage of average net assets) (1):

             

Operating expenses

    23.7     12.4     7.5     8.6     4.7     0.9     1.8

Interest expense

    2.8     7.6     8.0     10.5     4.0     1.0     1.0

 

(1) Per share data and average net assets are presented as if the Formation Transaction and IPO had occurred on January 1, 2011.

 

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(2) Yields are computed using the effective interest rates, including accretion of original issue discount, divided by the weighted average cost of debt investments, but excluding any debt investments on non-accrual status.

 

     As of December 31,      As of
March 31,

2012
 
     2007      2008      2009      2010      2011     
     (unaudited)                           (unaudited)  
     (dollars in thousands)  

Statement of assets and liabilities data:

                 

Total investments at fair value

   $ 33,151       $ 75,849       $ 122,900       $ 141,341       $ 204,745       $ 217,042   

Total assets

     34,905         79,786         129,650         147,377         248,643         262,789   

Borrowings

     15,250         46,450         79,450         93,500         104,000         119,000   

Total net assets

     19,591         32,573         48,481         52,005         140,482         140,796   

 

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SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA

The following tables set forth certain quarterly financial information for each of the nine quarters ending with the quarter ended March 31, 2012. This information was derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements. Results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of results for the past fiscal year or for any future quarter.

 

     Quarter Ended  
     March 31,
2010
    June 30,
2010
    September 30,
2010
     December 31,
2010
 
     (dollars in thousands)  

Total investment income

   $ 4,222      $ 4,616      $ 4,332       $ 4,815   

Net investment income

     2,325        1,970        2,020         2,644   

Net increase in net assets from operations

     (3,421 )     (1,739     3,671         6,513   

Net investment income per share

     n/a        n/a        n/a         n/a   

Net increase in net assets from operations per share

     n/a        n/a        n/a         n/a   

Net asset value per share at end of period

     n/a        n/a        n/a         n/a   

 

    Quarter Ended  
    March 31,
2011
    June 30,
2011
    September 30,
2011
    December 31,
2011
    March 31,
2012
 
    (dollars in thousands)  

Total investment income

  $ 4,794      $ 5,319      $ 5,950      $ 7,323      $ 7,596   

Net investment income

    2,330        3,160        2,655        3,388        3,621   

Net increase in net assets from operations

    3,343        4,597        3,146        4,300        3,519   

Net investment income per share (1)

    0.25        0.33        0.28        0.36        0.38   

Net increase in net assets from operations per share (1)

    0.35        0.49        0.33        0.46        0.37   

Net asset value per share at end of period (1)

    14.42        14.75        14.77        14.90        14.94   

 

(1) Per share amounts are presented as if the Formation Transactions and IPO had occurred on January 1, 2011.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with “Selected Financial Data,” Fidus Investment Corporation’s consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. The information in this section contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Please see “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements.

Overview

We provide customized debt and equity financing solutions to lower middle-market companies, which we define as U.S. based companies having revenues between $10.0 million and $150.0 million. Our investment objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating both current income from our debt investments and capital appreciation from our equity related investments. Our investment strategy includes partnering with business owners, management teams and financial sponsors by providing customized financing for ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, business expansion and other growth initiatives. We seek to maintain a diversified portfolio of investments in order to help mitigate the potential effects of adverse economic events related to particular companies, regions or industries.

Fidus Investment Corporation was formed as a Maryland corporation on February 14, 2011. On June 20, 2011, Fidus Investment Corporation acquired all of the limited partnership interests of Fidus Mezzanine Capital, L.P., or the Fund, and membership interests of Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, its general partner, through the Formation Transactions (as defined in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements), resulting in the Fund becoming our wholly-owned SBIC subsidiary. Immediately following the Formation Transactions, we and the Fund elected to be treated as business development companies, or BDCs, under the 1940 Act and our investment activities have been managed by Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC, our investment advisor, and supervised by our board of directors, a majority of whom are independent of us.

In June 2011, we closed our initial public offering, or IPO, issuing a total of 5,370,500 shares of common stock at a price of $15.00 per share resulting in net proceeds of $73.6 million, after deducting underwriting fees totaling $5.3 million and transaction costs associated with the offering totaling $1.7 million. Our shares are listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “FDUS.”

The Fund is licensed by the United States Small Business Administration, or the SBA, as a Small Business Investment Company, or SBIC, and we plan to continue to operate the Fund as an SBIC, subject to SBA approval, and to utilize the proceeds of the sale of SBA debentures to enhance returns to our stockholders. We have also made, and continue to make, investments directly through Fidus Investment Corporation. We believe that utilizing both entities as investment vehicles provides us with access to a broader array of investment opportunities. Given our access to lower cost capital through the SBA’s SBIC debenture program, we expect that the majority of our investments will continue to be made through the Fund. As of March 31, 2012, we had investments in 25 portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of $217.0 million and cost of $204.9 million.

Critical Accounting Policies

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions affecting amounts reported in the financial statements. We have identified investment valuation and revenue recognition as our most critical accounting estimates. We continuously evaluate our estimates, including those related to the matters described below. These estimates are based on the information that is currently available to us and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates under different assumptions or conditions. A discussion of our critical accounting policies follows.

 

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Valuation of Portfolio Investments

We conduct the valuation of our investments, pursuant to which our net asset value is determined, at all times consistent with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP, and the 1940 Act.

Our investments generally consist of illiquid securities including debt and equity investments in lower middle-market companies. Investments for which market quotations are readily available are valued at such market quotations. Because we expect that there will not be a readily available market for substantially all of the investments in our portfolio, we value substantially all of our portfolio investments at fair value as determined in good faith by our Board using a documented valuation policy and consistently applied valuation process. Due to the inherent uncertainty of determining the fair value of investments that do not have a readily available market value, the fair value of our investments may differ significantly from the values that would have been used had a readily available market value existed for such investments, and the difference could be material.

With respect to investments for which market quotations are not readily available, our Board undertakes a multi-step valuation process each quarter, as described below:

 

   

our quarterly valuation process begins with each portfolio company or investment being initially evaluated and rated by the investment professionals of our investment advisor responsible for the portfolio investment;

 

   

preliminary valuation conclusions are then documented and discussed with the investment committee of our investment advisor;

 

   

our board of directors also engages one or more independent valuation firms to provide an independent appraisal for each of our investments at least once in every calendar year, and for new portfolio companies, at least once in the twelve-month period subsequent to the initial investment;

 

   

the audit committee of our Board reviews the preliminary valuations of our investment advisor and of the independent valuation firm(s) and responds and supplements the valuation recommendations to reflect any comments; and

 

   

the board of directors discusses the valuations and determines the fair value of each investment in our portfolio in good faith, based on the input of our investment advisor, the independent valuation firm(s) and the audit committee.

In making the good faith determination of the value of portfolio investments, we start with the cost basis of the security, which includes the amortized original issue discount and payment-in-kind interest or dividends, if any. The transaction price is typically the best estimate of fair value at inception. When evidence supports a subsequent change to the carrying value from the original transaction price, adjustments are made to reflect the expected exit values.

We perform detailed valuations of our debt and equity investments, using both the market and income approaches as appropriate. Under the market approach, we typically use the enterprise value methodology to determine the fair value of an investment. There is no one methodology to estimate enterprise value and, in fact, for any one portfolio company, enterprise value is generally best expressed as a range of values, from which we derive a single estimate of enterprise value. Under the income approach, we typically prepare and analyze discounted cash flow models to estimate the present value of future cash flows of either an individual debt investment or of the underlying portfolio company itself.

We evaluate investments in portfolio companies using the most recent portfolio company financial statements and forecasts. We also consult with the portfolio company’s senior management to obtain further updates on the portfolio company’s performance, including information such as industry trends, new product development and other operational issues.

 

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For our debt investments, the primary valuation technique used to estimate the fair value is the discounted cash flow method. However, if there is deterioration in credit quality or a debt investment is in workout status, we may consider other methods in determining the fair value, including the value attributable to the debt investment from the enterprise value of the portfolio company or the proceeds that would be received in a liquidation analysis. Our discounted cash flow models estimate a range of fair values by applying an appropriate discount rate to the future cash flow streams of our debt investments, based on future interest and principal payments as set forth in the associated loan agreements. We prepare a weighted average cost of capital for use in the discounted cash flow model for each investment, based on factors including, but not limited to: current pricing and credit metrics for similar proposed or executed investment transactions of private companies; the portfolio company’s historical financial results and outlook; and the portfolio company’s current leverage and credit quality as compared to leverage and credit quality as of the date the investment was made. We may also consider the following factors when determining the fair value of debt investments: the portfolio company’s ability to make future scheduled payments; prepayment penalties; estimated remaining life; the nature and realizable value of any collateral; and changes in the interest rate environment and the credit markets that generally may affect the price at which similar investments may be made. We estimate the remaining life of our debt investments to generally be the legal maturity date of the instrument, as we generally intend to hold loans to maturity. However, if we have information available to us that the loan is expected to be repaid in the near term, we would use an estimated remaining life based on the expected repayment date.

For our equity investments, we generally use a market approach, including valuation methodologies consistent with industry practice, to estimate the enterprise value of portfolio companies. Typically, the enterprise value of private companies are based on multiples of EBITDA, cash flows, net income, revenues, or in limited cases, book value. In estimating the enterprise value of a portfolio company, we analyze various factors consistent with industry practice, including but not limited to original transaction multiples, the portfolio company’s historical and projected financial results, applicable market trading and transaction comparables, applicable market yields and leverage levels, the nature and realizable value of any collateral, the markets in which the portfolio company does business, and comparisons of financial ratios of peer companies that are public. Where applicable, we consider our ability to influence the capital structure of the portfolio company, as well as the timing of a potential exit.

We may also utilize an income approach when estimating the fair value of our equity securities, either as a primary methodology if consistent with industry practice or if the market approach is otherwise not applicable, or as a supporting methodology to corroborate the fair value ranges determined by the market approach. We typically prepare and analyze discounted cash flow models based on projections of the future free cash flows (or earnings) of the portfolio company. We consider various factors, including but not limited to the portfolio company’s projected financial results, applicable market trading and transaction comparables, applicable market yields and leverage levels, the markets in which the portfolio company does business, and comparisons of financial ratios of peer companies that are public.

Determination of fair value involves subjective judgments and estimates. Accordingly, the notes to our financial statements express the uncertainties with respect to the possible effect of such valuations, and any changes in such valuations, on the financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

The Company’s revenue recognition policies are as follows:

Investments and related investment income. Realized gains or losses on portfolio investments are calculated based upon the difference between the net proceeds from the disposition and the cost basis of the investment. Changes in the fair value of investments from the prior period, as determined by our Board through the application of our valuation policy, are included as changes in unrealized appreciation or depreciation of investments in the consolidated statement of operations.

 

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Interest and dividend income. Interest and dividend income is recorded on the accrual basis to the extent that we expect to collect such amounts. Interest and dividend income is accrued based upon the outstanding principal amount and contractual terms of debt and preferred equity investments. Interest is accrued on a daily basis. Dividend income is recorded as dividends when declared or at the point an obligation exists for the portfolio company to make a distribution. Distributions of earnings from portfolio companies are evaluated to determine if the distribution is income or a return of capital.

Payment-in-kind interest. We have investments in our portfolio that contain a payment-in-kind interest or dividends provision, which represents contractual interest or dividends that are added to the principal balance and are recorded as income. We stop accruing payment-in-kind interest when it is determined that payment-in-kind interest is no longer collectible. In addition, to maintain RIC tax treatment, substantially all of this income must be paid out to stockholders in the form of distributions, even though we have not yet collected the cash. We may have difficulty paying our required distributions if we recognize income before, or without, receiving cash representing such income.

Warrants. In connection with our debt investments, we will sometimes receive warrants or other equity-related securities, or Warrants. We determine the cost basis of Warrants based upon their respective fair values on the date of receipt in proportion to the total fair value of the debt and Warrants received. Any resulting difference between the face amount of the debt and its recorded fair value resulting from the assignment of value to the Warrants are treated as original issue discount, or OID, and accreted into interest income based on the effective interest method over the life of the debt security.

Fee income. All structuring and advisory service fees received in connection with our investments are recognized as income. Such fees typically include fees for services, including structuring and advisory services, provided to portfolio companies. We recognize income from fees for providing such structuring and advisory services when the services are rendered or the transactions are completed. Upon the prepayment of a loan or debt security, any prepayment penalties are recorded as fee income when received. Prior to the Formation Transactions, and in accordance with the prior limited partnership agreement, we historically recorded transaction fees for structuring and advisory services provided in connection with our investments as a direct offset to management fee expense.

We also typically receive upfront debt origination or closing fees in connection with debt investments. Such upfront debt origination and closing fees are capitalized as unearned income offset against investments on our statement of assets and liabilities and amortized as additional interest income over the life of the investment.

Non-accrual. Loans or preferred equity securities are placed on non-accrual status when principal, interest or dividend payments become materially past due, or when there is reasonable doubt that principal, interest or dividends will be collected. Interest payments received on non-accrual loans may be recognized as income or applied to principal depending upon management’s judgment. Non-accrual loans are restored to accrual status when past due principal, interest or dividends are paid and, in management’s judgment, are likely to remain current.

