NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jan 23, 2012) - Prospect Capital Corporation (
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close within the next 30 days. Such closing would also result in full repayment of Prospect's loan to NRG.
Prospect expects to collect approximately $100 million in cash in the March 2012 quarter related to the sale of NRG. This $100 million would consist of approximately $30 million of investment income in the form of prepayment premium and structuring fee, with the remaining approximately $70 million related to debt repayment and equity proceeds. Additional amounts are expected to be escrowed for potential collection in future periods, resulting in potential incremental post-closing proceeds to Prospect of approximately $14 million. As a result, Prospect would receive a total of up to $114 million from the sale of NRG.
Prospect initially invested approximately $12 million of debt and equity in September 2006 to help finance the acquisition of NRG. Including all cash flows over the life of the investment, but not including escrowed amounts, Prospect expects to realize at closing on its combined debt and equity investment a 59% annualized internal rate of return.
With the expected sale of NRG, Prospect estimates it will have generated cumulative net investment income in excess of cumulative distributions to shareholders for both the current August 2012 tax year as well as since Prospect's inception.
"Coming on the heels of the sale of Gas Solutions by our Energy Solutions portfolio company, Prospect's sale of NRG adds another valuable realization to the Prospect Capital track record," said M. Grier Eliasek, President of Prospect. "Our team is hard at work to invest our substantial liquidity. With our more than $1 billion of new originations in calendar year 2011, we have significant capability to invest such liquidity."
"We applaud the managers of NRG, who have built the company into a premier supplier of mission-critical oilfield equipment," said Bart J. deBie, a Managing Director of Prospect Capital Management. "Prospect is actively seeking new control and non-control investments across all industries."
RBC Capital Markets is acting as financial advisor to NRG for the sale.
Separately, Prospect has provided $18.3 million of secured second-lien financing to a financial services processing company purchased by a leading private equity sponsor. Prospect has also invested $34.4 million in Class D senior secured notes and Class E subordinated notes for CIFC Funding 2011-I, Ltd., with third party first loss capital underneath Prospect's position.
ABOUT PROSPECT CAPITAL CORPORATION
Prospect Capital Corporation (www.prospectstreet.com) is a closed-end investment company that lends to and invests in private and microcap public businesses. Our investment objective is to generate both current income and long-term capital appreciation through debt and equity investments.
We have elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act"). We are required to comply with a series of regulatory requirements under the 1940 Act as well as applicable NASDAQ, federal and state rules and regulations. We have elected to be treated as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Failure to comply with any of the laws and regulations that apply to us could have an adverse effect on us and our shareholders.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, whose safe harbor for forward-looking statements does not apply to business development companies. Any such statements, other than statements of historical fact, are highly likely to be affected by other unknowable future events and conditions, including elements of the future that are or are not under our control, and that we may or may not have considered; accordingly, such statements cannot be guarantees or assurances of any aspect of future performance. Actual developments and results are highly likely to vary materially from these estimates and projections of the future. Such statements speak only as of the time when made, and we undertake no obligation to update any such statement now or in the future.