Main Street Capital (MAIN) 10-K2022 FY Annual report

The following diagram depicts our organizational structure:

We seek to fill the financing gap for LMM businesses, which, historically, have had limited access to financing from commercial banks and other traditional sources. The underserved nature of the LMM creates the opportunity for us to meet the financing needs of LMM companies while also negotiating favorable transaction terms and equity participation. Our ability to invest across a company’s capital structure, from secured loans to equity securities, allows us to offer portfolio companies a comprehensive suite of financing options, or a “one-stop” financing solution. Providing customized, “one-stop” financing solutions is important to LMM portfolio companies. We generally seek to partner directly with

Private Loan investments consist generally of loans that either (i) primarily have originated directly by us or (ii) to a lesser extent, through strategic relationships with other investment funds on a collaborative basis that are often referred to in the debt markets as “club deals” because of the small lender group size. In both cases, our Private Loan investments are typically made to a company to support the acquisition of the company by a private equity sponsor. Private Loan investments are typically similar in size, structure, terms and conditions to investments we hold in our LMM portfolio and Middle Market portfolio. Our Private Loan portfolio debt investments are generally secured by a first priority lien on the assets of the portfolio company and typically have a term of between three and seven years from the original investment date. We may also invest alongside the sponsor in the equity securities of our Private Loan portfolio companies.

Our Middle Market portfolio investments primarily consist of direct investments in or secondary purchases of interest-bearing syndicated loans or debt securities in privately held companies based in the United States that are generally larger in size than the companies included in our LMM portfolio. Our Middle Market portfolio debt investments are generally secured by a first priority lien on the assets of the portfolio company and typically have an expected duration of between three and seven years from the original investment date.

Our other portfolio (“Other Portfolio”) investments primarily consist of investments that are not consistent with the typical profiles for our LMM, Private Loan or Middle Market portfolio investments, including investments which may be managed by third parties. In our Other Portfolio, we may incur indirect fees and expenses in connection with investments managed by third parties, such as investments in other investment companies or private funds.

Subject to changes in our cash and overall liquidity, our Investment Portfolio (as defined below) may also include short-term portfolio investments that are atypical of our LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments in that they are intended to be a short-term deployment of capital. These assets are typically expected to be liquidated in one year or less and are not expected to be a significant portion of the overall Investment Portfolio.

Our external asset management business is conducted through the External Investment Manager. The External Investment Manager earns management fees based on the assets of the funds under management and may earn incentive fees, or a carried interest, based on the performance of the funds managed.

The level of new portfolio investment activity will fluctuate from period to period based upon our view of the current economic fundamentals, our ability to identify new investment opportunities that meet our investment criteria, and our ability to consummate the identified opportunities. The level of new investment activity, and associated interest and fee income, will directly impact future investment income. In addition, the level of dividends paid by portfolio companies and the portion of our portfolio debt investments on non-accrual status will directly impact future investment income. While we intend to grow our portfolio and our investment income over the long term, our growth and our operating results may be more limited during depressed economic periods. However, we intend to appropriately manage our cost structure and liquidity position based on applicable economic conditions and our investment outlook. The level of realized gains or losses and unrealized appreciation or depreciation on our investments will also fluctuate depending upon portfolio activity, economic conditions and the performance of our individual portfolio companies. The changes in realized gains and losses and unrealized appreciation or depreciation could have a material impact on our operating results.

Because we are internally managed, we do not pay any external investment advisory fees, but instead directly incur the operating costs associated with employing investment and portfolio management professionals. We believe that our internally managed structure provides us with a better alignment of interests between our management team and our employees and our shareholders and a beneficial operating expense structure when compared to other publicly traded and privately held investment firms which are externally managed, and our internally managed structure allows us the opportunity to leverage our non-interest operating expenses as we grow our Investment Portfolio (as defined below) and our External Investment Manager’s asset management business (as defined below). For the years ended December 31,

Through the External Investment Manager, we serve as the sole investment adviser and administrator to MSC Income Fund, Inc. (“MSC Income”) pursuant to an Investment Advisory and Administrative Services Agreement entered into between the External Investment Manager and MSC Income (the “Advisory Agreement”). Under the Advisory Agreement, the External Investment Manager earns a 1.75% annual base management fee and a 20% incentive fee on MSC Income’s pre-investment fee net investment income above a specified hurdle rate in exchange for providing advisory services to MSC Income.

Additionally, the External Investment Manager has entered into an Investment Management Agreement with MS Private Loan Fund I, LP, a private investment fund with a strategy to co-invest with Main Street in Private Loan portfolio investments (the “Private Loan Fund”), pursuant to which the External Investment Manager provides investment advisory and management services to the Private Loan Fund in exchange for an asset-based fee and certain incentive fees. The External Investment Manager may also advise other clients, including funds and separately managed accounts, pursuant to advisory and services agreements with such clients in exchange for asset-based and incentive fees.

The External Investment Manager earns management fees based on the assets of the funds and accounts under management and may earn incentive fees, or a carried interest, based on the performance of the funds and accounts managed. The total contribution of the External Investment Manager to our net investment income consists of the combination of the expenses allocated to the External Investment Manager and the dividend income earned from the External Investment Manager. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, the total contribution of the External Investment Manager to our net investment income was $22.3 million, $16.5 million and $9.9 million, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the External Investment Manager earned $21.8 million in base management fees, and $2.5 million in incentive fees and $0.6 million in administrative service fees compared to $17.7 million of base management fees and $0.6 million in incentive fees in 2021 and $10.7 million of base management fees and no incentive fees in 2020 for the investment advisory services provided to MSC Income, the Private Loan Fund and other clients.

We have entered into an agreement with the External Investment Manager to share employees in connection with its asset management business generally, and specifically for its relationship with MSC Income and its other clients. Through this agreement, we share employees with the External Investment Manager, including their related infrastructure, business relationships, management expertise and capital raising capabilities, and we allocate the related expenses to the External Investment Manager pursuant to the sharing agreement. Our total expenses for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 are net of expenses allocated to the External Investment Manager of $13.0 million, $10.3 million and $7.4 million, respectively.

We have received an exemptive order from the SEC permitting co-investments among us, MSC Income and other funds and clients advised by the External Investment Manager in certain negotiated transactions where co-investing would otherwise be prohibited under the 1940 Act. We have made co-investments with, and in the future intend to continue to make co-investments with MSC Income, the Private Loan Fund and other clients advised by the External Investment Manager, in accordance with the conditions of the order. The order requires, among other things, that we and the External Investment Manager consider whether each such investment opportunity is appropriate for us and the External Investment Manager’s advised clients, as applicable, and if it is appropriate, to propose an allocation of the investment opportunity between such parties. Because the External Investment Manager may receive performance-based fee compensation from funds and clients advised by the External Investment Manager, this may provide the Company and the External Investment Manager an incentive to allocate opportunities to other participating funds and clients instead of us. However, both we and the External Investment Manager have policies and procedures in place to manage this conflict, including oversight by the independent members of our Board of Directors. In addition to the co-investment program described above, we also co-invest in syndicated deals and other transactions where price is the only negotiated point by us and our affiliates.

Our principal investment objective is to maximize our portfolio’s total return by generating current income from our debt investments and current income and capital appreciation from our equity and equity-related investments, including

Our investment team has identified the following investment criteria that it believes are important in evaluating prospective portfolio companies. Our investment team uses these criteria in evaluating investment opportunities. However, not all of these criteria have been, or will be, met in connection with each of our investments:

The “Investment Portfolio”, as used herein, refers to all of our investments in LMM companies (including both our LMM and Private Loan portfolio investments) and investments in Middle Market companies (including both our Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments), Other Portfolio investments and our investment in the External Investment Manager. Our LMM portfolio investments primarily consist of secured debt, direct equity investments and equity warrants in privately held, LMM companies based in the United States. Our Private Loan portfolio investments primarily consist of investments in interest-bearing debt securities in companies that are consistent with the size of the companies in our LMM portfolio and Middle Market portfolio and are originated either (i) directly by us or (ii) to a lesser extent, through strategic relationships with other investment funds on a collaborative basis that are often referred to in the debt markets as “club deals” because of the small lender group size. In both cases, our Private Loan investments are typically made to a company to support the acquisition of the company by a private equity sponsor. Our Middle Market portfolio investments primarily consist of direct investments in or secondary purchases of interest-bearing debt securities in privately held companies based in the United States that are generally larger in size than the companies included in our LMM portfolio. Our Other Portfolio investments primarily consist of investments that are not consistent with the typical profiles for our LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments, including investments which may be managed by third parties. In our Other Portfolio, we may incur indirect fees and expenses in connection with investments managed by third parties, such as investments in other investment companies or private funds.