Portfolio Composition, Investment Activity and Yield

During the three months ended March 31, 2012, we invested $16.9 million in two new and two existing portfolio companies. The new investments consisted primarily of subordinated notes ($6.5 million, or 38.4%), senior secured loans ($9.5 million, or 56.0%), warrants ($0.9 million, or 5.0%) and equity securities ($0.1 million, or 0.6%). During the three months ended March 31, 2012 we received proceeds from repayments of principal of $5.8 million. During the year ended December 31, 2011, we invested $78.0 million in nine new and five existing portfolio companies. The new investments consisted primarily of subordinated notes ($64.2 million, or 82.4%), senior secured loans ($4.8 million, or 6.2%), warrants ($2.4 million, or 3.0%) and equity securities ($6.6 million, or 8.4%). During the year ended December 31, 2011 we received proceeds from repayments of principal of $23.3 million. During the year ended December 31, 2010, we invested $31.7 million in three new and five

 

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existing portfolio companies. The new investments consisted primarily of subordinated notes ($25.4 million, or 80.4%), senior secured loans ($4.0 million, or 12.5%), warrants ($0.8 million, or 2.4%) and equity securities ($1.5 million, or 4.7%). Additionally, we received proceeds from repayments of principal of $14.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2010.

As of March 31, 2012, our investment portfolio totaled $217.0 million and consisted of 25 portfolio companies. As of March 31, 2012, our debt portfolio was comprised entirely of fixed rate investments. Overall, the portfolio had a net unrealized appreciation of $12.1 million as of March 31, 2012. Our average portfolio company investment at amortized cost was $8.2 million as of March 31, 2012.

As of December 31, 2011, our investment portfolio totaled $204.7 million and consisted of 23 portfolio companies. As of December 31, 2011, our debt portfolio was comprised entirely of fixed rate investments. Overall, the portfolio had a net unrealized appreciation of $12.2 million as of December 31, 2011. Our average portfolio company investment at amortized cost was $8.4 million as of December 31, 2011.

As of December 31, 2010, our investment portfolio totaled $141.3 million and consisted of 17 portfolio companies. As of December 31, 2010, our debt portfolio was comprised entirely of fixed rate investments. Overall, the portfolio had a net unrealized depreciation of $4.0 million as of December 31, 2010. Our average portfolio company investment at amortized cost was $8.5 million as of December 31, 2010.

The weighted average yield on debt investments at their cost basis at March 31, 2012, December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 was 15.5%, 15.3% and 15.0%, respectively. Yields are computed using interest rates as of the balance sheet date and include amortization of original issue discount. Yields do not include debt investments that were on non-accrual status as of the balance sheet date.

The following table shows the portfolio composition by investment type at cost and fair value as a percentage of total investments:

 

     As of
March 31,

2012
    As of
December 31,
 
       2011     2010  

Cost

                  

Senior secured loans

     11.6     7.7     13.4

Subordinated notes

     77.0        80.6        72.2   

Equity

     8.8        9.3        12.0   

Warrants

     2.6        2.4        2.4   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     100.0     100.0     100.0
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Fair Value

                  

Senior secured loans

     10.9     7.3     11.6

Subordinated notes

     73.5        76.7        75.2   

Equity

     8.5        9.3        9.6   

Warrants

     7.1        6.7        3.6   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     100.0     100.0     100.0
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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The following table shows the portfolio composition by geographic region at cost and fair value as a percentage of total investments. The geographic composition is determined by the location of the corporate headquarters of the portfolio company.

 

     As of
March 31,
2012
    As of
December 31,
 
       2011     2010  

Cost

                  

Midwest

     32.5     34.5     28.1

Southwest

     20.9        16.8        20.8   

Northeast

     11.4        14.8        20.3   

Southeast

     20.9        18.8        18.2   

West

     14.3        15.1        12.6   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     100.0     100.0     100.0
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Fair value

                  

Midwest

     31.4     33.4     30.7

Southwest

     24.0        20.3        24.7   

Northeast

     10.4        13.6        15.4   

Southeast

     19.7        17.7        19.0   

West

     14.5        15.0        10.2   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     100.0     100.0     100.0
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

The following tables show the detailed industry composition of our portfolio at cost and fair value as a percentage of total investments:

 

     As of
March 31,
2012
    As of
December 31,
 
       2011     2010  

Cost

                  

Transportation services

     9.9     10.3     12.4

Aerospace & defense manufacturing

     9.8        10.4        3.4   

Healthcare services

     13.8        9.7        7.6   

Movie theaters

     6.2        6.6        8.7   

Industrial cleaning & coatings

     6.5        6.8        5.5   

Utility equipment manufacturing

     4.7        5.0        —     

Specialty distribution

     4.6        4.9        6.2   

Printing services

     4.3        4.5        5.6   

Electronic components supplier

     4.7        5.0        6.3   

Retail cleaning

     3.8        4.0        5.1   

Commercial cleaning

     4.0        4.2        5.6   

Furniture rental

     3.7        4.0        —     

Specialty cracker manufacturer

     4.1        4.3        5.4   

Restaurants

     3.6        3.8        —     

Healthcare products

     3.1        3.3        —     

Apparel distribution

     2.8        3.0        —     

Information technology services

     3.4        3.0        3.8   

Laundry services

     2.3        2.4        6.3   

Oil & gas services

     2.4        2.5        3.2   

Restoration & mitigation services

     2.3        2.3        —     

Industrial products

     —          —          6.3   

Niche manufacturing

     —          —          3.1   

Environmental services

     —          —          5.5   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     100.0     100.0     100.0
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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     As of
March  31,
2012
    As of December 31,  
       2011     2010  

Fair Value

                  

Transportation Services

     13.3     14.0     14.5

Aerospace & defense manufacturing

     9.9        10.2        3.0   

Healthcare services

     13.9        10.1        8.1   

Movie theaters

     6.7        7.1        10.3   

Industrial cleaning & coatings

     6.1        6.4        5.8   

Utility equipment manufacturing

     4.5        4.8        —     

Specialty distribution

     4.4        4.6        6.4   

Printing services

     4.1        4.4        6.0   

Electronic components supplier

     3.9        4.1        6.5   

Retail cleaning

     3.5        3.9        7.0   

Commercial cleaning

     3.6        3.8        5.7   

Furniture rental

     3.5        3.7        —     

Specialty cracker manufacturer

     3.4        3.6        5.5   

Restaurants

     3.4        3.6        —     

Healthcare products

     2.9        3.1        —     

Apparel distribution

     2.7        2.8        —     

Information technology services

     3.2        2.7        3.9   

Laundry services

     2.3        2.5        6.8   

Oil & gas services

     2.6        2.5        3.2   

Restoration & mitigation services

     2.1        2.1        —     

Industrial products

     —          —          6.5   

Niche manufacturing

     —          —          0.8   

Environmental services

     —          —          —     
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     100.0     100.0     100.0
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Portfolio Asset Quality

We utilize an internally developed investment rating system for our portfolio of investments. Investment Rating 1 is used for investments that involve the least amount of risk in our portfolio and the portfolio company is performing above expectations. Investment Rating 2 is used for investments that are performing substantially within our expectations and the portfolio company’s risk factors are neutral or favorable. Each new portfolio investment enters our portfolio with Investment Rating 2. Investment Rating 3 is used for investments performing below expectations and requires closer monitoring, but with respect to which we expect a full return of original capital invested and collection of all interest. Investment Rating 4 is used for investments performing materially below expectations, and have the potential for some loss of investment return. Investment Rating 5 is used for investments performing substantially below our expectations and where we expect a loss of principal.

 

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The following table shows the distribution of our investments on the 1 to 5 investment rating scale at fair value as of March 31, 2012, December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010:

 

     March 31, 2012     December 31, 2011     December 31, 2010  
     Investments
at Fair
Value
     Percent
of Total
Portfolio
    Investments
at Fair
Value
     Percent  of
Total
Portfolio
    Investments
at Fair
Value
     Percent  of
Total
Portfolio
 
Investment Rating    (Dollars in thousands)  

1

   $ 8,773         4.0   $ 8,715         4.3   $ 27,330.0         19.3

2

     197,355         90.9        180,751         88.2        97,739.2         69.2   

3

     10,914         5.1        15,279         7.5        15,108.5         10.7   

4

     —           —          —           —          —           —     

5

     —           —          —           —          1,164         0.8   
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Totals

   $ 217,042         100.0   $ 204,745         100.0   $ 141,341.5         100.0
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Based upon our investment rating system, the weighted average rating of our portfolio as of March 31, 2012, December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 was 2.0, 2.0 and 1.9, respectively. As of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, we had no investments on non-accrual status. As of December 31, 2010, the fair value of our non-accrual investments comprised 0.0% of the total fair value of our portfolio, and the cost of our non-accrual investments comprised 5.5% of the total cost of our portfolio.

Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations

Comparison of three months ended March 31, 2012 and March 31, 2011

Investment Income

For the three months ended March 31, 2012, total investment income was $7.6 million, an increase of $2.8 million, or 58.5%, over the $4.8 million of total investment income for the three months ended March 31, 2011. The increase was primarily attributable to a $2.8 million increase in interest and fee income from investments. The increase in interest and fee income is primarily due to higher average levels of outstanding debt investments and higher fee income of $0.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2012 compared to the prior year period.

Expenses

For the three months ended March 31, 2012, total expenses were $4.0 million, an increase of $1.5 million or 60.8%, over the $2.5 million of total expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2011. The increase in total expenses was primarily attributable to an increase in incentive and administrative service fees, interest expense, professional fees and other general and administrative expenses partially offset by a decrease in the base management fee. Incentive fees increased $0.9 million and administrative service expenses increased $0.2 million due to the new Investment Advisory and Administration Agreements. Interest expense increased $0.1 million as a result of higher average balances of SBA debentures outstanding during the three months ended March 31, 2012 than the comparable period in 2011. Professional fees increased $0.2 million primarily due to increased legal and accounting costs associated with being a publicly-traded company. Other general and administrative expenses increased $0.2 million primarily due to increased director fees, insurance costs and other corporate expenses related to being a publicly-traded company. The base management fee decreased $0.1 million primarily due to lower management fees in the three months ended March 31, 2012 as a result of the new Investment Advisory Agreement compared with the prior year period.

 

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Net Investment Income

As a result of the $2.8 million increase in total investment income as compared to the $1.5 million increase in total expenses, net investment income increased $1.3 million, or 55.4% for the three months ended March 31, 2012 to $3.6 million compared to net investment income of $2.3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2011.

Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting From Operations

For the three months ended March 31, 2012, the total realized loss on investments was zero. For the three months ended March 31, 2011, the total realized loss on investments was $7.9 million, resulting from one non-control/non-affiliate investment. During the three months ended March 31, 2012, we recorded net unrealized depreciation of $0.1 million comprised of $0.2 million of net unrealized depreciation on debt investments, partially offset by $0.1 million of net unrealized appreciation on equity investments. During the three months ended March 31, 2011, we recorded net unrealized appreciation of $8.9 million. This consisted of $1.5 million of net unrealized appreciation on equity investments and $7.9 million of reclassifications to realized loss on investments (resulting in unrealized appreciation), partially offset by $0.4 million of net unrealized depreciation on debt investments.

As a result of these events, our net increase in net assets resulting from operations during the three months ended March 31, 2012, was $3.5 million, or an increase of $0.2 million compared to a net increase in net assets resulting from operations of $3.3 million during the three months ended March 31, 2011.

Comparison of fiscal years ended December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010

Investment Income

For the year ended December 31, 2011, total investment income was $23.4 million, an increase of $5.4 million, or 30.0%, over the $18.0 million of total investment income for the year ended December 31, 2010. The increase was primarily attributable to a $5.6 million increase in interest and fee income from investments, partially offset by a $0.3 million decrease in dividend income. The increase in interest and fee income is primarily due to higher average levels of outstanding debt investments and higher fee income of $1.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2011 compared to the prior year period. The decrease in dividend income is primarily attributable to lower levels of dividend producing investments in 2011 compared to 2010.

Expenses

For the year ended December 31, 2011, total expenses were $11.8 million, an increase of $2.8 million or 31.1%, over the $9.0 million of total expenses for the year ended December 31, 2010. The increase in total expenses was primarily attributable to an increase in incentive and administrative service fees as well as higher interest expense and professional fees partially offset by a decrease in the base management fee after offset (transaction fees received in connection with the Fund’s investments prior to the Formation Transactions). Incentive fees increased $1.6 million and administrative fees increased $0.4 million due to the new Investment Advisory and Administration Agreements. Interest expense increased $0.5 million as a result of higher average balances of SBA debentures outstanding during the year ended December 31, 2011 than the comparable period in 2010. Professional fees increased $0.4 million primarily due to increased legal and accounting costs associated with being a publicly-traded company. The base management fee after offset decreased $0.3 million primarily due to lower management fees in the year ended December 31, 2011 as a result of the new Investment Advisory Agreement compared with the prior year period.

Net Investment Income

As a result of the $5.4 million increase in total investment income as compared to the $2.8 million increase in total expenses, net investment income for the year ended December 31, 2011 was $11.5 million, which was an increase of $2.6 million, or 28.7%, compared to net investment income of $9.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2010.

 

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Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting From Operations

For the year ended December 31, 2011, the total realized loss on investments was $12.3 million, which consisted of realized losses on two non-control/non-affiliate investments. For the year ended December 31, 2010, the total realized loss on investments was $3.9 million, all of such realized loss was on non-control/non-affiliate investments, which was primarily the result of the restructuring of one debt investment.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, we recorded net unrealized appreciation on investments of $16.2 million comprised of net unrealized appreciation on investments in five portfolio companies totaling $10.2 million and net unrealized depreciation on investments in ten portfolio companies totaling $5.3 million. In addition, we recorded net unrealized depreciation reclassification adjustments of $11.3 million related to realized losses on the two non-control/non-affiliate investment noted above. For the year ended December 31, 2010, we recorded $0.1 million in net unrealized depreciation.