Historically, we have made LMM debt investments principally in the form of single tranche debt. Single tranche debt financing involves issuing one debt security that blends the risk and return profiles of both first lien secured and subordinated debt. We believe that single tranche debt is more appropriate for many LMM companies given their size in order to reduce structural complexity and potential conflicts among creditors.

Our LMM debt investments generally have a term of five to seven years from the original investment date, with limited required amortization prior to maturity, and provide for monthly or quarterly payment of interest at interest rates

While we will continue to focus our LMM debt investments primarily on single tranche debt investments, we may structure some of our debt investments as mezzanine loans. These mezzanine loans would be primarily junior secured or unsecured, subordinated loans that would provide for relatively high interest rates, payable currently in cash, and would provide us with significant interest income. These mezzanine loans would afford us the additional opportunity for income and gains through PIK interest and equity warrants and other similar equity instruments issued in conjunction with these mezzanine loans. These loans typically would have interest-only payments in the early years, with amortization of principal deferred to the later years of the mezzanine loan term. Typically, these mezzanine loans would have maturities of three to five years. We would generally target interest rates of 12% to 14%, payable currently in cash, for our mezzanine loan investments with higher targeted total returns from equity warrants or PIK interest.

Our Private Loan portfolio investments primarily consist of investments in interest-bearing debt securities in companies that are consistent with the size of companies in our LMM portfolio or our Middle Market portfolio, but are investments which have been originated directly by Main Street or through strategic relationships with other investment funds on a collaborative basis and are typically made to a company to support the acquisition of the company by a private equity sponsor. The debt investments in our Private Loan portfolio have rights and protections that are similar to those in our LMM debt investments, which may include affirmative and negative covenants, default penalties, lien protection, change of control provisions, guarantees and equity pledges. Our Private Loan portfolio debt investments are generally secured by a first priority lien and typically have a term of between three and seven years from the original investment date. Our Private Loan debt investments generally have floating interest rates at LIBOR, SOFR or Prime rate typically subject to an interest rate floor, plus a margin.

In connection with our LMM debt investments, we occasionally receive equity warrants to establish or increase our equity interest in the portfolio company. Warrants that we receive in connection with a debt investment 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. We typically structure the warrants to provide provisions protecting our rights as a minority-interest holder, as well as secured or unsecured put rights, or rights to sell such securities back to the portfolio company, upon the occurrence of specified events. In certain cases, we also may obtain registration rights in connection with these equity interests, which may include demand and “piggyback” registration rights.

We also seek to make direct equity investments to align our interests with key management and stockholders of our LMM portfolio companies, and to allow for participation in the appreciation in the equity values of our LMM portfolio companies. We usually make our direct equity investments in connection with debt investments in our LMM portfolio companies. In addition, we may have both equity warrants and direct equity positions in some of our LMM portfolio companies. We seek to maintain fully diluted equity positions in our LMM portfolio companies of 5% to 50%, and may have controlling equity interests in some instances. We have a value orientation toward our direct equity investments and have traditionally been able to purchase our equity investments at reasonable valuations. We will also have, from time to time, the opportunity to make an equity co-investment in the equity securities of our Private Loan portfolio companies alongside the private equity sponsor. The equity co-investment aligns our interests with those of the private equity sponsor and provides us with the opportunity to benefit from appreciation on our investment.

Our management team’s investment committee is responsible for all aspects of our investment processes. The current members of our investment committee are Dwayne L. Hyzak, our Chief Executive Officer, David Magdol, our President and Chief Investment Officer, and Vincent D. Foster, our Senior Advisor and Chairman of the Board.

The investment processes for LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments are outlined below. Our investment strategy involves a “team” approach, whereby potential transactions are screened by several members of our investment team before being presented to the investment committee. Our investment committee meets on an as-needed basis depending on transaction volume. We generally categorize our investment process into seven distinct stages:

Deal generation and origination is maximized through long-standing and extensive relationships with industry contacts, brokers, commercial and investment bankers, entrepreneurs, service providers such as lawyers, financial advisors and accountants, and current and former portfolio companies and investors. Our investment team has focused its deal generation and origination efforts on LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market investments, and we have developed a reputation as a knowledgeable, reliable and active source of capital and assistance in these markets.

During the screening process, if a transaction initially meets our investment criteria, we will perform preliminary due diligence, taking into consideration some or all of the following information:

Upon successful screening of a proposed LMM transaction, the investment team makes a recommendation to our investment committee. If our investment committee concurs with moving forward on the proposed LMM transaction, we typically issue a non-binding term sheet or letter of intent to the company. Upon successful screening of a proposed Private Loan transaction, the investment team makes a recommendation to our investment committee. If our investment committee concurs with moving forward on the proposed Private Loan transaction, we typically issue a non-binding term sheet to the company. For Middle Market portfolio investments, the initial term sheet is typically issued by the borrower, through the syndicating bank, and is screened by the investment team which makes a recommendation to our investment committee.

For proposed LMM transactions, the non-binding term sheet or letter of intent will include the key economic terms based upon our analysis performed during the screening process, as well as a proposed timeline and our qualitative expectation for the transaction. While the term sheet or letter of intent for LMM investments is non-binding, we typically receive an expense deposit in order to move the transaction to the due diligence phase. Upon execution of a term sheet, we begin our formal due diligence process.

For proposed Private Loan transactions, the non-binding term sheet will include the key economic terms based upon our analysis performed during the screening process, as well as a proposed timeline and our qualitative expectation for the transaction. Upon execution of a term sheet, we begin our formal due diligence process.

For proposed Middle Market transactions, the initial term sheet will include key economic terms and other conditions proposed by the borrower and its representatives and the proposed timeline for the investment, which are reviewed by our investment team to determine if such terms and conditions are in agreement with our investment objectives.

Due diligence on a proposed LMM investment is performed by a minimum of three of our investment professionals, whom we refer to collectively as the investment team, and certain external resources, who together conduct due diligence to understand the relationships among the prospective portfolio company’s business plan, operations and financial performance. Our LMM due diligence review includes some or all of the following:

Due diligence on a proposed Private Loan or Middle Market investment is generally performed on materials and information obtained from certain external resources and assessed internally by a minimum of three of our investment professionals, who work to understand the relationships among the prospective portfolio company’s business plan, operations and financial performance using the accumulated due diligence information. Our typical Private Loan and Middle Market due diligence review includes some or all of the following:

During the due diligence process, significant attention is given to sensitivity analyses and how the company might be expected to perform given downside, base-case and upside scenarios. In certain cases, we may decide not to make an investment based on the results of the diligence process.

Upon completion of a satisfactory due diligence review of a proposed LMM portfolio investment, the investment team presents the findings and a recommendation to our investment committee. The presentation contains information which can include, but is not limited to, the following:

Upon completion of a satisfactory due diligence review of a proposed Private Loan or Middle Market portfolio investment, the investment team presents the findings and a recommendation to our investment committee. The presentation contains information which can include, but is not limited to, the following:

If any adjustments to the transaction terms or structures are proposed by the investment committee, such changes are made and applicable analyses are updated prior to approval of the transaction. Approval for the transaction must be made by the affirmative vote from a majority of the members of the investment committee, with the committee member managing the transaction, if any, abstaining from the vote. Upon receipt of transaction approval, the investment team will re-confirm regulatory compliance, process and finalize all required legal documents, and fund the investment.

We continuously monitor the status and progress of the portfolio companies. We generally offer managerial assistance to our portfolio companies, giving them access to our investment experience, direct industry expertise and contacts. The same investment 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 investment team to maintain a strong business relationship with key management of our portfolio companies for post-investment assistance and monitoring purposes.