As a result of these events, our net increase in net assets resulting from operations during the year ended December 31, 2011, was $15.4 million, or an increase of $10.4 million compared to a net increase in net assets resulting from operations of $5.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2010.

Comparison of fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009

Investment Income

For the year ended December 31, 2010, total investment income was $18.0 million, an increase of $3.8 million, or 26.8%, over the $14.2 million of total investment income for the year ended December 31, 2009. The increase was attributable to a $4.6 million increase in interest and fee income from investments, partially offset by a $0.8 million decrease in dividend income. The increase in interest and fee income is primarily attributable to higher average levels of outstanding debt investments, which was principally due to the closing of seven new debt investments totaling $29.4 million during 2010, partially offset by the repayment of $14.3 million of debt securities. The decrease in dividend income is primarily attributable to one equity investment in a portfolio company that was placed on non-accrual status during 2010.

Expenses

For the year ended December 31, 2010, total expenses were $9.0 million, an increase of $1.9 million, or 27.3%, over the $7.1 million of total expenses for the year ended December 31, 2009. The increase in total expenses was primarily attributable to a $1.3 million increase in interest expense as a result of higher average balances of SBA debentures outstanding during the year ended December 31, 2010 than the comparable period in 2009. The management fees paid to Fidus Capital, LLC, our investment advisor’s predecessor, after management fee offset increased $0.5 million, or 15.7%, primarily attributable to a decrease in management fee offset due to lower new investment activity during the year ended December 31, 2010 than the comparable period in 2009. Other expenses increased $0.3 million, or 179.9%, primarily attributable to a loss on dividend receivable of $0.3 million related to one portfolio investment that was placed on non-accrual status during 2010.

Net Investment Income

As a result of the $3.8 million increase in total investment income as compared to the $1.9 million increase in total expenses, net investment income for the year ended December 31, 2010, was $9.0 million, or a 26.3% increase, compared to net investment income of $7.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2009.

Net Increase in Net Assets Resulting from Operations

For the year ended December 31, 2010, the total realized loss on investments was $3.9 million, all of such realized loss was on non-control/non-affiliate investments, which was primarily the result of the restructuring of

 

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one debt investment. For the year ended December 31, 2009, total realized losses on investments totaled $5.6 million. Realized losses on control investments for 2009 was $3.8 million, which primarily consisted of realized losses on two investments. Realized losses on affiliate investments for 2009 was $1.8 million, which primarily consisted of realized losses on two investments.

During the year ended December 31, 2010, we recorded net unrealized depreciation on investments in the amount of $0.1 million, comprised primarily of unrealized depreciation on 11 investments totaling $10.2 million and unrealized appreciation on 13 other investments totaling $6.3 million. In addition, we recorded net unrealized depreciation reclassification adjustments of $3.9 million related to a realized loss on the non-control/non-affiliate investment noted above.

As a result of these events, our net increase in net assets resulting from operations during the year ended December 31, 2010, was $5.0 million, or an increase of $6.6 million compared to a net decrease in net assets resulting from operations of $1.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2009.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of March 31, 2012, we had $40.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, and our net assets totaled $140.8 million. We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents on hand, our available SBA leverage and our anticipated cash flows from operations will be adequate to meet our cash needs for our daily operations for at least the next 12 months. We intend to generate additional cash primarily from future offerings of securities, future borrowings as well as cash flows from operations, including income earned from investments in our portfolio companies and, to a lesser extent, from the temporary investment of cash in U.S. government securities and other high-quality debt investments that mature in one year or less. 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.

Cash Flows

For the three months ended March 31, 2012, we experienced a net increase in cash and cash equivalents in the amount of $1.5 million. During that period, we used $9.7 million in cash in operating activities, primarily for the funding of $16.9 million of investments, partially offset by $5.8 million of principal repayments received and $3.6 million of net investment income. During the same period, we generated $11.2 million from financing activities, consisting primarily of proceeds from SBA debentures of $15.0 million. These increases were partially offset by cash dividends paid to stockholders in the amount of $3.2 million and payment of deferred financing fees totaling $0.6 million.

For the three months ended March 31, 2011, we experienced a net increase in cash and cash equivalents in the amount of $7.2 million. During that period, we used $0.5 million in cash in operating activities, primarily related to cash payments for interest on borrowings of approximately $2.4 million, the management fee of $1.0 million and other expenses partially offset by cash interest receipts of $3.2 million. During the same period, we generated $7.8 million from financing activities, consisting of net borrowings under our credit facility totaling $0.8 million and capital contributions from the Fund’s partner’s prior to the Formation Transactions of $7.0 million.

For the year ended December 31, 2011, we experienced a net increase in cash and cash equivalents in the amount of $37.3 million. During that period, we used $46.0 million in cash in operating activities, primarily for the funding of $78.0 million of investments, partially offset by $23.3 million of principal repayments received and $11.5 million of net investment income. During the same period, we generated $83.3 million from financing activities, consisting primarily of proceeds from the offering (including the over-allotment) of $73.6 million, net of expenses, capital contributions from partners totaling $7.0 million and proceeds from SBA debentures of $10.5 million. These increases were partially offset by cash dividends paid to stockholders in the amount of $6.0 million, capital distributions to the Fund’s partners prior to the Formation Transactions in the amount of $1.5 million and financing fees paid in the amount of $0.3 million.

 

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For the year ended December 31, 2010, we experienced a net decrease in cash and cash equivalents in the amount of $0.9 million. During that period, we used $12.8 million in cash in operating activities, primarily for the funding of $31.7 million of investments, partially offset by $14.3 million of principal payments received and $9.0 million of net investment income. During the same period, we generated $11.9 million from financing activities, consisting of borrowings under SBA debentures in the amount of $14.0 million, partially offset by deferred financing costs paid by us in the amount of $0.6 million and a capital distribution in the amount of $1.5 million.

For the year ended December 31, 2009, we experienced a net increase in cash and cash equivalents in the amount of $1.3 million. During that period, we used $48.4 million in cash in operating activities, primarily for the funding of $50.8 million of investments, partially offset by $7.1 million of net investment income. During the same period, we generated $49.7 million from financing activities, consisting of borrowings under SBA debentures in the amount of $33.0 million and partners’ capital contributions in the amount of $17.5 million. These amounts were partially offset by financing fees paid by us in the amount of $0.8 million.

Capital Resources

We anticipate that we will continue to fund our investment activities on a long-term basis through a combination of debt and additional equity capital. The Fund is a licensed SBIC, and has the ability to issue debentures guaranteed by the SBA at favorable interest rates. Under the Small Business Investment Act and the SBA rules applicable to SBICs, an SBIC can have outstanding at any time debentures guaranteed by the SBA in an amount up to twice its regulatory capital. The maximum statutory limit on the dollar amount of outstanding debentures guaranteed by the SBA issued by a single SBIC as of March 31, 2012 was $150.0 million. Debentures guaranteed by the SBA have fixed interest rates that approximate prevailing 10-year Treasury Note rates plus a spread and have a maturity of ten years with interest payable semi-annually. The principal amount of the SBA debentures is not required to be paid before maturity but may be pre-paid at any time. As of March 31, 2012, the Fund had $119.0 million of outstanding SBA debentures, which had a weighted average interest rate of 4.9%. Based on its $75.0 million of regulatory capital as of March 31, 2012, the Fund has the current capacity to issue up to an additional $31.0 million of SBA debentures. For more information on the SBA debentures the Fund has issued, please see Note 6 to our consolidated financial statements.

We intend to apply for a second SBIC license through which we may issue more SBA debentures to fund additional investments; however, we can make no assurances that, if we do apply, the SBA will approve such application. The SBA regulations currently limit the amount that is available to be borrowed by the Fund to $150.0 million. If we apply and are approved by the SBA for a second SBIC license, the maximum amount of outstanding SBA debentures for two or more SBICs under common control cannot exceed $225.0 million. However, as a BDC, we are generally required to meet a coverage ratio of total assets to total senior securities, which include borrowings and any preferred stock we may issue in the future, of at least 200.0%. This requirement limits the amount that we may borrow. We have received exemptive relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, to allow us to exclude any indebtedness guaranteed by the SBA and issued by the Fund from the 200.0% asset coverage requirements, which, in turn, will enable us to fund more investments with debt capital.

As a BDC, we are generally not permitted to issue and sell our common stock at a price below net asset value per share. We may, however, sell our common stock, or warrants, options or rights to acquire our common stock, at a price below the then-current net asset value per share of our common stock if our board of directors, including independent directors, determines that such sale is in the best interests of us and our stockholders, and if our stockholders approve such sale. On June 6, 2012, our stockholders voted to allow us to sell or otherwise issue common stock at a price below net asset value per share for a period of one year ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or the date of our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Our stockholders specified that the cumulative number of shares sold in each offering during the one-year period ending on the earlier of June 6, 2013 or the date of our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders may not exceed 25.0% of our outstanding common stock immediately prior to such sale.

 

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Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In May 2011 the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRSs, which we refer to as ASU 2011-04. ASU 2011-04 represents the converged guidance of the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB, (collectively, the “Standards Boards”) on fair value measurement. The collective efforts of the Standards Boards and their staffs, reflected in ASU 2011-04, have resulted in common requirements for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurements, including a consistent meaning of the term “fair value” and enhanced disclosure requirements for investments that do not have readily determinable fair values. The Standards Boards have concluded the common requirements will result in greater comparability of fair value measurements presented and disclosed in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP and IFRSs. The amendments to the FASB Codification in ASU 2011-04 are to be applied prospectively. For public entities, the amendments are effective during interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011. We adopted the amendments of ASU 2011-04 as of January 1, 2012. See Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements for the related disclosures. The adoption of ASU 2011-04 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In November 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-11, Balance Sheet (Topic 210) containing new guidance that requires an entity to disclose information about offsetting and related arrangements to enable users of its financial statements to understand the effect of those arrangements on its financial position. This guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013. An entity should provide the disclosures required by those amendments retrospectively for all comparative periods presented. Our effective date is January 1, 2013. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on our consolidated financial position.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We may be a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financial needs of our portfolio companies. As of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 we had no off-balance sheet arrangements. As of December 31, 2010, our only off-balance sheet arrangements consisted of an unfunded commitment to provide debt financing to one of our portfolio companies.

Contractual Obligations

As of March 31, 2012 our future fixed commitments for cash payments are as follows:

 

     Total      2012      2013 to
2014
     2015 to
2016
     2017 and
Thereafter
 
     (Dollars in thousands)  

SBA debentures

   $ 119,000       $ —         $ —         $ —         $ 119,000   

Interest due on SBA Debentures

     43,196         2,929         11,707         11,723         16,837   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 162,196       $ 2,929       $ 11,707       $ 11,723       $ 135,837   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

We have certain contracts under which we have material future commitments. We entered into the Investment Advisory Agreement with our investment advisor in accordance with the 1940 Act. Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, our investment advisor provides us with investment advisory and management services. We pay the following amounts for these services (a) a management fee equal to a percentage of the average of our total assets (excluding cash and cash equivalents) and (b) an incentive fee based on our performance. See “Management and Other Agreements — Investment Advisory Agreement — Management Fee.”

 

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Under the Administration Agreement, our investment advisor furnishes us with office facilities and equipment, provide us clerical, bookkeeping and record keeping services at such facilities and provide us with other administrative services necessary to conduct our day-to-day operations. See “Management and Other Agreements — Administration Agreement.”

If any of our contractual obligations discussed above are terminated, our costs under any new agreements that we enter into may increase. In addition, we would likely incur significant time and expense in locating alternative parties to provide the services we expect to receive under our Investment Advisory Agreement and our Administration Agreement. Any new investment advisory agreement would also be subject to approval by our independent board members and our stockholders.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure about Market Risk

We are subject to financial market risks, including changes in interest rates. Changes in interest rates affect both our cost of funding and the valuation of our investment portfolio. Our risk management systems and procedures are designed to identify and analyze our risk, to set appropriate policies and limits and to continually monitor these risks and limits by means of reliable administrative and information systems and other policies and programs. In the future, our investment income may also be affected by changes in various interest rates, including LIBOR and prime rates, to the extent of any debt investments that include floating interest rates. As of March 31, 2012, all of our debt investments bore interest at fixed rates and all of our pooled SBA debentures bore interest at fixed rates. Assuming that the consolidated statements of assets and liabilities as of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 were to remain constant, a hypothetical 100 basis point change in interest rates would not have a material effect on our level of interest income from debt investments or interest expense.

Because we currently borrow, and plan to borrow in the future, money to make investments, our net investment income is dependent upon the difference between the rate at which we borrow funds and the rate at which we invest the funds borrowed. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that a significant change in market interest rates will not have a material adverse effect on our net investment income. In periods of rising interest rates, our cost of funds would increase, which could reduce our net investment income if there is not a corresponding increase in interest income generated by our investment portfolio.

 

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SENIOR SECURITIES

Information about our senior securities is shown in the following table as of December 31 for the years indicated in the table, unless otherwise noted. We have derived the information as of December 31, 2007, December 31, 2008 and March 31, 2012 from unaudited financial data. The information as of December 31, 2009, December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2011 has been derived from our consolidated financial statements, which have been audited by our independent registered public accounting firm and are included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

Class and Year

   Total
Amount
Outstanding
Exclusive of
Treasury

Securities (1)
     Asset
Coverage
per

Unit (2)
     Involuntary
Liquidation
Preference
per Unit (3)
     Average
Market
Value per
Unit (4)
 
     (dollars in thousands)                       

SBA debentures

           

2007

   $ —         $ —           —           N/A   

2008

     46,450         1,701         —           N/A   

2009

     79,450         1,610         —           N/A   

2010

     93,500         1,556         —           N/A   

2011

     104,000         2,351         —           N/A   

2012 (as of March 31, unaudited)

     119,000         2,183         —           N/A   

Credit facility

           

2007

   $ 15,250       $ 2,285         —           N/A   

2008

     —           —           —           N/A   

2009

     —           —           —           N/A   

2010

     —           —           —           N/A   

2011

     —           —           —           N/A   

2012 (as of March 31, unaudited)

     —           —           —           N/A   

 

(1) Total amount of each class of senior securities outstanding at the end of the period presented.
(2) Asset coverage per unit is the ratio of the carrying value of our total consolidated assets, less all liabilities and indebtedness not represented by senior securities, to the aggregate amount of senior securities representing indebtedness. Asset coverage per unit is expressed in terms of dollar amounts per $1,000 of indebtedness.
(3) The amount to which such class of senior security would be entitled upon the involuntary liquidation of the issuer in preference to any security junior to it. The “—” indicates information which the SEC expressly does not require to be disclosed for certain types of senior securities.
(4) Not applicable because senior securities are not registered for public trading.

 

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THE COMPANY

General

We provide customized debt and equity financing solutions to lower middle-market companies, which we define as U.S. based companies having revenues between $10.0 million and $150.0 million. Our investment objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating both current income from our debt investments and capital appreciation from our equity related investments. Our investment strategy includes partnering with business owners, management teams and financial sponsors by providing customized financing for change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, business expansion and other growth initiatives. We seek to maintain a diversified portfolio of investments in order to help mitigate the potential effects of adverse economic events related to particular companies, regions or industries.

We invest in companies that possess some or all of the following attributes: predictable revenues; positive cash flows; defensible and/or leading market positions; diversified customer and supplier bases; and proven management teams with strong operating discipline. We target companies in the lower middle-market with annual EBITDA between $3.0 million and $20.0 million; however, we may from time to time opportunistically make investments in larger or smaller companies. Our investments typically range between $5.0 million and $15.0 million per portfolio company.

As of March 31, 2012, we had debt and equity investments in 25 portfolio companies with an aggregate fair value of $217.0 million. The weighted average yield on all of our debt investments as of March 31, 2012 was 15.5%. Yields are computed using the effective interest rates as of March 31, 2012, including accretion of original issue discount, divided by the weighted average cost of debt investments. There can be no assurance that the weighted average yield will remain at its current level.

Market Opportunity

We believe that the limited amount of capital available to lower middle-market companies, coupled with the desire of these companies for flexible and partnership-oriented sources of capital, creates an attractive investment environment for us. We believe the following factors will continue to provide us with opportunities to grow and deliver attractive returns to stockholders.

The lower middle-market represents a large, underserved market. We believe that lower middle-market companies, most of which are privately-held, are relatively underserved by traditional capital providers such as commercial banks, finance companies, hedge funds and collateralized loan obligation funds. Further, we believe that companies of this size generally possess conservative capital structures with significant enterprise value cushions, as compared to larger companies with more financing options.

Recent credit market dislocation for lower middle-market companies has created an opportunity for attractive risk-adjusted returns. We believe the credit crisis that began in 2007 and the subsequent exit of traditional capital sources, such as commercial banks, finance companies, hedge funds and collateralized loan obligation funds, has resulted in an increase in opportunities for alternative funding sources. In addition, we believe that there continues to be less competition in our market and an increased opportunity for attractive risk-adjusted returns. The remaining lenders and investors in the current environment are requiring lower amounts of senior and total leverage, increased equity commitments and more comprehensive covenant packages than was customary in the years leading up to the credit crisis.

Large pools of uninvested private equity capital should drive future transaction velocity. We believe there is a large pool of uninvested private equity capital, and we expect that private equity firms will remain active investors in lower middle-market companies. Private equity funds generally seek to leverage their investments by combining their equity capital with senior secured loans and/or mezzanine debt provided by other sources, and our relationships with private equity firms position us to partner with private equity investors.

 

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Future refinancing activity is expected to create additional investment opportunities. A high volume of financings completed between the years 2005 and 2008 is expected to mature in the coming years. We believe this supply of opportunities coupled with limited financing providers focused on lower middle-market companies will continue to offer investment opportunities with attractive risk-adjusted returns.

Business Strategy

We intend to accomplish our goal of becoming the premier provider of capital to and value-added partner of lower middle-market companies by:

Leveraging the Experience of Our Investment Advisor. Our investment advisor’s investment professionals have significant experience investing in, lending to and advising companies across changing market cycles. These professionals have diverse backgrounds with prior experience in senior management positions at investment banks, specialty finance companies, commercial banks and privately and publicly held companies and have extensive experience investing across all levels of the capital structure of lower middle-market companies. We believe this experience provides our investment advisor with an in-depth understanding of the strategic, financial and operational challenges and opportunities of lower middle-market companies. Further, we believe this understanding positions our investment advisor to effectively identify, assess, structure and monitor our investments.

Capitalizing on Our Strong Transaction Sourcing Network. Our investment advisor’s investment professionals possess an extensive network of long-standing relationships with private equity firms, middle-market senior lenders, junior capital partners, financial intermediaries and management teams of privately owned businesses. We believe that the combination of our relationships and our reputation as a reliable, responsive and value-added financing partner helps generate a steady stream of new investment opportunities and proprietary deal flow.

Serving as a Value-Added Partner with Customized Financing Solutions. We follow a partnership-oriented approach in our investments and focus on opportunities where we believe we can add value to a portfolio company. We primarily concentrate on industries or market niches in which the investment professionals of our investment advisor have prior experience. The investment professionals of our investment advisor also have expertise in structuring securities at all levels of the capital structure, which we believe positions us well to meet the needs of our portfolio companies. We invest primarily in mezzanine debt securities, typically coupled with an equity interest; however, on a selective basis we may invest in senior secured or unitranche loans. Further, as a publicly-traded BDC, we have a longer investment horizon without the capital return requirements of traditional private investment vehicles. We believe this flexibility enables us to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns on invested capital and enables us to be a better long-term partner for our portfolio companies. We believe that by leveraging the industry and structuring expertise of our investment advisor coupled with our long-term investment horizon, we are well positioned to be a value-added partner for our portfolio companies.

Employing Rigorous Due Diligence and Underwriting Processes Focused on Capital Preservation. Our investment advisor follows a disciplined and credit-oriented approach to evaluating and investing in companies. We focus on companies with proven business models, significant free cash flow, defensible market positions and significant enterprise value cushion for our debt investments. In making investment decisions, we seek to minimize the risk of capital loss without foregoing the opportunity for capital appreciation. Our investment advisor’s investment professionals have developed extensive due diligence and underwriting processes designed to better assess a portfolio company’s prospects and to determine the appropriate investment structure. Our investment advisor thoroughly analyzes each potential portfolio company’s competitive position, financial performance, management team, growth potential and industry attractiveness. As part of this process, our investment advisor also participates in meetings with management, tours of facilities, discussions with industry professionals and third-party reviews. We believe this approach enables us to build and maintain an attractive investment portfolio that meets our return and value criteria over the long term.

 

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Actively Managing our Portfolio. We believe that our investment advisor’s initial and ongoing portfolio review process allows us to effectively monitor the performance and prospects of our portfolio companies. We seek to obtain board observation rights or board seats with respect to our portfolio companies and we conduct monthly financial reviews and regular discussions with portfolio company management. We structure our investments with a comprehensive set of financial maintenance, affirmative and negative covenants. We believe that active monitoring of our portfolio companies’ compliance with covenants provides us with an early warning of any financial difficulty and enhances our ability to protect our invested capital.

Maintaining Portfolio Diversification. We seek to maintain a portfolio of investments that is appropriately diversified among companies, industries, geographic regions and end markets. We have made investments in portfolio companies in the following industries: business services, industrial products and services, value-added distribution, healthcare products and services, consumer products and services (including retail, food and beverage), defense and aerospace, transportation and logistics, information technology services and niche manufacturing. We believe that investing across various industries helps mitigate the potential effects of negative economic events for particular companies, regions and industries.

Benefiting from Lower Cost of Capital. The Fund’s SBIC license allows us to issue SBA debentures. These SBA debentures carry long-term fixed rates that are generally lower than rates on comparable bank and public debt. Because lower-cost SBA leverage is, and will continue to be, a significant part of our funding strategy, our relative cost of debt capital should be lower than many of our competitors. We also intend to apply for a second SBIC license through which we may issue more SBA debentures to fund additional investments; however, we can make no assurances that, if we do apply, the SBA will approve such application. The SBA regulations currently limit the amount that is available to be borrowed by the Fund to $150.0 million. If we apply and are approved by the SBA for a second SBIC license, the maximum amount of outstanding SBA debentures for two or more SBICs under common control cannot exceed $225.0 million.

About Our Advisor

Our investment activities are managed by Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC, our investment advisor. Pursuant to the terms of the Investment Advisory Agreement, our investment advisor is responsible for determining the composition of our portfolio, including sourcing potential investments, conducting research and diligence on potential investments and equity sponsors, analyzing investment opportunities, structuring our investments and monitoring our investments and portfolio companies on an ongoing basis. Our investment advisor’s investment professionals seek to capitalize on their significant deal origination and sourcing, credit underwriting, due diligence, investment structuring, execution, portfolio management and monitoring experience. These professionals have developed a broad network of contacts within the investment community, have gained extensive experience investing in assets that constitute our primary focus and have expertise in investing across all levels of the capital structure of lower middle-market companies. For information regarding the people who control our investment advisor and their affiliations with the Company, see “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions—Investment Advisory Agreement.”

Our relationship with our investment advisor is governed by and dependent on the Investment Advisory Agreement and may be subject to conflicts of interest. We pay our investment advisor a fee for its services under the Investment Advisory Agreement consisting of two components—a base management fee and an incentive fee. The base management fee is calculated at an annual rate of 1.75% of the average value of our total assets (other than cash or cash equivalents but including assets purchased with borrowed amounts). The incentive fee consists of two parts. The first part is calculated and payable quarterly in arrears and equals 20.0% of our “pre-incentive fee net investment income” for the immediately preceding quarter, subject to a 2.0% preferred return, or “hurdle,” and a “catch up” feature. The second part is determined and payable in arrears as of the end of each fiscal year in an amount equal to 20.0% of our realized capital gains and unrealized capital appreciation, if any, on a cumulative basis from inception through the end of the year, computed net of all realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation on a cumulative basis, less the aggregate amount of any previously paid capital

 

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gain incentive fees. For more information about how we compensate our investment advisor and the related conflicts of interest, see “Management and Other Agreements—Investment Advisory Agreement” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions—Conflicts of Interest.”

Our board of directors is charged with protecting our interests by monitoring how our investment advisor addresses conflicts of interest associated with its management services and compensation. While our board of directors is not expected to review or approve each borrowing or incurrence of leverage, our independent directors periodically review our investment advisor’s services and fees as well as its portfolio management decisions and portfolio performance. In connection with these reviews, our independent directors consider whether the fees and expenses (including those related to leverage) that we pay to our investment advisor remain appropriate.

Fidus Investment Advisors, LLC also serves as our administrator and provides us with office space, equipment and clerical, book-keeping and record-keeping services. The responsibilities of our administrator include overseeing our financial records, preparing reports to our stockholders and reports filed with the SEC and the SBA. Our administrator oversees the determination and publication of our net asset value, oversees the preparation and filing of our tax returns, monitors the payment of our expenses as well as the performance of administrative and professional services rendered to us by others. Furthermore, our administrator provides, on our behalf, managerial assistance to those portfolio companies to which we are required to offer such assistance.

Investments

We seek to create a diversified investment portfolio that primarily includes mezzanine loans and equity securities. Our investments typically range between $5 million to $15 million per portfolio company, although this investment size may vary proportionately with the size of our capital base. Our investment objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating both current income from our debt investments and capital appreciation from our equity related investments. We may invest in the equity securities of our portfolio companies, such as preferred stock, common stock, warrants and other equity interests, either directly or in conjunction with our debt investments.

Mezzanine Debt Investments. We typically invest in mezzanine debt, which includes senior subordinated notes and junior secured loans. These loans typically have relatively high, fixed interest rates (often representing a combination of cash pay and payment-in-kind interest), prepayment penalties and amortization of principal deferred to maturity. Subordinated loans generally allow the borrower to make a large lump sum payment of principal at the end of the loan term, and there is a risk of loss if the borrower is unable to pay the lump sum or refinance the amount owed at maturity. Subordinated investments are generally more volatile than secured loans and may involve a greater risk of loss of principal. In certain situations where we are able to structure an investment as a junior, secured loan, we will obtain a junior security interest in the assets of these portfolio companies that will serve as collateral in support of the repayment of such loan. This collateral may take the form of second-priority liens on the assets of a portfolio company.

Senior Secured Loans. We will also opportunistically structure some of our future debt investments as senior secured or unitranche loans. Senior secured loans will typically provide for a fixed interest rate and may contain some minimum principal amortization, excess cash flow sweep features and prepayment penalties. Senior secured loans are secured by a first or second priority lien in all existing and future assets of the borrower and may take the form of term loans or revolving lines of credit. Unitranche debt financing involves issuing one debt security that blends the risk and return profiles of both secured and subordinated debt. We believe that unitranche debt can be attractive for many lower middle-market companies given their size in order to reduce structural complexity and potential conflicts among creditors.