As part of the monitoring process of LMM portfolio investments, the investment team will analyze monthly and quarterly financial statements versus the previous periods and year, review financial projections, meet and discuss issues or opportunities with management, attend board meetings and review all compliance certificates and covenants. While we maintain limited involvement in the ordinary course operations of our LMM portfolio companies, we maintain a higher level of involvement in non-ordinary course financing or strategic activities and any non-performing scenarios.

As part of the monitoring process of our Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments, the investment team will analyze monthly and quarterly financial statements versus the previous periods and year, review financial projections and review all compliance certificates and covenants. Depending upon the nature of our Private Loan portfolio investments, our investment team may also attend board meetings, and meet and discuss issues or opportunities with the portfolio company’s management team or private equity owners, however, due to the larger size and nature of our “lender only” relationship with these Private Loan and Middle Market companies in comparison to our LMM portfolio companies, it is not necessary or practical to have as much direct management interface.

We utilize an internally developed investment rating system to rate the performance of each LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio company and to monitor our expected level of returns on each of our LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market investments in relation to our expectations for the portfolio company. The investment rating system takes into consideration various factors, including, but not limited to, each investment’s expected level of returns, the collectability of our debt investments and the ability to receive a return of the invested capital in our equity investments, comparisons to competitors and other industry participants, the portfolio company’s future outlook and other factors that are deemed to be significant to the portfolio company.

While we generally exit most investments through the refinancing or repayment of our debt and redemption or sale of our equity positions, we typically assist our LMM portfolio companies in developing and planning exit opportunities, including any sale or merger of our portfolio companies. We may also assist in the structure, timing, execution and transition of the exit strategy. The refinancing or repayment of Private Loan investments and Middle Market debt investments typically do not require our assistance due to the additional resources available to these larger Private Loan and Middle Market companies.

We determine the net asset value (“NAV”) per share of our common stock on a quarterly basis. The NAV per share is equal to our total assets minus total liabilities divided by the total number of shares of common stock outstanding.

Due to the inherent uncertainty in the valuation process, our determination of fair value for our Investment Portfolio may differ materially from the values that would have been determined had a ready market for the securities existed. In addition, changes in the market environment, portfolio company performance and other events that may occur over the lives of the investments may cause the gains or losses ultimately realized on these investments to be materially different than the valuations currently assigned. We determine the fair value of each individual investment and record changes in fair value as unrealized appreciation or depreciation.

The 1940 Act requires valuation of a portfolio security at “market value” if market quotations for the security are “readily available.” Portfolio securities for which market quotations are not readily available must be valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the board of directors. In December 2020, the SEC adopted Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act, which permits a BDC’s board of directors to designate its executive officers or investment adviser as a valuation designee to determine the fair value for its investment portfolio, subject to the active oversight of the board.

Our Board of Directors adopted policies and procedures pursuant to Rule 2a-5 (the “Valuation Procedures”) and designated a group of our executive officers to serve as the Board’s valuation designee thereunder (the “Valuation Committee”) effective April 1, 2021. Pursuant to the Valuation Procedures, we undertake a multi-step process each quarter in connection with determining the fair value of our investments.

The following outlines our valuation process as established under the Valuation Procedures:

Determination of fair value involves subjective judgments and estimates. The notes to our consolidated financial statements refer to the uncertainty with respect to the possible effect of such valuations, and any change in such valuations, on our financial results and financial condition.

We compete for investments with a number of investment funds (including private equity funds, mezzanine funds, BDCs, and SBICs), as well as traditional financial services companies such as commercial banks and other sources of financing. Many of the entities that compete with us are larger and have more resources available to them. We believe we are able to be competitive with these entities primarily on the basis of our focus toward the underserved LMM, the experience and contacts of our management team, our responsive and efficient investment analysis and decision-making processes, our comprehensive suite of customized financing solutions and the investment terms we offer.

Our employees are vital to our success as a principal investment firm. As a human-capital intensive business, the long-term success of our company depends on our people. We strive to attract, develop and retain our employees by offering unique employment opportunities, superior advancement and promotion opportunities, attractive compensation and benefit structures and a close-knit culture. The departure of our key investment and other personnel could cause our operating results to suffer.

Our LMM business segment depends heavily on the business owners and management teams of our portfolio companies and their respective employees, contractors and service providers. In our investment process for LMM portfolio investments, the analysis of these individuals is a critical part of our overall investment underwriting process and as a result we carefully review the qualifications and experience of the portfolio company’s business owners and management team and their employment practices. We strive to partner with business owners and management teams whose business practices reflect our core values.

We strive to recruit talented and driven individuals who share our values. We have competitive programs dedicated to attracting and retaining new talent and enhancing the skills of our employees. Our recruiting efforts utilize strong relationships with a variety of sources from which we recruit. Among other opportunities, we offer selected students investment analyst internships, which are expected to lead to permanent roles for high performing and high potential interns. Through our internship program, individuals who want to become investment analysts have the opportunity to see the full investment process from origination to closing, as well as post-closing portfolio management activities. We routinely recruit from within, promoting current employees who have shown the technical ability, attitude, interest and the initiative to take on greater responsibility.

We have designed a compensation structure, including an array of benefit plans and programs, that we believe is attractive to our current and prospective employees. We also offer formal and informal training and mentorship programs that provide employees with access to senior level executives. Through our annual goal setting and performance review processes, our employees are annually evaluated by supervisors and our senior management team to ensure employees continue to develop and advance as expected. We are committed to having a diverse workforce, and an inclusive work environment is a natural extension of our culture. We also maintain a Women’s Initiative that provides employees with opportunities to network internally at Main Street and externally with other women in the financial services industry. Our employees have access to several programs designed to enable our employees to balance work, family and family-related situations including flexible working arrangements and parental leave for birth and adoption placement. We are committed to creating and maintaining an atmosphere where all employees feel welcomed, valued, respected and heard so that they feel motivated and encouraged to contribute fully to their careers, our company and our communities.

We seek to maintain a close-knit culture, which we believe is an important factor in employee retention, which is reinforced by our Community Building Committee. Our Community Building Committee, which is composed of a substantial cross section of employees across our organization, develops programs and initiatives that promote an open and inclusive atmosphere and encourage employee outreach with our community, in each case based upon feedback received from our employees. Initiatives generated by our Community Building Committee include employee well-being and engagement activities along with volunteer and donation opportunities with local charitable organizations. We encourage

As of December 31, 2022, we had 91 employees, 53 of whom we characterize as investment and portfolio management professionals, and the others include operations professionals and administrative staff. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement. As necessary, we will hire additional investment professionals and administrative personnel. All but two of our employees are located in our Houston, Texas office.

We have elected to be regulated as a BDC under the 1940 Act. The 1940 Act contains prohibitions and restrictions relating to transactions between BDCs and their affiliates, principal underwriters and affiliates of those affiliates or underwriters. The 1940 Act requires that a majority of the members of the board of directors of a BDC be persons other than “interested persons,” as that term is defined in the 1940 Act. In addition, the 1940 Act provides that we may not change the nature of our business so as to cease to be, or to withdraw our election as, a BDC unless approved by a majority of our outstanding voting securities.

The 1940 Act defines “a majority of the outstanding voting securities” as the lesser of (i) 67% or more of the voting securities present at a meeting if the holders of more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities are present or represented by proxy or (ii) more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities.

Qualifying Assets

Under the 1940 Act, a BDC may not acquire any asset other than assets of the type listed in Section 55(a) of the 1940 Act, which are referred to as qualifying assets, unless, at the time the acquisition is made, qualifying assets represent at least 70% of the company’s total assets. The principal categories of qualifying assets relevant to our business are any of the following:

In addition, a BDC must have been organized and have its principal place of business in the United States and must be operated for the purpose of making investments in the types of securities described in (1), (2) or (3) above.

An eligible portfolio company is defined in the 1940 Act as any issuer which:

Managerial Assistance to Portfolio Companies

As noted above, a BDC must be operated for the purpose of making investments in the type of securities described in (1), (2) or (3) above under the heading entitled “— Qualifying Assets.” In addition, BDCs must generally offer to make available to such issuer of the securities (other than small and solvent companies described above) significant managerial assistance; except that, where we purchase such securities in conjunction with one or more other persons acting together, one of the other persons in the group may make available such managerial assistance. Making available managerial assistance means, among other things, any arrangement whereby the BDC, through its directors, officers or employees, offers to provide, and, if accepted, does so provide, significant guidance and counsel concerning the management, operations or business objectives and policies of a portfolio company. However, if a BDC purchases securities in conjunction with one or more other persons acting together, one of the other persons in the group may make available such significant managerial assistance on behalf of all investors in the group.