Equity Securities. Our equity securities typically consist of either a direct minority equity investment in common or preferred stock of a portfolio company, or we may receive warrants to buy a minority equity interest

 

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in a portfolio company in connection with a debt investment. Warrants we receive with our debt investments typically 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. Our equity investments are typically not control-oriented investments, and in many cases, we acquire equity securities as part of a group of private equity investors in which we are not the lead investor. We may structure such equity investments to include provisions protecting our rights as a minority-interest holder, as well as a “put,” or right to sell such securities back to the issuer, upon the occurrence of specified events. In many cases, we may also seek to obtain registration rights in connection with these equity interests, which may include demand and “piggyback” registration rights. Our equity investments typically are made in connection with debt investments to the same portfolio companies.

We generally seek to invest in companies from the broad range of industries in which our investment advisor has direct experience. The following is a representative list of the broad industry segments in which we have invested; however, we may invest in other industries if we are presented with attractive opportunities:

 

•   business services;

  

•   niche manufacturing;

•   industrial products and services;

  

•   defense and aerospace;

•   value-added distribution;

  

•   transportation and logistics; and

•   healthcare products and services;

  

•   information technology services.

•   consumer products and services (including retail, food and beverage);

  

As of March 31, 2012, we had debt and equity investments in 25 portfolio companies with an aggregate fair market value of $217.0 million.

Investment Criteria/Guidelines

We use the following criteria and guidelines in evaluating investment opportunities and constructing our portfolio. However, not all of these criteria and guidelines have been, or will be, met in connection with each of our investments.

Value Orientation / Positive Cash Flow. Our investment advisor places a premium on analysis of business fundamentals from an investor’s perspective and has a distinct value orientation. We focus on companies with proven business models in which we can invest at relatively low multiples of operating cash flow. We also typically invest in companies with a history of profitability and minimum trailing twelve month EBITDA of $3.0 million. We do not invest in start-up companies, “turn-around” situations or companies that we believe have unproven business plans.

Experienced Management Teams with Meaningful Equity Ownership. We target portfolio companies that have management teams with significant experience and/or relevant industry experience coupled with meaningful equity ownership. We believe management teams with these attributes are more likely to manage the companies in a manner that protects our debt investment and enhances the value of our equity investment.

Niche Market Leaders with Defensible Market Positions. We invest in companies that have developed defensible and/or leading positions within their respective markets or market niches and are well positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities. We favor companies that demonstrate significant competitive advantages, which we believe helps to protect their market position and profitability.

Diversified Customer and Supplier Base. We prefer to invest in companies that have a diversified customer and supplier base. Companies with a diversified customer and supplier base are generally better able to endure economic downturns, industry consolidation and shifting customer preferences.

 

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Significant Invested Capital. We believe the existence of significant underlying equity value provides important support to our debt investments. With respect to our debt investments, we look for portfolio companies where we believe aggregate enterprise value significantly exceeds aggregate indebtedness, after consideration of our investment.

Viable Exit Strategy. We invest in companies that we believe will provide a steady stream of cash flow to repay our loans and reinvest in their respective businesses. In addition, we also seek to invest in companies whose business models and expected future cash flows offer attractive exit possibilities for our equity investments. We expect to exit our investments typically through one of three scenarios: (a) the sale of the company resulting in repayment of all outstanding debt and equity; (b) the recapitalization of the company through which our investments are replaced with debt or equity from a third party or parties; or (c) the repayment of the initial or remaining principal amount of our debt investment from cash flow generated by the company. In some investments, there may be scheduled amortization of some portion of our debt investment which would result in a partial exit of our investment prior to the maturity of the debt investment.

Investment Committees

Our investment advisor has formed an investment committee to evaluate and approve all of the investments for Fidus Investment Corporation, or FIC, and an investment committee to evaluate and approve all of the Fund’s investments. The investment committee process is intended to bring the diverse experience and perspectives of the committee’s members to the analysis and consideration of each investment. The investment committees also serve to provide investment consistency and adherence to our investment advisor’s core investment philosophy and policies. The investment committees also determine appropriate investment sizing and suggest ongoing monitoring requirements.

The members of the investment committees that advise FIC and the Fund are the same and include Edward H. Ross, Thomas C. Lauer, John J. Ross, II, Paul E. Tierney, Jr., John H. Grigg and W. Andrew Worth. For purposes of discussion herein, any reference to “investment committee” refers to both the investment committee that advises FIC and the investment committee that advises the Fund.

Investment Process Overview

Our investment advisor has developed the following investment process based on the experience of its investment professionals to identify investment opportunities and to structure investments quickly and effectively. Furthermore, our investment advisor seeks to identify those companies exhibiting superior fundamental risk-reward profiles and strong defensible business franchises while focusing on the relative value of the security in the portfolio company’s capital structure. The investment process consists of five distinct phases:

 

   

Investment Generation/Origination;

 

   

Initial Evaluation;

 

   

Due Diligence and Underwriting;

 

   

Documentation and Closing; and

 

   

Active Portfolio Management.

Each of the phases is described in more detail below.

Investment Generation/Origination . Our investment originating efforts are focused on leveraging our investment advisor’s extensive network of long-standing relationships with private equity firms, middle-market senior lenders, junior-capital partners, financial intermediaries and management teams of privately owned businesses. We believe that our investment advisor’s investment professionals have reputations as reliable,

 

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responsive and value-added partners for lower middle-market companies. Our investment advisor’s focus and reputation as a valued added partner generates a balanced mix of proprietary deal flow and a steady stream of new deal opportunities.

Initial Evaluation. After a potential transaction is received by our investment advisor, at least one of its investment professionals will conduct an initial review of the transaction materials to determine whether it meets our investment criteria and complies with SBA and other regulatory compliance requirements.

If the potential transaction initially meets our investment criteria, at least two members of the investment committee, referred to as the deal team, will conduct a preliminary due diligence review, taking into consideration some or all of the following factors:

 

   

A comprehensive financial model based on quantitative analysis of historical financial performance, projections and pro forma adjustments to determine a range of estimated internal rates of return.

 

   

An initial call or meeting with the management team, owner, private equity sponsor or other deal partner.

 

   

A brief industry and market analysis, leveraging direct industry expertise from other investment professionals of our investment advisor.

 

   

Preliminary qualitative analysis of the management team’s competencies and backgrounds.

 

   

Potential investment structures and pricing terms.

Upon successful completion of the screening process, the deal team prepares a screening memorandum and make a recommendation to the investment committee. At this time, the investment committee will also consider whether the investment would be made by us or through our SBIC subsidiary. If the investment committee supports the deal team’s recommendation, the deal team issues a non-binding term sheet to the company. Such a term sheet will typically include the key economic terms based on our analysis conducted during the screening process as well as a proposed timeline. Upon agreement on a term sheet with the company, our investment advisor will begin a formal diligence and underwriting process.

Due Diligence and Underwriting. Our investment advisor has developed a rigorous and disciplined due diligence process that includes a comprehensive understanding of a borrower’s industry, market, operational, financial, organizational and legal positions and prospects. Our investment advisor continues to use the same systematic, consistent approach historically employed by Fidus Capital, LLC, our investment advisor’s predecessor. The due diligence review will take into account information that the deal team deems necessary to make an informed decision about the creditworthiness of the borrower and the risks of the investment, which includes some or all of the following:

 

   

Initial or additional site visits and facility tours with management and key personnel.

 

   

Review of the business history, operations and strategy.

 

   

In depth review of industry and competition.

 

   

Analysis of key customers and suppliers, including review of any concentrations and key contracts.

 

   

Detailed review of historical and projected financial statements, including a review of at least three years of performance (annual and monthly), key financial ratios, revenue, expense and profitability drivers and sensitivities to management’s financial projections.

 

   

Detailed evaluation of company management, including background checks.

 

   

Third party reviews of accounting, environmental, legal, insurance, interviews with customers and suppliers, material contracts, competition, industry and market studies (each as appropriate).

 

   

Financial sponsor diligence, if applicable, including portfolio company and other reference checks.

 

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During the due diligence process, significant attention is given to sensitivity analyses and how the company might be expected to perform given various scenarios, including downside, “base case” and upside. Upon satisfactory completion of the due diligence review process, the deal team will present their findings and a recommendation to the investment committee. If the investment committee supports the deal team’s recommendation, the deal team will proceed with negotiating and documenting the investment.

Documentation and Closing. Our investment advisor works with the management of the company and its other capital providers, including as applicable, senior, junior and equity capital providers to structure an investment. Our investment advisor structures each investment with an acute focus on capital preservation and will tailor the terms of each investment to the facts and circumstances of the transaction and the prospective portfolio company. We seek to limit the downside potential of our investments by:

 

   

Targeting an optimal total return on our investments (including a combination of current and deferred interest, prepayment penalties and equity participation) that compensates us for credit risk.

 

   

Negotiating covenants in connection with our investments that afford our portfolio companies as much flexibility in managing their businesses as possible, yet consistent with preservation of our capital. Such restrictions may include affirmative and negative covenants, default penalties, lien protection, change of control provisions and board rights, including either board observation or rights to a seat on the board under some circumstances.

 

   

Structuring financial covenants and terms in our debt investments that require the portfolio company to reduce leverage over time, thereby enhancing the investment’s credit quality. These methods may include, among others: maintenance leverage covenants requiring a decreasing ratio of debt to cash flow; maintenance cash flow covenants requiring an increasing ratio of cash flow to interest expense and possibly other cash expenses such as capital expenditures, cash taxes and mandatory principal payments; and debt incurrence prohibitions, limiting a company’s ability to relever its balance sheet. In addition, limitations on asset sales and capital expenditures prevent a company from changing the nature of its business or capitalization without our consent.

We expect to hold most of our investments to maturity or repayment, but may exit our investments earlier if a liquidity event takes place, such as a sale or recapitalization of a portfolio company or if we determine that a sale of one or more of our investments is in our best interest.

Active Portfolio Management. We view active portfolio monitoring as a vital part of the investment process and continuously monitor the status and progress of the portfolio companies. The same deal team that was involved in the investment process will continue its involvement in the portfolio company post-investment. This provides for continuity of knowledge and allows the deal team to maintain a strong business relationship with key management of its portfolio companies for post-investment assistance and monitoring purposes.

As part of the monitoring process, the deal team conducts a comprehensive review of the financial and operating results of each portfolio company that includes a review of the monthly/quarterly financials relative to prior year and budget, review financial projections including cash flow and liquidity needs, meet with management, attend board meetings and review compliance certificates and covenants. We will maintain an on-going dialogue with the management and any controlling equity holders of a portfolio company that will include discussions about the company’s business plans and growth opportunities and any changes industry and competitive dynamics. While we maintain limited involvement in the ordinary course operations of our portfolio companies, we may maintain a higher level of involvement in non-ordinary course financing or strategic activities and any non-performing scenarios. Our investment advisor’s portfolio management will also include quarterly portfolio reviews with all investment professionals and investment committee members.

 

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Investment Rating System

In addition to various risk management and monitoring tools, our investment advisor uses an internally developed investment rating system to characterize and monitor the credit profile and our expected level of returns on each investment in our portfolio. We use a five-level numeric rating scale. The following is a description of the conditions associated with each investment rating:

 

   

Investment Rating 1: Investments that involve the least amount of risk in our portfolio. The company is performing above expectations and the trends and risk factors are favorable, and may include an expected capital gain.

 

   

Investment Rating 2: Investments that involve a level of risk similar to the risk at the time of origination. The company is performing substantially within our expectations, and the risks factors are neutral or favorable. All new investments are initially rated 2.

 

   

Investment Rating 3: Investments that are performing below our expectations and indicates the investment’s risk has increased somewhat since origination. The company requires closer monitoring, but where we expect no loss of investment return (interest and/or dividends) or principal. Companies with a rating of 3 may be out of compliance with financial covenants, but payments are generally not past due.

 

   

Investment Rating 4: Investments that are performing materially below our expectations and the risk has increased materially since origination. We expect some loss of investment return, but no loss of principal.

 

   

Investment Rating 5: Investments that are performing substantially below our expectations and whose risks have increased substantially since origination. Investments with a rating of 5 are those for which some loss of principal is expected.

As of both March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the weighted average investment rating of the investments in our portfolio was 2.0. The following table shows the distribution of our investments on the 1 to 5 investment rating scale at fair value as of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011.

 

     March 31, 2012     December 31, 2011  

Investment

Rating

   Investments
at Fair Value
     Percent
of Total
Portfolio
    Investments
at Fair
Value
     Percent
of Total
Portfolio
 
     (Dollars in thousands)  

1

   $ 8,773         4.0 %   $ 8,715         4.3 %

2

     197,355         90.9        180,751         88.2   

3

     10,914         5.1        15,279         7.5   

4

     —           —          —           —     

5

     —           —          —           —     
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Totals

   $ 217,042         100.0 %   $ 204,745         100.0 %

Determination of Net Asset Value and Valuation Process

We determine the net asset value per share of our common stock on at least a quarterly basis, and more frequently if we are required to do so pursuant to an equity offering or pursuant to federal laws and regulations. The net asset value per share is equal to the fair value of our total assets minus liabilities and any preferred stock outstanding divided by the total number of shares of common stock outstanding. Our business plan calls for us to invest primarily in illiquid securities issued by private companies. These portfolio investments may be subject to restrictions on resale and will generally have no established trading market. Because there is not a readily available market for substantially all of the investments in our portfolio, we value substantially all of our portfolio investments at fair value as determined in good faith by our board of directors using a documented

 

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valuation policy and consistently applied valuation process in accordance with authoritative accounting guidelines. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Critical Accounting Policies – Valuation of Portfolio Investments.”

Managerial Assistance

As a BDC, we offer, and must provide upon request, managerial assistance to certain of our portfolio companies. This assistance typically involves, among other things, the monitoring of 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 investment advisor, acting as our administrator, provides such managerial assistance on our behalf to portfolio companies that request this assistance. We may receive fees for these services and will reimburse our investment advisor, acting as our administrator, for its allocated costs in providing such assistance, subject to the review and approval by our board of directors, including our independent directors.

Competition

Our primary competitors in providing financing to lower middle-market companies include public and private funds, other BDCs, small business investment companies, commercial and investment banks, commercial financing companies and, to the extent they provide an alternative form of financing, private equity and hedge funds. Many of our competitors are substantially larger and have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. For example, we believe some competitors may have 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 to the distribution and other requirements we must satisfy to maintain our RIC status.

We use the expertise of the investment professionals of our investment advisor to assess investment risks and determine appropriate pricing for our investments in portfolio companies. In addition, the relationships of the investment professionals of our investment advisor enable us to learn about, and compete effectively for, financing opportunities with attractive lower middle-market companies in the industries in which we seek to invest. For additional information concerning the competitive risks we face, see “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure — We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities, which could reduce returns and result in losses.”

Employees

We do not have any direct employees, and our day-to-day investment operations are managed by our investment advisor, which is also acting as our administrator. We have a chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief compliance officer and, to the extent necessary, our board of directors may elect to hire additional personnel going forward. Our officers are employees of our investment advisor, and our allocable portion of the cost of our chief financial officer and chief compliance officer and their respective staffs are paid by us pursuant to the Administration Agreement. Some of our executive officers are also officers of our investment advisor. See “Management and Other Agreements — Administration Agreement.”

Properties

We do not own any real estate or other physical properties materially important to our operation; however, we lease office space for our executive office at 1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820, Evanston, Illinois 60201. Our investment advisor also maintains additional office space at 121 West Trade Street Suite 1800 Charlotte, NC 28202 and 70 East 55th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10022. We believe that our current office facilities are adequate for our business as we intend to conduct it.

 

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Legal Proceedings

We may, from time to time, be involved in litigation arising out of our operations in the normal course of business or otherwise. Furthermore, third parties may try to seek to impose liability on us in connection with the activities of our portfolio companies. While the outcome of any current legal proceedings cannot at this time be predicted with certainty, we do not expect any current matters will materially affect our financial condition or results of operations; however, there can be no assurance whether any pending legal proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations in any future reporting period.

 

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PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

The following table sets forth certain unaudited information as of March 31, 2012, for the portfolio companies in which we had a debt or equity investment. Other than these investments, our only formal relationships with our portfolio companies are the managerial assistance ancillary to our investments and the board observer or participation rights we may receive.

 

Name and Address of Portfolio

Company

   Nature of Its
Principal Business
   Type of Investment   Percentage
of Class
Held
    Cost of
Investment
    Fair Value
of
Investment
 
                    (dollars in thousands)  

ACFP Management, Inc.

   Restaurants    Subordinated Notes     —        $ 7,403      $ 7,403   

1660 NW 19th Ave.

           

Pompano Beach, FL 33069

           

Avrio Technology Group, LLC

   Provider of electronic    Subordinated Notes     —          8,721        8,207   

8840 N. Greenview Drive

   components and    Common Units     7.4     1,000        318   

Middleton, WI 53562

   software         

Brook & Whittle Limited

   Specialty label    Subordinated Notes     —          6,392        6,386   

P.O. Box 409

   printer    Subordinated Notes     —          2,018        2,018   

260 Branford Road

      Warrants     1.3     285        511   

North Branford, CT 06471

      Common Equity     0.2     110        72   

Brook Furniture Rental, Inc.

   Furniture rental    Subordinated Notes     —          7,186        7,186   

100 North Field Drive

      Warrants     2.5     485        485   

Suite 220

           

Lake Forest, IL 60045

           

Caldwell & Gregory, LLC

   Laundry room    Subordinated Notes     —          3,479        3,479   

129 Broad Street Road

   operator    Preferred Units     —          1,163        1,448   

Manakin-Sabot, VA 23103

      Common Units     4.0     4        149   

Connect-Air International, Inc.

   Distributor of wire    Subordinated Notes     —          4,214        4,214   

4240 B Street N.W.

   and cable assemblies    Preferred Units     27.0     5,232        5,232   

Auburn, WA 98001

           

Continental Anesthesia

   Physician    Senior Secured     —          10,055        10,200   

Management, LLC

   management    Loan     2.6     276        223   

1770 1st Street, Suite 703

   company    Warrants      

Highland Park, IL 60035

           

FutureTech Holding Company

   IT service provider    Subordinated Notes     —          6,504        6,504   

5655 Peachtree Parkway

           

Norcross, GA 30092

           

Goodrich Quality Theaters, Inc.

   Movie theater    Subordinated Notes     —          12,045        12,500   

4417 Broadmoor Ave. S.E.

   operator    Warrants     4.5     750        2,085   

Grand Rapids, MI 49512

           

Innovative Product Achievement,

   Healthcare product    Subordinated Notes     —          6,307        6,307   

LLC

   manufacturer         

2775 Premiere Parkway

           

Suite 100

           

Duluth, GA 30097

           

 

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Name and Address of Portfolio

Company

   Nature of Its
Principal Business
   Type of Investment   Percentage
of Class
Held
    Cost of
Investment
    Fair Value
of
Investment
 
                    (dollars in thousands)  

Interactive Technology Solutions,

   Government IT    Common Units     0.3     500        350   

LLC (d/b/a Acentia, lLC)

   service provider         

3130 Corporate Park D

           

Suite 800

           

Falls Church, VA 22042

           

Jacob Ash Holdings, Inc.

   Apparel distributor    Subordinated Notes     —        $ 3,485      $ 3,500   

301 Munson Avenue

      Subordinated Notes     —          1,714        1,750   

McKees Rocks, PA 15136

      Preferred Equity     —          518        549   
      Warrants     8.2     67        67   

Jan-Pro International, LLC

   Franchisor of    Subordinated Notes     —          7,415        7,415   

11605 Haynes Bridge Road,

   commercial cleaning    Preferred Equity     1.8     832        446   

Suite 425

   services         

Alpharetta, GA 30004

           

K2 Industrial Services, Inc.

   Industrial cleaning    Subordinated Notes     —          12,031        12,031   

5233 Hohman Avenue

   and coatings    Preferred Equity     3.2     1,200        1,200   

Hammond, IN 46320

           

Malabar International

   Aerospace & defense    Subordinated Notes     —          4,860        4,860   

220 W. Los Angeles Avenue

   manufacturing    Preferred Equity     18.5     1,986        1,986   

Simi Valley, CA 93065

           

Medsurant Holdings, LLC

   Healthcare service    Subordinated Notes     —          5,759        7,250   

777 East Girard

   provider    Preferred Equity     12.0     500        500   

Suite 250

      Warrants     2.9     1,670        1,990   

Englewood, CO 80113

           

Nobles Manufacturing, Inc.

   Aerospace & defense    Subordinated Notes     —          6,825        6,825   

1105 East Pine Street

   manufacturing    Preferred Equity     6.7     1,300        2,428   

St. Croix Falls, WI 54024

      Common Equity     —          —          —     

Paramount Building Solutions

   Janitorial services    Subordinated Notes     —          6,304        6,304   

LLC

   provider    Common Units     5.5     1,500        1,188   

401 W. Baseline Road, #209

           

Tempe, AZ 85283

           

Restoration Holdco, LLC

   Restoration &    Senior Secured     —          4,586        4,439   

850 W. Adams Street

   remediation services    Loans     11.0     142        103   

Chicago, IL 60607

      Warrants      

Simplex Manufacturing Co.

   Provider of helicopter    Subordinated Notes     —          4,340        4,550   

13340 NE Whitaker Way

   systems    Warrants     23.7     710        845   

Portland, OR 97230

           

Trantech Radiator Products, Inc.

   Utility equipment    Subordinated Notes     —          9,023        9,023   

1 Tranter Drive

   manufacturer    Common Equity     6.7     688        688   

Edgefield, SC 29824

           

Tulsa Inspection Resources, Inc.

   Pipeline inspection    Subordinated Notes     —          3,923        4,000   

4111 S. Darlington Ave.,

   services    Subordinated Notes     —          648        648   

Suite 1000

      Warrants     4.5     193        855   

Tulsa, OK 74135

      Common Equity     0.3     95        95   

 

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Name and Address of Portfolio

Company

   Nature of Its
Principal Business
  Type of Investment   Percentage
of Class
Held
    Cost of
Investment
    Fair Value
of
Investment
 
                   (dollars in thousands)  

United Biologics, LLC

   Healthcare services   Senior Secured     —          9,089        9,089   

100 NE Loop 410

     Loans     1.0     838        838   

Suite 200

     Warrants      

San Antonio, TX 78216

          

Westminster Cracker Company

   Specialty cracker   Subordinated Notes     —          7,147        6,971   

1 Scale Avenue, Suite 81,

   manufacturer   Common Units     11.9     1,208        404   

Building 14

          

Rutland, VT 05701

          

Worldwide Express Operations,

   Franchisor of   Subordinated Notes     —        $ 8,748      $ 8,748   

LLC

   shipping and logistics   Subordinated Notes     —          11,195        11,405   

2828 Routh Street, Suite 400

   services   Warrants     20.3     —          7,435   

Dallas, TX 75201

     Common Units     3.3     270        1,338   
        

 

 

   

 

 

 
     Total Investments:      $ 204,938      $ 217,042   
        

 

 

   

 

 

 

Set forth below is a brief description of each portfolio company in which we have made an investment that represents greater than 5.0% of our total assets:

Goodrich Quality Theaters, Inc. is one of the largest regional theater companies in the U.S., operating 30 theaters in the upper Midwest.

K2 Industrial Services, Inc. is an independent provider of outsourced mission-critical cleaning, coating, and maintenance services. Its six business units operate out of 24 facilities and serve more than 500 companies in a variety of markets, including steel, power generation, oil and gas, paper production and government.

Worldwide Express Operations, LLC provides domestic and international express, ground, and less-than-truckload shipping services to small- and medium-sized businesses via partnerships with UPS and more than 30 freight carriers and a network of more than 150 franchise locations.

 

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MANAGEMENT

Board of Directors

Under our charter, our directors are divided into three classes. Each class of directors will hold office for a three-year term. However, the initial members of the three classes will have initial terms of one, two and three years, respectively. At each annual meeting of our stockholders, the successors to the class of directors whose terms expire at such meeting will be elected to hold office for a term expiring at the annual meeting of stockholders held in the third year following the year of their election. This classification of our board of directors may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our management. Each director will hold office for the term to which he or she is elected and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualifies. Our charter permits the board of directors to elect directors to fill vacancies that are created either through an increase in the number of directors or due to the resignation, removal or death of any director.

The following individuals currently serve on our board of directors:

 

Name

   Age   

Position

   Director
Since
   Expiration
of Term

Interested Directors:

           

Edward H. Ross

   46    Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer    2011    2014

Thomas C. Lauer

   45    Director    2011    2013

Independent Directors:

           

Raymond L. Anstiss, Jr.

   45    Director    2011    2014

Charles D. Hyman

   53    Director    2011    2015

Charles G. Phillips

   64    Director    2011    2013

The address for each of our directors is c/o Fidus Investment Corporation, 1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820, Evanston, Illinois 60201.

Executive Officers Who Are Not Directors

Information regarding our executive officers who are not directors is as follows:

 

Name

   Age    Position

Cary L. Schaefer

   36    Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer

The address for each of our executive officers is c/o Fidus Investment Corporation, 1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820, Evanston, Illinois 60201.

Biographical Information

For purposes of this presentation, our directors have been divided into two groups—independent directors and interested directors. Interested directors are “interested persons” as defined in the 1940 Act.

Independent Directors

Raymond L. Anstiss, Jr. has served on our board of directors since September 2011 and is the chairman of our audit committee and a member of our nominating and corporate governance committee. Mr. Anstiss is the President of Anstiss & Co., an accounting, audit, tax and financial consulting firm headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts. Prior to joining Anstiss & Co. in 1993, Mr. Anstiss served on the audit staff of KPMG Peat Marwick from 1988 to 1992. Mr. Anstiss has served on the board of two not-for-profit companies in the past five years.

 

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Charles D. Hyman has served on our board of directors since our initial public offering in June 2011 and is the chairman of our nominating and corporate governance committee and a member of our audit committee. Mr. Hyman is the founder and chief executive officer of Charles D. Hyman & Co., a private, registered investment management firm located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Prior to forming Charles D. Hyman & Co. in 1994, Mr. Hyman served as a senior vice president of St. Johns Investment Management Company. Mr. Hyman has served on the board of directors for several not-for-profit companies in the past five years.

Charles G. Phillips has served on our board of directors since our initial public offering in June 2011 and serves as a member on both our audit and nominating and corporate governance committees. Mr. Phillips was employed by Prentice Capital Management, LLC, an investment management firm, from 2005 until his retirement in 2008. Mr. Phillips was previously a managing director from 1991 to 2002 and president from 1998 to 2001 of Gleacher & Co., an investment banking and management firm. Mr. Phillips has served on the boards of several public and private companies and private investment funds, including California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. and Whitehall Jewelers Holdings, Inc.