Temporary Investments

Pending investment in “qualifying assets,” as described above, our investments may consist of cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and high-quality debt securities maturing in one year or less from time of investment therein, so that 70% of our assets are qualifying assets.

Senior Securities

Prior to 2018 legislation that modified the asset coverage requirements of the 1940 Act, we were 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% of all debt and/or senior stock immediately after each such issuance. However, 2018 legislation modified the 1940 Act by allowing a BDC to increase the maximum amount of leverage it may incur from an asset coverage ratio, or BDC asset coverage ratio, of 200% to an asset coverage ratio of 150%, if certain requirements are met. In May 2022, our stockholders approved the application of the reduced BDC asset coverage ratio. As a result, the BDC asset coverage ratio applicable to us decreased from 200% to 150% effective May 3, 2022.

We have received exemptive relief from the SEC to permit us to exclude the SBA-guaranteed debentures of the Funds from our 150% asset coverage test under the 1940 Act. As such, our ratio of total consolidated assets to outstanding indebtedness may be less than 150%. This provides us with increased investment flexibility but also increases our risks related to leverage.

Common Stock

Code of Ethics

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures

We vote proxies relating to our portfolio securities in a manner in which we believe is consistent with the best interest of our stockholders. We review on a case-by-case basis each proposal submitted to a stockholder vote to determine its impact on the portfolio securities held by us. Although we generally vote against proposals that we expect would have a negative impact on our portfolio securities, we may vote for such a proposal if there exists compelling long-term reasons to do so.

Our proxy voting decisions are made by the investment team which is responsible for monitoring each of our investments. To ensure that our vote is not the product of a conflict of interest, we require that anyone involved in the decision-making process discloses to our chief compliance officer any potential conflict regarding a proxy vote of which he or she is aware.

Other 1940 Act Regulations

We are also prohibited under the 1940 Act from knowingly participating in certain transactions with our affiliates without the prior approval of our Board of Directors who are not interested persons and, in some cases, prior approval by the SEC.

We are required to provide and maintain a bond issued by a reputable fidelity insurance company to protect us against larceny and embezzlement. Furthermore, as a BDC, we are prohibited from protecting any director or officer against any liability to us or our stockholders arising from willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such person’s office.

We are required to adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation of the federal securities laws, review these policies and procedures no less frequently than annually for their adequacy and the effectiveness of their implementation, and to designate a chief compliance officer to be responsible for administering the policies and procedures.

We may be periodically examined by the SEC for compliance with the 1940 Act.

Each of the Funds is licensed by the SBA to operate as a SBIC under Section 301(c) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. MSMF obtained its SBIC license in 2002 and MSC III obtained its license in 2016.

SBICs are designed to stimulate the flow of private capital to eligible small businesses. Under SBIC regulations, SBICs may make loans to eligible small businesses, invest in the equity securities of such businesses and provide them with consulting and advisory services. Each of the Funds has typically invested in secured debt, acquired warrants and/or made equity investments in qualifying small businesses.

The Funds are subject to regulation and oversight by the SBA, including requirements with respect to reporting financial information, such as the extent of capital impairment if applicable, on a regular basis and annual examinations conducted by the SBA. The SBA, as a creditor, will have a superior claim to the Funds’ assets over our securities holders in the event the Funds are liquidated or the SBA exercises its remedies under the SBA-guaranteed debentures issued by the Funds upon an event of default.

Under present SBIC regulations, eligible small businesses generally include businesses that (together with their affiliates) have a tangible net worth not exceeding $19.5 million or have average annual net income after U.S. federal income taxes not exceeding $6.5 million (average net income to be computed without benefit of any carryover loss) for the two most recent fiscal years. In addition, an SBIC must devote 25% of its investment activity to “smaller” enterprises as defined by the SBA. A smaller enterprise generally includes businesses that have a tangible net worth not exceeding $6 million and have average annual net income after U.S. federal income taxes not exceeding $2 million (average net income to be computed without benefit of any net carryover loss) for the two most recent fiscal years. SBIC regulations also provide alternative size standard criteria to determine eligibility for designation as an eligible small business or smaller enterprise, which criteria depend on the primary industry in which the business is engaged and are based on such factors as the number of employees and gross revenue. However, once an SBIC has invested in a company, it generally may continue to make follow-on investments in the company, regardless of the size of the portfolio company at the time of the follow-on investment, up to the time of the portfolio company’s initial public offering.

The SBA prohibits an SBIC from providing funds to small businesses for certain purposes, such as relending and investment outside the United States, to businesses engaged in certain prohibited industries, and to certain “passive” (non-operating) companies. In addition, without prior SBA approval, an SBIC may not invest an amount equal to more than 30% of the SBIC’s regulatory capital, as defined by the SBA, in any one portfolio company and its affiliates.

The SBA places certain limitations on the financing terms of investments by SBICs in portfolio companies (such as limiting the permissible interest rate on debt securities held by an SBIC in a portfolio company). Included in such limitations are SBIC regulations which allow an SBIC to exercise control over a small business for a period of seven years from the date on which the SBIC initially acquires its control position. This control period may be extended for an additional period of time with the SBA’s prior written approval.

The SBA restricts the ability of an SBIC to lend money to any of its officers, directors and employees or to invest in affiliates thereof. The SBA also 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% or more of a class of equity of a licensed SBIC. A “change of control” is any event which would result in the transfer of the power, direct or indirect, to direct the management and policies of an SBIC, whether through ownership, contractual arrangements or otherwise.

The SBIC licenses allow the Funds to incur leverage by issuing SBA-guaranteed debentures, subject to the issuance of a capital commitment and certain approvals by the SBA and customary procedures. SBA-guaranteed debentures carry long-term fixed rates that are generally lower than rates on comparable bank and other debt. Under applicable regulations, an SBIC may generally have outstanding debentures guaranteed by the SBA in amounts up to twice the amount of the privately raised funds of the SBIC. Debentures guaranteed by the SBA have a maturity of ten years, require semiannual payments of interest, do not require any principal payments prior to maturity, and are not subject to prepayment penalties. As of December 31, 2022, we, through the Funds, had $350.0 million of outstanding SBA-guaranteed debentures, which had an annual weighted-average interest rate of 2.9%.

SBICs must invest idle funds that are not being used to make loans in investments permitted under SBIC regulations in the following limited types of securities: (i) 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; (ii) 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); (iii) certificates of deposit with a maturity of one year or less, issued by a federally insured institution; (iv) a deposit account in a federally insured institution that is subject to a withdrawal restriction of one year or less; (v) a checking account in a federally insured institution; or (vi) a reasonable petty cash fund.

SBICs are periodically examined and audited by the SBA’s staff to determine their compliance with SBIC regulations and are periodically required to file certain financial information and other documents with the SBA.

Neither the SBA nor the U.S. government or any of its agencies or officers has approved any ownership interest to be issued by us or any obligation that we or any of our subsidiaries may incur.

We are subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), including the filing of quarterly, annual and current reports, proxy statements and other required items. In addition, we are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which imposes a wide variety of regulatory requirements on publicly-held companies and their insiders. For example:

The New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) has adopted corporate governance regulations that listed companies must comply with. We believe we are in compliance with such corporate governance listing standards. We intend to monitor our compliance with all future listing standards and to take all necessary actions to ensure that we stay in compliance.

The External Investment Manager, which is wholly-owned by us, is subject to regulation under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”). The Advisers Act establishes, among other things, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, disclosure requirements, limitations on transactions between the adviser’s account and an advisory client’s account, limitations on transactions between the accounts of advisory clients, and general anti-fraud prohibitions. The External Investment Manager may be examined by the SEC from time to time for compliance with the Advisers Act.

MSCC has elected to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. MSCC’s taxable income includes the taxable income generated by MSCC and certain of its subsidiaries, including the Funds, which are treated as disregarded entities for tax purposes. As a RIC, MSCC generally will not pay corporate-level U.S. federal income taxes on any income that we distribute to our stockholders as dividends. To qualify as a RIC, we must, among other things, meet certain source-of-income and asset diversification requirements (as described below). In addition, in order to obtain RIC tax treatment, we must distribute to our stockholders, for each taxable year, at least 90% of our “investment company taxable income,” which is generally our net ordinary taxable income plus the excess of realized net short-term capital gains over realized net long-term capital losses, and 90% of our tax-exempt income (the “Annual Distribution Requirement”). As part of maintaining RIC status, undistributed taxable income (subject to a 4% non-deductible U.S. federal excise tax) pertaining to a given fiscal year may be distributed up to 12 months subsequent to the end of that fiscal year, provided such dividends are declared on or prior to the later of (i) filing of the U.S. federal income tax return for the applicable fiscal year or (ii) the fifteenth day of the ninth month following the close of the year in which such taxable income was generated.

For any taxable year in which we qualify as a RIC and satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement, we will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of our income or capital gains we distribute (or are deemed to distribute) to stockholders. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the regular corporate rates on any income or capital gains not distributed (or deemed distributed) to our stockholders.

We are subject to a 4% non-deductible U.S. federal excise tax on certain undistributed income unless we distribute in a timely manner an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98% of our net ordinary taxable income for each calendar year, (2) 98.2% of our capital gain net income for the one-year period ending December 31 in that calendar year and (3) any taxable income recognized, but not distributed, in preceding years on which we paid no U.S. federal income tax (the “Excise Tax Avoidance Requirement”). Dividends declared and paid by us in a year will generally differ from taxable income for that year as such dividends may include the distribution of current year taxable income, exclude amounts carried over into the following year, and include the distribution of prior year taxable income carried over into and distributed in the current year. For amounts we carry over into the following year, we will be required to pay the 4% U.S. federal excise tax on the excess of 98% of our annual investment company taxable income and 98.2% of our capital gain net income over our distributions for the year.

In order to qualify as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must, among other things:

In order to comply with the 90% Income Test, we formed the Taxable Subsidiaries as wholly-owned taxable subsidiaries for the primary purpose of permitting us to own equity interests in portfolio companies which are “pass-through” entities for tax purposes. Absent the taxable status of the Taxable Subsidiaries, a portion of the gross income from such portfolio companies would flow directly to us for purposes of the 90% Income Test. To the extent such income did not consist of income derived from securities, such as dividends and interest, it could jeopardize our ability to qualify as a RIC and, therefore, cause us to incur significant U.S. federal income taxes. The Taxable Subsidiaries are consolidated with Main Street for generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) purposes and are included in our consolidated financial statements, and the portfolio investments held by the Taxable Subsidiaries are included in our consolidated financial statements. The Taxable Subsidiaries are not consolidated with MSCC for income tax purposes and may generate income tax expense, or benefit, as a result of their ownership of the portfolio investments. The income tax expense, or benefit, if any, and any related tax assets and liabilities, are reflected in our consolidated financial statements.

The External Investment Manager is accounted for as a portfolio investment for U.S. GAAP purposes and is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of MSCC, owned through a Taxable Subsidiary. The External Investment Manager is owned by a Taxable Subsidiary in order to comply with the 90% Income Test, since the External Investment Manager’s income would likely not consist of income derived from securities, such as dividends and interest, and as result, it could jeopardize our ability to qualify as a RIC and, therefore, cause us to incur significant U.S. federal income taxes. As a result of its ownership by a Taxable Subsidiary, the External Investment Manager is a disregarded entity for tax purposes. The External Investment Manager has also entered into a tax sharing agreement with its Taxable Subsidiary owner. Since the External Investment Manager is accounted for as a portfolio investment of MSCC and is not included as a consolidated subsidiary of MSCC in MSCC’s consolidated financial statements, and as a result of the tax sharing agreement with its Taxable Subsidiary owner, for its stand-alone financial reporting purposes the External Investment Manager is treated as if it is taxed at normal corporate tax rates based on its taxable income and, as a result of its activities, may generate income tax expense or benefit. The income tax expense, or benefit, if any, and the related tax assets and liabilities, of the External Investment Manager are reflected in the External Investment Manager’s separate financial statements.

We may be required to recognize taxable income in circumstances in which we do not receive cash. For example, if we hold debt obligations that are treated under applicable tax rules as having original issue discount (such as debt instruments issued with warrants and debt securities invested in at a discount to par), we must include in income each year a portion of the original issue discount that accrues over the life of the obligation, regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by us in the same taxable year. We may also have to include in income other amounts that we have not yet received in cash such as PIK interest, cumulative dividends or amounts that are received in non-cash compensation such as warrants or stock. Because any original issue discount or other amounts accrued will be included in our investment company taxable income for the year of accrual, we may be required to make a distribution to our stockholders in order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement, even though we will not have received any corresponding cash amount.

We may distribute taxable dividends that are payable in part in our stock. Under certain applicable provisions of the Code and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) regulations, distributions payable by us in cash or in shares of stock (at the stockholders’ election) would satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement. The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance indicating that this rule will apply even where the total amount of cash that may be distributed is limited to no more than 20% of the total distribution. According to this guidance, 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

If we fail to satisfy the 90% Income Test or the Diversification Tests for any taxable year, we may nevertheless continue to qualify as a RIC for such year if certain relief provisions are applicable (which may, among other things, require us to pay certain corporate-level U.S. federal taxes or to dispose of certain assets).

If we were unable to qualify for treatment as a RIC and the foregoing relief provisions are not applicable, we would be subject to tax on all of our taxable income at regular corporate rates. We would not be able to deduct distributions to stockholders, nor would they be required to be made. If we were subject to tax on all of our taxable income at regular corporate rates, then distributions we make after being subject to such tax would be taxable to our stockholders and, provided certain holding period and other requirements were met, could qualify for treatment as “qualified dividend income” eligible for the maximum 20% rate (plus a 3.8% Medicare surtax, if applicable) applicable to qualified dividends to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits. Subject to certain limitations under the Code, corporate taxpayers would be eligible for a dividends-received deduction on distributions they receive. Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits would be treated first as a return of capital to the extent of the stockholder’s tax basis, and any remaining distributions would be treated as a capital gain. To requalify as a RIC in a subsequent taxable year, we would be required to satisfy the RIC qualification requirements for that year and dispose of any earnings and profits from any year in which we failed to qualify as a RIC. Subject to a limited exception applicable to RICs that qualified as such under Subchapter M of the Code for at least one year prior to disqualification and that requalify as a RIC no later than the second year following the nonqualifying year, we could be subject to tax on any unrealized net built-in gains in the assets held by us during the period in which we failed to qualify as a RIC that are recognized within the subsequent five years, unless we made a special election to pay corporate-level U.S. federal income tax on such built-in gain at the time of our requalification as a RIC.

The following is a summary of the principal risk factors associated with an investment in our securities. Further details regarding each risk included in the below summary list can be found further below.

The determination of fair value and consequently, the amount of unrealized gains and losses in our portfolio, are to a certain degree, subjective and dependent on a valuation process approved by our Board of Directors. Certain factors that may be considered in determining the fair value of our investments include external events, such as private mergers, sales and acquisitions involving comparable companies. Because such valuations, and particularly valuations of securities in privately held companies, are inherently uncertain, may fluctuate over short periods of time and may be based on estimates, our determinations of fair value may differ materially from the values that would have been used if a ready market for these securities existed. Due to this uncertainty, our fair value determinations may cause our NAV on a given date to materially understate or overstate the value that we may ultimately realize on one or more of our investments. As a result, investors purchasing our securities based on an overstated NAV would pay a higher price than the value of our investments might warrant. Conversely, investors selling our securities during a period in which the NAV understates the value of our investments may receive a lower price for their securities than the value of our investments might warrant.

Our ability to achieve our investment objective of maximizing our portfolio’s total return by generating current income from our debt investments and current income and capital appreciation from our equity and equity-related investments, including warrants, convertible securities and other rights to acquire equity securities in a portfolio company,

Accomplishing our investment objective on a cost-effective basis is largely a function of our investment team’s handling of the investment process, its ability to provide competent, attentive and efficient services and our access to investments offering acceptable terms. In addition to monitoring the performance of our existing investments, members of our investment team are also called upon, from time to time, to provide managerial assistance to some of our portfolio companies. These demands on their time may distract them or slow the rate of investment.