Interested Directors

Edward H. Ross has served as our chairman of the board and chief executive officer and as chairman of our investment advisor’s investment committees since our initial public offering in June 2011. Additionally, Mr. Ross is the chief executive officer and a manager of our investment advisor. Mr. Ross is an interested director due to his positions with the Company and our investment advisor. Mr. Ross has more than 20 years of debt and equity capital investing experience with lower middle-market companies. Mr. Ross co-founded Fidus Capital, LLC, the predecessor firm to our investment advisor, in 2005. From February 2007 to June 2011, Mr. Ross served as a member of the investment committee of Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, the Fund’s former general partner. Mr. Ross was a managing director and the head of the Chicago office for Allied Capital Corporation, a publicly-traded BDC, where he focused on making debt and equity investments in middle-market companies from 2002 to 2005. Prior to joining Allied Capital Corporation, Mr. Ross co-founded Middle Market Capital, a merchant banking group of Wachovia Securities and its predecessor, First Union Securities, Inc., a retail brokerage and institutional capital markets investment banking firm. Mr. Ross earned a bachelor of arts from Southern Methodist University and a master of business administration from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. Mr. Ross is the brother of John J. Ross, II, a manager of our investment advisor and a member of its investment committee.

Thomas C. Lauer has served as our director and as a member of our investment advisor’s investment committee since our initial public offering in June 2011. Additionally, Mr. Lauer is a manager of our investment advisor. Mr. Lauer is an interested director due to his position with the investment advisor. Mr. Lauer has more than 15 years of experience investing debt and equity capital in lower middle-market companies. Mr. Lauer was a managing partner of Fidus Partners, LLC, an investment banking firm, from 2008 to June 2011. Mr. Lauer was a managing director of Allied Capital Corporation, a publicly-traded BDC, from 2004 to 2008, where he was a member of the firm’s Management Committee from 2006 to 2008, Private Finance Investment Committee from 2005 to 2008, and Senior Debt Fund Investment Committee from 2007 to 2008. Prior to joining Allied Capital Corporation, Mr. Lauer worked with the Global Sponsor Finance Group of GE Capital, the financial services unit of General Electric, the Leveraged Capital Group at Wachovia Securities and its predecessor, First Union Securities, Inc., a retail brokerage and institutional capital markets and investment banking firm (“First Union Securities, Inc.), and the Platform Components Division of Intel Corporation. Mr. Lauer earned a bachelor of business administration from the University of Norte Dame and master of business administration from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

Qualifications of Directors

When considering whether our directors have the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills, taken as a whole, to enable our board of directors to satisfy its oversight responsibilities effectively in light of our

 

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operational and organizational structure, the nominating and corporate governance committee and the board of directors focused primarily on the information discussed in each of the director’s individual biographies set forth above and on the following particular attributes:

Interested Directors

 

   

Mr. Ross: The nominating and corporate governance committee and the board of directors considered his familiarity with the Fidus investment platform, his significant experience with investing debt and equity capital in middle-market companies, and his broad experience with the day-to-day management and operation of other investment funds, which provides our board of directors with valuable investment and management experience, insight and perspective.

 

   

Mr. Lauer: The nominating and corporate governance committee and the board of directors considered his experience with investing debt and equity capital in middle-market companies, which provides our board of directors with valuable investment knowledge, experience and insight.

Independent Directors

 

   

Mr. Anstiss: The nominating and corporate governance committee and the board of directors considered his extensive experience in the accounting industry. In addition, Mr. Anstiss’ accounting background was instrumental in his appointment to the chairmanship of our audit committee.

 

   

Mr. Hyman: The nominating and corporate governance committee and the board of directors considered his extensive experience in the investment analysis, management, and advisory industries.

 

   

Mr. Phillips: The nominating and corporate governance committee and the board of directors considered his extensive senior executive management experience in corporate finance and investment banking and experience gained from his service on the board of directors of several public and private companies and private investment funds.

Executive Officers Who Are Not Directors

Cary L. Schaefer has served as our chief financial officer, chief compliance officer and secretary since our initial public offering in June 2011. Additionally, Ms. Schaefer has served as chief financial officer, chief compliance officer, assistant secretary and manager of our investment advisor since June 2011. Ms. Schaefer has more than twelve years of credit and finance experience. Ms. Schaefer served in a variety of roles, including vice president, of Fidus Capital, LLC, the predecessor firm to our investment advisor, from 2006 to 2011. Ms. Schaefer was an associate in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston from 2004 to 2006, where she executed advisory, debt and equity transactions in the Global Industrial & Services Group. Prior to joining Credit Suisse First Boston, Ms. Schaefer worked at Wachovia Securities and its predecessor, First Union Securities, Inc. Ms. Schaefer earned a bachelor of science in analytical finance from Wake Forest University and a master of business administration with honors from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Organization of the Board of Directors

Our board of directors has established an audit committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. We do not have a compensation committee because our executive officers do not receive any direct compensation from us. During 2011, our board of directors held four meetings, the audit committee held four meetings and the nominating and corporate governance committee held two meetings. We encourage, but do not require, the directors to attend our annual meeting of stockholders. All of our current directors attended at least 75.0% of the aggregate number of meetings of the board of directors and of the respective committees on which they served, with the exception of Mr. Anstiss who joined our board of directors in September 2011. We did not hold an annual meeting of stockholders in 2011 because it did not become a public reporting company until June 2011. Four of our directors attended our 2012 annual meeting of stockholders.

 

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Board Leadership Structure

Our board of directors monitors and performs an oversight role with respect to our business and affairs. Among other things, our board of directors approves the appointment of our investment advisor, administrator and officers, reviews and monitors the services and activities performed by our investment advisor, administrator and officers and approves the engagement, and reviews the performance of, our independent registered public accounting firm.

Under our bylaws, our board of directors may designate a chairman to preside over the meetings of the board of directors and meetings of our stockholders and to perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the board of directors. We do not have a fixed policy as to whether the chairman of our board of directors should be an independent director and believes that board of directors’ flexibility to select its chairman and reorganize its leadership structure from time to time is in the best interests of the Company and our stockholders.

Presently, Mr. Ross serves as the chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Ross is an interested director because he is the chief executive officer of the Company, serves on our investment advisor’s investment committee and is a manager of our investment advisor. We believe that Mr. Ross’s history with the Company, familiarity with the Fidus investment platform and extensive experience in the management of private equity and debt investments qualifies him to serve as chairman of our board of directors. Moreover, our board of directors believes that it is in the best interests of our stockholders for Mr. Ross to lead our board of directors because of his broad experience with the day-to-day management and operation of other investment funds and his significant background in the financial services industry, as described above.

Our board of directors does not have a lead independent director. However, Mr. Anstiss, the chairman of the audit committee, is an independent director and acts as a liaison between the independent directors and management between meetings of our board of directors and is involved in the preparation of agendas for board and committee meetings. Our board of directors believes that its leadership structure is appropriate in light of the Company’s characteristics and circumstances because the structure allocates areas of responsibility among the individual directors and the committees in a manner that encourages effective oversight. The members of our board of directors also believe that its small size creates a highly efficient governance structure that provides ample opportunity for direct communication and interaction between both the members of management and our investment advisor and our board of directors.

Board Role in Risk Oversight

Our board of directors performs its risk oversight function primarily through (a) its two standing committees, which report to the entire board of directors and are comprised solely of independent directors and (b) monitoring by our Chief Compliance Officer in accordance with its compliance policies and procedures.

As described below in more detail under “Audit Committee” and “Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee,” the audit committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee assist the board of directors in fulfilling its risk oversight responsibilities. The audit committee’s risk oversight responsibilities include overseeing our accounting and financial reporting processes, our systems of internal controls regarding finance and accounting and audits of our financial statements and discussing with management our major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures, including our risk assessment and risk management policies. The nominating and corporate governance committee’s risk oversight responsibilities include selecting, researching and nominating directors for election by our stockholders, developing and recommending to our board of directors a set of corporate governance principles and overseeing the evaluation of our board of directors and its committees. Both the audit committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee consist solely of independent directors.

Our board of directors also performs its risk oversight responsibilities with the assistance of the Chief Compliance Officer. Our Chief Compliance Officer prepares a written report annually discussing the adequacy

 

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and effectiveness of the compliance policies and procedures of the Company and certain of its service providers. The Chief Compliance Officer’s report, which is reviewed by the board of directors, addresses at a minimum (a) the operation of the compliance policies and procedures of the Company and certain of its service providers since the last report; (b) any material changes to such policies and procedures since the last report; (c) any recommendations for material changes to such policies and procedures as a result of the Chief Compliance Officer’s annual review; and (d) any compliance matter that has occurred since the date of the last report about which the board of directors would reasonably need to know to oversee the Company’s compliance activities and risks. In addition, the Chief Compliance Officer meets separately in executive session with the independent directors periodically, but in no event less than once each year.

We believe that the board of directors’ role in risk oversight is effective and appropriate given the extensive regulation to which it is already subject as a BDC. Specifically, as a BDC, we must comply with certain regulatory requirements that control the levels of risk in its business and operations. For example, our ability to incur indebtedness is limited such that our asset coverage must equal at least 200.0% immediately after each time we incurs indebtedness and we generally have to invest at least 70.0% of our total assets in “qualifying assets.” In addition, we intend to elect to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. As a RIC we must, among other things, meet certain income source and asset diversification requirements.

We believe that the board of directors’ existing role in risk oversight is appropriate. However, we re-examine the manners in which the board of directors administers its oversight function on an ongoing basis to ensure that it continues to meet our needs.

Board Committees

Audit Committee

The members of the audit committee are Messrs. Anstiss, Hyman and Phillips, each of whom is not an interested person and is otherwise independent for purposes of the 1940 Act and Nasdaq’s corporate governance regulations. Since September 2011, Mr. Anstiss has served as chairman of the audit committee. Wayne F. Robinson, who is independent for purposes of the 1940 Act and Nasdaq’s corporate governance regulations, served as the chairman of the audit committee until he resigned in September 2011. Our board of directors has adopted a charter for the audit committee, which is available on our website at http://investor.fdus.com/governance.cfm.

The audit committee is responsible for approving our independent accountants and recommending them to the board of directors (including a majority of the independent directors) for approval and submission to the board of directors for ratification, reviewing with our independent accountants the plans and results of the audit engagement, approving professional services provided by our accountants, reviewing the independence of our independent accountants and reviewing the adequacy of our internal accounting controls.

The audit committee is also responsible for aiding the board of directors in determining the fair value of debt and equity securities that are not publicly traded or for which current market values are not readily available. The audit committee also currently receives input from independent valuation firms that have been engaged at the direction of the board of directors to value certain portfolio investments. In addition, the audit committee is responsible for discussing with management our major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures, including our risk assessment and risk management policies.

The board of directors has determined that Mr. Anstiss is, and Mr. Robinson was at the time of his service on the audit committee, an “audit committee financial expert” within the meaning of the rules of the SEC. Mr. Robinson acquired his financial expertise from his experience actively supervising the chief financial officer of a public reporting company and through his experience overseeing and assessing the performance of public companies with respect to the preparation, auditing and evaluation of financial statements. Mr. Anstiss acquired

 

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his financial expertise from his education and experience as a public accountant, his experience actively supervising financial officers of public companies and in his supervisory role at a public accounting firm and from his experience overseeing and assessing the performance of public accountants with respect to the preparation, auditing and evaluation of financial statements.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

The members of the nominating and corporate governance committee are Messrs. Anstiss, Hyman and Phillips, each of whom is not an interested person and is otherwise independent for purposes of the 1940 Act and Nasdaq’s corporate governance regulations. In addition, Mr. Robinson, who is independent for purposes of the 1940 Act and the Nasdaq’s corporate governance regulations, served on the nominating and corporate governance committee until he resigned in September 2011. Mr. Hyman currently serves as chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Our board of directors has adopted a charter for the nominating and corporate governance committee, which is available on our website at http://investor.fdus.com/governance.cfm.

The nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for selecting, researching and nominating directors for election by our stockholders, selecting nominees to fill vacancies on the board of directors or a committee of the board of directors, developing and recommending to the board of directors a set of corporate governance principles and overseeing the evaluation of the board of directors and its committees.

The nominating and corporate governance committee identifies potential nominees based on suggestions from members of the nominating and corporate governance committee, other members of the board of directors, other executive officers and by other means, and evaluates such persons as a committee. The nominating and corporate governance committee will also consider nominees to the board of directors recommended by a stockholder, if such stockholder complies with the advance notice provisions of our bylaws. From time to time, the board of directors may determine that it requires a director with a particular expertise or qualification and will actively recruit such a candidate.

In considering which persons to nominate as directors for election by stockholders, the board of directors and its nominating and corporate governance committee consider the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of candidates, in light of the Company’s then existing business and structure. Additionally, the committee generally will hire an outside firm to perform a background check on potential nominees. On an annual basis, the nominating and corporate governance committee evaluates the qualifications and diversity of the board of directors who are available for reelection in light of the characteristics of independence, age, skills, experience, availability of service to the Company and tenure of its members, and the board of directors’ anticipated needs. The nominating and corporate governance committee has adopted a policy that it will seek to enhance the perspectives and experiences of the members of the board of directors through diversity in gender, ethnic background, geographic origin and professional experience. The nominating and corporate governance committee recommends to the board of directors for its approval the slate of directors to be nominated for election at the annual meeting of our stockholders. The board of directors and its nominating and corporate governance committee periodically review board composition and the policies with respect thereto and as part of this review, the nominating and corporate governance committee evaluates the effectiveness of its policies, including the provisions with respect to diversity.