Even if we are able to grow and build upon our investment operations, any failure to manage our growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. The results of our operations will 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 as described herein, it could negatively impact our ability to pay dividends.

We can use interest rate risk management techniques in an effort to limit our exposure to interest rate fluctuations. Such techniques could include various interest rate hedging activities to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and applicable commodities laws. These activities could limit our ability to participate in the benefits of lower interest rates with respect to the hedged borrowings. Adverse developments resulting from changes in interest rates or hedging transactions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

An increase in the market pricing of the spreads charged over index rates on floating rate investments could lead to a decline in the fair value of the debt securities we own, which would adversely affect our NAV. Also, an increase in interest rates available to investors could make an investment in our common stock less attractive if we are not able to increase our dividends, which could reduce the value of our common stock.

We compete for investments with other investment funds (including private equity funds, debt funds, mezzanine funds, collateralized loan obligation funds, or CLOs, BDCs and SBICs), as well as traditional financial services companies such as commercial banks and other sources of funding. Many of our competitors are substantially larger and have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. For example, some competitors may have a lower cost of capital and access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments than we have. These characteristics could allow our competitors to consider a wider variety of investments, establish more relationships and offer better pricing and more flexible structuring than we are able to do. We may lose investment opportunities if we do not match our competitors’ pricing, terms and structure. If we are forced to match our competitors’ pricing, terms and structure, we may not be able to achieve acceptable returns on our investments or may bear substantial risk of capital loss. A significant part of our competitive advantage stems from the fact that the market for investments in LMM companies is underserved by traditional commercial banks and other financing sources. A significant increase in the number and/or the size of our competitors in this target market could

We depend on the members of our investment team, particularly Dwayne L. Hyzak, David L. Magdol, Jesse E. Morris, Jaime Arreola, K. Colton Braud, III, Damian T. Burke, Samuel A. Cashiola, Diego Fernandez and Nicholas T. Meserve for the identification, review, final selection, structuring, closing and monitoring of our investments. These employees have significant investment expertise and relationships that we rely on to implement our business plan. Although we have entered into non-compete arrangements with all of our executive officers and other key employees, we cannot guarantee that any employees will remain employed with us. If we lose the services of the individuals mentioned above, we may not be able to operate our business as we expect, and our ability to compete could be harmed, which could cause our operating results to suffer.

Our growth will require that we retain new investment and administrative personnel in a competitive market. Our ability to attract and retain personnel with the requisite credentials, experience and skills depends on several factors including, but not limited to, our ability to offer competitive wages, benefits and professional growth opportunities. Many of the entities, including investment funds (such as private equity funds, debt funds and mezzanine funds) and traditional financial services companies, with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have.

The competitive environment for qualified personnel may require us to take certain measures to ensure that we are able to attract and retain experienced personnel. Such measures may include increasing the attractiveness of our overall compensation packages, altering the structure of our compensation packages through the use of additional forms of compensation, or other steps. The inability to attract and retain experienced personnel would have a material adverse effect on our business.

We expect that members of our management team will maintain their relationships with intermediaries, financial institutions, investment bankers, commercial bankers, financial advisors, attorneys, accountants, consultants and other individuals within our network, and we will rely to a significant extent upon these relationships to provide us with potential investment opportunities. If our management team fails to maintain its existing relationships or develop new relationships with sources of investment opportunities, we will not be able to grow our Investment Portfolio. In addition, individuals with whom members of our management team have relationships are not obligated to provide us with investment opportunities, and, therefore, there is no assurance that such relationships will generate investment opportunities for us.

Our Board of Directors has the authority to modify or waive our current operating policies, investment criteria and strategies without prior notice and without stockholder approval. We cannot predict the effect any changes to our current operating policies, investment criteria and strategies would have on our business, NAV, operating results and value of our stock. However, the effects might be adverse, which could negatively impact our ability to pay interest and principal payments to holders of our debt instruments and dividends to our stockholders and cause our investors to lose all or part of their investment in us.

We are classified as a non-diversified investment company within the meaning of the 1940 Act, which means that we are not limited by the 1940 Act with respect to the proportion of our assets that we may invest in securities of a single issuer. Under the 1940 Act, a “diversified” investment company is required to invest at least 75% of the value of its total assets in cash and cash items, government securities, securities of other investment companies and other securities limited in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the total assets of such company and no more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer. As a non-diversified investment company, we are not subject to this requirement. To the extent that we assume large positions in the securities of a small number of issuers, our NAV

Our business faces increasing public scrutiny related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) activities. We risk damage to our brand and reputation if we fail to act responsibly in a number of areas, such as diversity and inclusion, environmental stewardship, support for local communities, corporate governance and transparency and considering ESG factors in our investment processes. Adverse incidents with respect to ESG activities could impact the value of our brand, the cost of our operations and relationships with investors, all of which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Additionally, new regulatory initiatives related to ESG could adversely affect our business.

Investing in the types of companies that comprise our portfolio companies exposes us to a number of significant risks. Among other things, these companies:

In addition certain of our officers and directors may serve as directors on the boards of our portfolio companies. To the extent that litigation arises out of our investments in these companies, our officers 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.

Many of our portfolio companies are susceptible to economic slowdowns or recessions and could be unable to repay our loans during these periods. Therefore, the number of non-performing assets are likely to increase and the value of our portfolio is likely to decrease during these periods. Adverse economic conditions could decrease the value of collateral securing any of our loans and the value of any equity investments. A severe recession could further decrease the value of such collateral and result in losses of value in our portfolio and a decrease in our revenues, net income, assets and net worth. 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.

Any deterioration of general economic conditions could lead to significant declines in corporate earnings or loan performance, and the ability of corporate borrowers to service their debt, any of which could trigger a period of global economic slowdown, and have an adverse impact on our performance and financial results, and the value and the liquidity of our investments. In an economic downturn, we could have non-performing assets or an increase in non-performing assets, and we would anticipate that the value of our portfolio would decrease during these periods. Failure to satisfy financial or operating covenants imposed by lenders, including us, to a portfolio company could lead to defaults and, potentially, acceleration of payments on such loans and foreclosure on the assets representing collateral for the portfolio company’s obligations. Cross default provisions under other agreements could be triggered and thus limit the portfolio company’s ability to satisfy its obligations under any debt that we hold and affect the value of any equity securities we own. We would expect to incur expenses to the extent necessary to seek recovery upon default or to negotiate new terms with a portfolio company following or in anticipation of a default.

Some of our portfolio investments are debt securities that bear interest at variable rates and may be negatively affected by changes in market interest rates. Rising interest rates make it more difficult for borrowers to repay debt, which could increase the risk of payment defaults and cause the portfolio companies to defer or cancel needed investment. Any failure of one or more portfolio companies to repay or refinance its debt at or prior to maturity or the inability of one or more portfolio companies to make ongoing payments following an increase in contractual interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The value of our securities could also be reduced from an increase in market credit spreads as rates available to investors could make an investment in our securities less attractive than alternative investments.

Conversely, decreases in market interest rates could negatively impact the interest income from our variable rate debt investments while the interest we pay on our fixed rate debt securities does not change. A decrease in market interest rates may also have an adverse impact on our returns by requiring us to accept lower yields on our debt investments and by increasing the risk that our portfolio companies will prepay our debt investments, resulting in the need to redeploy capital at potentially lower rates.

Certain of our portfolio companies are in industries that could be impacted by inflation. If such portfolio companies are unable to pass any increases in their costs of operations along to their customers, it could adversely affect their operating results and impact their ability to pay dividends on our equity investments and/or interest and principal on our loans, particularly if interest rates rise in response to inflation. In addition, any projected future decreases in our portfolio companies’ operating results due to inflation could adversely impact the fair value of those investments. Any decreases in the fair value of our investments could result in future realized or unrealized losses and therefore reduce our net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations.

Our investments may include original issue discount and contractual PIK interest, which represents contractual interest added to a loan balance and due at the end of such loan’s term. To the extent original issue discount or PIK interest

We generally invest in companies whose securities are not publicly traded and whose securities will be subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or will otherwise be less liquid than publicly traded securities. The illiquidity of these investments may make it difficult for us to sell these investments when desired. In addition, if we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio quickly, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we had previously recorded these investments. As a result, we do not expect to achieve liquidity in our investments in the near-term. Our investments are usually subject to contractual or legal restrictions on resale or are otherwise illiquid because there is usually no established trading market for such investments. The illiquidity of most of our investments may make it difficult for us to dispose of them at a favorable price and, as a result, we may suffer losses.

We may not have the funds or ability to make additional investments in our portfolio companies. 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 extension of additional loans, the exercise of a warrant to purchase equity securities, or the funding of additional equity investments. 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, may reduce our ability to protect an existing investment or may reduce the expected yield on the investment.

Our portfolio companies may have, or may be permitted to incur, other debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, the debt in which we invest. By their terms, such debt instruments may entitle the holders to receive payment of interest or principal on or before the dates on which we are entitled to receive payments with respect to the debt instruments in which we invest. Also, in the event of insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of a portfolio company, holders of debt instruments ranking senior to our investment in that portfolio company would typically be entitled to receive payment in full before we receive any distribution. After repaying such senior creditors, such portfolio company may not have any remaining assets to use for repaying its obligation to us. In the case of debt ranking equally with debt instruments in which we invest, we would have to share on an equal basis any distributions with other creditors holding such debt in the event of an insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of the relevant portfolio company.

Even if our investment is structured as a senior-secured loan, principles of equitable subordination, as defined by existing case law, could lead a bankruptcy court to subordinate all or a portion of our claim to that of other creditors and

We do not, and do not expect to, control the decision making in many of our portfolio companies, even though we may have board representation or board observation rights, and our debt agreements may contain certain restrictive covenants. As a result, we are subject to the risk that a portfolio company in which we invest will make business decisions with which we disagree and the management of such company will take risks or otherwise act in ways that do not serve our interests as debt investors or minority equity holders. Due to the lack of liquidity for our investments in non-traded companies, we may not be able to dispose of our interests in our portfolio companies as readily as we would like or at an appropriate valuation. As a result, a portfolio company may make decisions that would decrease the value of our portfolio holdings.

A portfolio company’s failure to satisfy financial or operating covenants imposed by us or other lenders could lead to non-payment of interest and other defaults and, potentially, termination of its loans and foreclosure on its secured assets, which could trigger cross-defaults under other agreements and jeopardize a portfolio company’s ability to meet its obligations under the debt or equity securities that we hold. 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.

As a BDC, we are required to carry our investments at market value or, if no market value is ascertainable, at the fair value as determined in accordance with our Valuation Procedures adopted pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act. Decreases in the market values or fair values of our investments will be recorded as unrealized depreciation. Any unrealized depreciation in our portfolio could be an indication of a portfolio company’s inability to meet its repayment obligations to us with respect to affected loans or a potential impairment of the value of affected equity investments.

This could result in realized losses in the future and ultimately in reductions of our income and gains available for distribution in future periods.

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 prepaid and we could experience significant delays in reinvesting these amounts. Any future investment in a new portfolio company may also be at lower yields than the debt that was repaid. As a result, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected if one or more of our portfolio companies elect 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 securities.

LIBOR is the basic rate of interest used in lending between banks on the London interbank market and is widely used as a reference for setting the interest rate on loans globally. On July 27, 2017, the U.K Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) announced that it would phase out LIBOR as a benchmark by the end of 2021. As of December 31, 2021, all non-U.S. dollar LIBOR publications have been phased out. The phase out of a majority of the U.S. dollar publications is delayed until June 30, 2023. The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (“ARRC”) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York previously confirmed that this constitutes a “benchmark transition event” and established “benchmark replacement dates” in ARRC standard LIBOR transition provisions that exist in many U.S. law contracts using LIBOR. There is currently no definitive information regarding the future utilization of LIBOR.

The ARRC has identified SOFR as its preferred alternative rate for LIBOR. SOFR is a measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight, collateralized by the U.S. Treasury securities, and is based on directly observable U.S. Treasury-backed repurchase transactions. Although SOFR appears to be the preferred replacement rate for U.S. dollar LIBOR, it is not possible to predict whether SOFR will attain market traction as a LIBOR replacement tool, and the future of LIBOR is still uncertain. The effect of any such changes, any establishment of alternative reference rates or any other reforms to LIBOR or other reference rates that may be enacted in the United States, United Kingdom or elsewhere cannot be predicted at this time, and it is not possible to predict whether LIBOR will continue to be viewed as an acceptable market benchmark, what rate or rates may become accepted alternatives to LIBOR, or what the effect of any such changes in views or alternatives may have on the financial markets for financial instruments based on LIBOR.

To date, nearly all of the agreements with our portfolio companies governing floating rate loans are already utilizing SOFR or include fallback language providing a mechanism for a new reference interest rate in the event that LIBOR ceases to exist, and our credit facilities have been amended to utilize SOFR. Factors such as the pace of the transition to replacement or reformed rates, the specific terms and parameters for and market acceptance of any alternative reference rate, prices of and the liquidity of trading markets for products based on alternative reference rates, and our ability to transition and develop appropriate systems and analytics for one or more alternative reference rates could also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any further changes or reforms to the determination or supervision of LIBOR may result in a sudden or prolonged increase or decrease in reported LIBOR, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Some of the loans in which we invest may be “covenant-lite” loans, which means the loans contain fewer maintenance covenants than other loans (in some cases, none) and do not include terms which allow the lender to monitor the performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. Generally, “covenant-lite” loans provide borrower companies more freedom to negatively impact lenders because their covenants are incurrence-based, which means they are only tested and can only be breached following an affirmative action of the borrower, rather than by a deterioration in the borrower’s financial condition. To the extent we invest in covenant-lite loans, we may have fewer rights against a borrower and may have a greater risk of loss on such investments as compared to investments in loans with finance maintenance covenants.

Certain investments that we have made in the past and may make in the future include warrants or other equity securities. Investments in equity securities involve a number of significant risks, including the risk of further dilution as a result of additional issuances, inability to access additional capital and failure to pay current distributions. Investments in preferred securities involve special risks, such as the risk of deferred distributions, credit risk, illiquidity and limited voting rights. In addition, we may from time to time make non-control, equity investments in portfolio companies. Our goal is ultimately 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. 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. 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

Our investment strategy contemplates potential investments in debt securities of foreign companies. Investing in foreign companies may expose us to additional risks not typically associated with investing in securities of U.S. companies. These risks include changes in exchange control regulations, political and social instability, expropriation, imposition of foreign taxes, less liquid markets and less available information than is generally the case in the U.S., higher transaction costs, less government supervision of exchanges, brokers and issuers, less developed bankruptcy laws, difficulty in enforcing contractual obligations, lack of uniform accounting and auditing standards and greater price volatility.

Although most of our investments will be U.S. dollar denominated, any investments denominated in a foreign currency will be subject to the risk that the value of a particular currency will change in relation to one or more other currencies. Among the factors that may affect currency values are trade balances, the level of short-term interest rates, differences in relative values of similar assets in different currencies, long-term opportunities for investment and capital appreciation, and political developments.

Borrowings, also known as leverage, magnify the potential for loss on investments in our indebtedness and gain or loss on investments in our equity capital. As we use leverage to partially finance our investments, you will experience increased risks of investing in our securities. Accordingly, any event that adversely affects the value of an investment would be magnified to the extent we use leverage. Such events could result in a substantial loss to us, which would be greater than if leverage had not been used. In addition, our investment objectives are dependent on the continued availability of leverage at attractive relative interest rates.

If the value of our assets decreases, leveraging would cause NAV to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have had we not leveraged our business. Similarly, any decrease in our income would cause net investment income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not leveraged our business. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to pay common stock dividends, scheduled debt payments or other payments related to our securities.

Our ability to achieve our investment objective may depend in part on our ability to access additional leverage on favorable terms and there can be no assurance that such additional leverage can in fact be achieved. If we are unable to obtain leverage or if the interest rates of such leverage are not attractive, we could experience diminished returns. The number of leverage providers and the total amount of financing available could decrease or remain static.