In considering possible candidates for nomination as a director, the nominating and corporate governance committee takes into account, in addition to such other factors as it deems relevant, the desirability of selecting directors who:

 

   

have strength of character;

 

   

have mature judgment;

 

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have industry knowledge or experience; and

 

   

have an ability to work collegially with the other members of the board of directors.

The nominating and corporate governance committee also considers all applicable legal and regulatory requirements that govern the composition of the board of directors.

All nominees properly submitted to the Company (or which the nominating and corporate governance committee otherwise elects to consider) will be evaluated and considered by the members of the nominating and corporate governance committee using the same criteria as nominees identified by the nominating and corporate governance committee itself.

Compensation Committee

We do not have a compensation committee because our executive officers do not receive any direct compensation from us. Our executive officers are paid by our investment advisor. However, the Investment Advisory Agreement, which provides for the compensation payable to the investment advisor, is separately approved by a majority of our independent directors in accordance with Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5605(d) and Section 15(c) of the 1940 Act.

Communications Between Stockholders and the Board of Directors

Stockholders with questions about us are encouraged to contact Cary L. Schaefer at Fidus Investment Corporation, 1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820, Evanston, Illinois 60201. However, if stockholders feel their questions have not been addressed, they may communicate with our board of directors by sending their communications to: Fidus Investment Corporation, board of directors, c/o Cary L. Schaefer at the address listed above. In addition, stockholders may communicate with the board of directors by clicking “Contact the Board” on the Investor Relations section of our website at the following URL: http://investor.fdus.com/contactBoard.com. Communications are distributed to the board of directors as appropriate, depending on the facts and circumstances outlined in the communication. In that regard, the board of directors has requested that certain items that are unrelated to the duties and responsibilities of the board of directors should be excluded, such as: product complaints, product inquiries, new product suggestions, resumes and other forms of job inquiries, surveys and business solicitations or advertisements. In addition, material that is unduly hostile, threatening, illegal or similarly unsuitable will be excluded, with the provision that any communication that is filtered out must be available to any non-management director upon request.

Code of Business Conduct

We have adopted a code of ethics (which we refer to as our Code of Business Conduct) which all officers, directors and employees of the Company and our investment advisor are expected to observe. Our Code of Business Conduct can be accessed via the Company’s website at http://investor.fdus.com/governance.cfm. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of required provisions of the Code of Business Conduct on our website. We will provide any person, without charge, upon request, a copy of our Code of Business Conduct. To receive a copy, please provide a written request to: Fidus Investment Corporation, Attn: Chief Compliance Officer, 1603 Orrington Avenue, Suite 820, Evanston, Illinois 60201.

 

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Compensation of Directors

The following table shows information regarding the compensation received by our directors, none of whom is an employee of the Company, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. No compensation is paid by us to interested directors. No information has been provided with respect to our executive officers who are not directors since our executive officers do not receive any direct compensation from us.

 

Name

   Fees
Earned
or Paid
in Cash(1)
     Total  

Independent Directors

     

Raymond L. Anstiss, Jr.(2)

   $ 20,000       $ 20,000   

Charles D. Hyman

   $ 42,500       $ 42,500   

Charles G. Phillips

   $ 40,000       $ 40,000   

Wayne F. Robinson(2)

   $ 25,000       $ 25,000   

Interested Directors

     

Edward H. Ross

     None         None   

Thomas C. Lauer

     None         None   

 

(1) For a discussion of the independent directors’ compensation, see below.
(2) Effective September 29, 2011, Mr. Robinson resigned for health reasons as director of the Company, and as chairman of the audit committee and member of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Effective on the same date, the board of directors appointed Mr. Anstiss, as an independent director, to fill the vacancy created by Mr. Robinson’s departure until the 2014 annual meeting of the stockholders of the Company.

The independent directors receive an annual fee of $50,000. They also receive $5,000 plus reimbursement of reasonable and authorized business expenses incurred in connection with attending each quarterly meeting. In addition, the chairperson of the audit committee receives an additional annual fee of $10,000 and the chairperson of the nominating and corporate governance committee receives an additional annual fee of $5,000 for his or her additional services in these capacities.

Compensation of Executive Officers

None of our executive officers receive direct compensation from us. The compensation of our chief financial officer and chief compliance officer, is paid by our investment advisor. Compensation paid to our chief financial officer and chief compliance officer is set by our investment advisor and subject to reimbursement by us of an allocable portion of such compensation for services rendered to us.

Investment Committee

The investment committees of our investment advisor responsible for our investments meet regularly to consider our investments, direct our strategic initiatives and supervise the actions taken by our investment advisor on our behalf. In addition, the investment committees review and determine whether to make prospective investments identified by our investment advisor and monitor the performance of our investment portfolio. The members of the investment committees for FIC and the Fund are the same and include Edward H. Ross, Thomas C. Lauer, John J. Ross, II, Paul E. Tierney, Jr., John H. Grigg and W. Andrew Worth. For purposes of discussion herein, any reference to “investment committee” refers to both the investment committee that advises FIC and the investment committee that advises the Fund.

Information regarding members of the investment committee is as follows:

John J. Ross, II has served as a member of our investment advisor’s investment committees since our initial public offering in June 2011. Additionally, Mr. Ross has served as a manager of our investment advisor since

 

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June 2011. Mr. Ross has over 16 years of experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions. From February 2007 to June 2011, Mr. Ross served as a member of the investment committee of Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, the Fund’s former general partner. In 2004, Mr. Ross co-founded Fidus Partners, LLC, an investment banking firm. Prior to co-founding Fidus Partners, LLC, Mr. Ross served as a managing director at Wachovia Securities and its predecessors, First Union Securities, Inc. and Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co, from 1999 to 2002. Mr. Ross earned a bachelor of science from Southern Methodist University and a master of business administration from the Harvard Business School. Mr. Ross is the brother of Edward H. Ross, our chairman of the board and chief executive officer, and chairman of the investment committees.

B. Bragg Comer, III has served as a member of our investment advisor’s investment committees since our initial public offering in June 2011. Additionally, Mr. Comer has served as a manager of our investment advisor since June 2011. Mr. Comer has over 20 years of broad leveraged finance experience, including experience related to senior debt, mezzanine debt, and bridge loans. From February 2007 to June 2011, Mr. Comer served as a member of the investment committee of Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, the Fund’s former general partner. In 2006, Mr. Comer co-founded Fidus Capital, LLC, the predecessor firm to our investment advisor. Prior to co-founding Fidus Capital, LLC, Mr. Comer served as a managing director within Wachovia Securities’ Leveraged Finance Group from 2003 to 2006. Prior to 2003, Mr. Comer was a managing director in the Leveraged Capital Group, a merchant banking group of Wachovia Securities and its predecessor, First Union Securities, Inc. Mr. Comer earned a bachelor of arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master of business administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Paul E. Tierney, Jr. has served as a member of our investment advisor’s investment committees since our initial public offering in June 2011. Mr. Tierney has over 40 years of debt and equity investing experience in a variety of industries. From February 2007 to June 2011, Mr. Tierney served as a member of the investment committee of Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, the Fund’s former general partner. Mr. Tierney currently serves as a partner of Development Capital Partners, LLC, a diversified private investment company that he joined in 1999. He has also served as a general partner of Aperture Venture Partners, a firm that primarily manages two venture capital funds that focus on investing in early-stage healthcare and healthy living businesses since 2002. In 1999, Mr. Tierney was a founding principal of Darwin Capital Partners, L.P. From 1996 through 1999, Mr. Tierney was a managing member of the general partner of Corporate Value Partners, L.P. In 1978, Mr. Tierney co-founded Gollust, Tierney and Oliver, the general partner of Coniston Partners and other investment entities. Mr. Tierney serves on the boards of directors of Nina McLemore, Inc., Altea Therapeutics, Prosperity Voskhod Fund and The Protective Group, Inc. He was previously a director of a number of public companies, including United Airlines, Inc. and Liz Claiborne, Inc. Mr. Tierney also serves on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and was chairman of the Foreign Policy School (SIPA) of Columbia University. He is chairman of TechnoServe, Inc., a not-for-profit economic development company serving Africa and Latin America. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. Mr. Tierney earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Notre Dame and a master of business administration as a Baker Scholar from the Harvard Business School.

John H. Grigg has served as a member of our investment advisor’s investment committees since our initial public offering in June 2011 and as a senior origination professional of our investment advisor since June 2011. Mr. Grigg has over 21 years of experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions. From February 2007 to June 2011, Mr. Grigg served as a member of the investment committee of Fidus Mezzanine Capital GP, LLC, the Fund’s former general partner. In 2004, Mr. Grigg co-founded Fidus Partners, LLC, an investment banking firm. Prior to co-founding Fidus Partners, LLC, Mr. Grigg served as managing director and partner at First Union Securities, Inc. and its predecessor, Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., from 1989 to 2000. Prior to joining Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., Mr. Grigg worked in the investment banking group of Merrill Lynch & Co. Mr. Grigg earned a bachelor of arts from the University of North Carolina and a master of business administration from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

 

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W. Andrew Worth has served as a member of our investment advisor’s investment committees since our initial public offering in June 2011. Additionally, Mr. Worth has served as a manager of our investment advisor since June 2011. Mr. Worth has over 13 years of experience investing in debt and equity securities of lower middle-market companies. In 2008, Mr. Worth joined Fidus Capital, LLC, the predecessor firm to our investment advisor. Prior to joining Fidus Capital, LLC in 2008, Mr. Worth served as a principal with Allied Capital Corporation from 2002 to 2008, where he was responsible for all aspects of the investment process including origination, execution and portfolio management. From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Worth was an associate in Credit Suisse First Boston’s Global Industrials and Services investment banking practice and an analyst in the Leveraged Finance Group of First Union Securities, Inc. Mr. Worth earned a bachelor of arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master of business administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Senior Origination Professionals

The following individuals, in addition to the members of our investment committee, are the senior origination professionals of our investment advisor. Brief summaries of the backgrounds of these individuals, who are not also members of the investment committee, are provided below:

Edward P. Imbrogno has served as a senior origination professional of our investment advisor since June 2011. Mr. Imbrogno has over 25 years of experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions. In 2006, Mr. Imbrogno joined Fidus Capital, LLC, the predecessor firm to our investment advisor, as a senior investment professional. In 2004, Mr. Imbrogno co-founded Fidus Partners, LLC, an investment banking firm. Prior to co-founding Fidus Partners, LLC, Mr. Imbrogno served as a managing director and partner at Wachovia Securities and its predecessors, First Union Securities, Inc. and Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co, from 1985 to 2004. Mr. Imbrogno also served as the head of Wachovia Securities’ private equity group coverage effort from 1998 to 2002. Mr. Imbrogno earned a bachelor of arts from Davidson College and a master of business administration from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

J. Stephen Dockery has served as a senior origination professional of our investment advisor since June 2011. Mr. Dockery has over 21 years of experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions. In 2006, Mr. Dockery joined Fidus Capital, LLC, the predecessor firm to our investment advisor, as a senior investment professional and joined Fidus Partners, LLC, an investment banking firm. Prior to joining Fidus Capital and Fidus Partners, Mr. Dockery served in various capacities at Wachovia Securities and its predecessors, First Union Securities, Inc. and Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., including managing director and officer from 1997 to 2006. Prior to joining Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., Mr. Dockery worked as a corporate attorney for Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. Mr. Dockery earned a bachelor of arts from Davidson College and a juris doctor from Yale Law School.

Michael J. Miller has served as a senior origination professional of our investment advisor since June 2011. Mr. Miller has over 21 years of leveraged finance and corporate lending and origination experience. In 2010, Mr. Miller joined Fidus Capital, LLC, the predecessor firm to our investment advisor, as a senior investment professional and joined Fidus Partners, LLC, an investment banking firm. Prior to joining Fidus Capital and Fidus Partners, Mr. Miller served in various capacities, including managing director and head of business development, at Allied Capital Corporation from 2005 until 2010. Prior to joining Allied Capital Corporation, Mr. Miller spent more than 16 years with JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors where he worked in their middle-market leveraged finance, asset based and corporate lending groups. Mr. Miller earned his bachelor of science in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and his master of business administration from The Stern School at New York University.

Portfolio Management

Each investment opportunity requires the approval of five of the seven members of the investment committee responsible for advising us, and generally receives the unanimous approval of the investment

 

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committee. Follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies require the investment committee’s approval in addition to what was obtained when the initial investment in the company was made. In addition, temporary investments, such as those in cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and other high quality debt investments that mature in one year or less, may require approval by the investment committee. The day-to-day management of investments approved by the investment committee will be overseen by the members of the investment committee. Biographical information with respect to the members of the investment committee is set out under “—Investment Committee.”

Each of our advisor’s investment committee members has ownership and financial interests in, and may receive compensation and/or profit distributions from, our investment advisor. Each of the members of the investment committee will receive compensation and/or profit distributions from our investment advisor. None of the members of the investment committee receive any direct compensation from us. The following table shows the dollar range of our common stock beneficially owned by each member of our investment advisor’s investment committees as of July 18, 2012:

 

Portfolio Managers of our Investment Advisor

  

Dollar Range of Equity Securities

in Fidus Investment Corporation (1)

Edward H. Ross

   Over $1,000,000

John J. Ross, II