Substantially all of our assets are currently pledged as collateral under our senior securities, including any credit facilities or notes. If we default on our obligations under our senior securities, our lenders may have the right to foreclose upon and sell, or otherwise transfer, the collateral subject to their security interests or their superior claim. In such event, we may be forced to sell our investments to raise funds to repay our outstanding borrowings in order to avoid foreclosure and these forced sales may be at times and at prices we would not consider advantageous. Moreover, such deleveraging of our company could significantly impair our ability to effectively operate our business in the manner in which we have historically operated. As a result, we could be forced to curtail or cease new investment activities and lower or eliminate the dividends that we have historically paid to our stockholders. In addition, if the lenders exercise their right to sell the assets pledged under our senior securities, such sales may be completed at distressed sale prices, thereby diminishing or potentially eliminating the amount of cash available to us after repayment of the amounts outstanding under the senior securities.

We own directly or indirectly 100% of the equity interests in MSCC Funding I, LLC (“MSCC Funding”), a special purpose Structured Subsidiary utilized in our senior secured special purpose vehicle revolving credit facility (the ���SPV Facility”). We consolidate the financial statements of the MSCC Funding in our consolidated financial statements and treat the indebtedness under the SPV Facility as our leverage. Our interest in MSCC Funding is subordinated in priority of payment to every other obligation of MSCC Funding and is subject to certain payment restrictions set forth in the SPV Facility.

We receive cash from MSCC Funding only to the extent that we receive distributions on our equity interests therein. MSCC Funding could make distributions on its equity interests only to the extent permitted by the payment priority provisions of the SPV Facility. The SPV Facility generally provides that payments on the respective interests could not be made on any payment date unless all amounts owing to the lenders and other secured parties are paid in full. In addition, if MSCC Funding does not meet the asset coverage tests or the interest coverage test set forth in the agreement governing the SPV Facility, a default could occur. In the event of a default under the SPV Facility credit agreement, cash would be diverted from us to pay the applicable lenders and other secured parties in amounts sufficient to cause such tests to be satisfied. In the event that we fail to receive cash from MSCC Funding, we could be unable to make distributions to our stockholders in amounts sufficient to maintain our status as a RIC, or at all. We also could be forced to sell investments in portfolio companies at less than their fair value in order to continue making such distributions. We cannot assure you that

Our equity interest in MSCC Funding ranks behind all of the secured and unsecured creditors, known or unknown, including the lenders in the SPV Facility. Consequently, to the extent that the value of MSCC Funding’s portfolio of loan investments has been reduced as a result of conditions in the credit markets, defaulted loans, capital gains and losses on the underlying assets, prepayment or changes in interest rates, the returns on our investments in MSCC Funding could be reduced. Accordingly, our investments in MSCC Funding could be subject to up to 100% loss.

The credit agreement governing the SPV Facility places significant restrictions on our ability, as servicer, to sell investments. As a result, there could be times or circumstances during which we are unable to sell investments or take other actions that might be in our best interests.

Our executive officers and employees, through the External Investment Manager, may manage other investment funds or assets for other clients that operate in the same or a related line of business as we do, and which funds may be invested in by us and/or our executive officers and employees. Accordingly, they may have obligations to, or pecuniary interests in, such other entities, and the fulfillment of such obligations may not be in the best interests of us or our stockholders and may create conflicts of interest.

The External Investment Manager earns management fees based on the assets of the funds or other clients under management and may earn incentive fees, or a carried interest, based on the performance of the funds or accounts managed. The terms of fund investment management agreements generally give the manager of the fund and the fund itself the right to terminate the management agreement in certain circumstances. With respect to funds that are not exempt from regulation under the 1940 Act, the fund’s investment management agreement must be approved annually by (a) such fund’s board of directors or by the vote of a majority of such fund’s stockholders and (b) the majority of the independent members of such fund’s board of directors and, in certain cases, by its stockholders, as required by law. The funds’ investment management agreements can also be terminated by the majority of such fund’s stockholders. Termination of any such management agreements would reduce the fees we earn from the relevant funds or other clients through the External Investment Manager, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We, the Funds, and our portfolio companies are subject to applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations. Failure to comply with any applicable local, state or federal law or regulation could negatively impact our reputation and our business results. New legislation may also be enacted or new interpretations, rulings or regulations could be adopted, including those governing the types of investments we are permitted to make, any of which could harm us and our stockholders, potentially with retroactive effect. Additionally, any changes to the laws and regulations governing our operations relating to permitted investments may cause us to alter our investment strategy in order to avail ourselves of new or different opportunities. Such changes could result in material differences to the strategies and plans set forth herein and may result in our investment focus shifting from the areas of expertise of our investment team to other types of investments in which our investment team may have less expertise or little or no experience. Thus, any such changes, if they occur, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of your investment.

If we do not remain a BDC, we might be regulated as a closed-end investment company under the 1940 Act, which would subject us to substantially more regulatory restrictions under the 1940 Act and correspondingly decrease our operating flexibility.

The 1940 Act and the Code impose numerous constraints on the operations of BDCs and RICs that do not apply to certain of the other investment vehicles that we may compete with. BDCs are required, for example, to invest at least 70% of their total assets in certain qualifying assets, including U.S. private or thinly traded public companies, cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and other high-quality debt instruments that mature in one year or less from the date of investment. Moreover, qualification for taxation as a RIC requires satisfaction of source-of-income, asset diversification and distribution requirements. Operating under these constraints may hinder our ability to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities and to achieve our investment objective. Any failure to do so could subject us to enforcement action by the SEC, cause us to fail to satisfy the requirements associated with RIC status and subject us to entity-level corporate income taxation, cause us to fail the 70% test described above or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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

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 the following:

The investments we make in accordance with our investment objective may result in a higher amount of risk than alternative investment options and a higher risk of volatility or loss of principal. Our investments in portfolio companies involve higher levels of risk, and therefore, an investment in our securities may not be suitable for someone with lower risk tolerance.

Fluctuations in the trading prices of our securities may adversely affect the liquidity of the trading market for our securities and, if we seek to raise capital through future securities offerings, our ability to raise such capital. The market price and liquidity of the market for our securities 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:

We intend to pay 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 pay a specified level of cash distributions, previously projected distributions for future periods, or year-to-year increases in cash distributions. Our ability to pay distributions might be adversely affected by, among other things, the impact of one or more of the risk factors described herein. In addition, the inability to satisfy the asset coverage test applicable to us as a BDC could 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, compliance with our debt covenants 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.

When we make distributions, we will be required to determine the extent to which such distributions are paid out of current or accumulated taxable 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, which may result in higher tax liability when the shares are sold, even if they have not increased in value or have lost value. In addition, any return of capital will be net of any sales load and offering expenses associated with sales of shares of our common stock. In the future, our distributions may include a return of capital.

The 1940 Act prohibits us from selling shares of our common stock at a price below the current NAV per share of such stock, with certain exceptions. One such exception is prior stockholder approval of issuances below NAV provided that our Board of Directors makes certain determinations. We did not seek stockholder authorization to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock at our 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and have not sought such authorization since 2012, because our common stock price per share had been trading significantly above the NAV per share of our common stock since 2011. We may, however, seek such authorization at future annual or special meetings of stockholders. Our stockholders have previously approved a proposal to authorize us to issue securities to subscribe to, convert to, or purchase shares of our common stock in one or more offerings. Any decision to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock or securities to subscribe to, convert to, or purchase shares of our common stock would be subject to the determination by our Board of Directors that such issuance is in our and our stockholders’ best interests.

If we were to sell shares of our common stock below NAV per share, such sales would result in an immediate dilution to the NAV per share. This dilution would occur as a result of the sale of shares at a price below the then current NAV per share of our common stock and a proportionately greater decrease in a stockholder’s interest in our earnings and assets and voting interest in us than the increase in our assets resulting from such issuance. In addition, if we issue securities to subscribe to, convert to or purchase shares of common stock, the exercise or conversion of such securities would increase the number of outstanding shares of our common stock. Any such exercise would be dilutive on the voting power of existing stockholders and could be dilutive with regard to dividends and our NAV, and other economic aspects of the common stock.

Because the number of shares of common stock that could be so issued and the timing of any issuance is not currently known, the actual dilutive effect cannot be predicted; however, the example below illustrates the effect of dilution to existing stockholders resulting from the sale of common stock at prices below the NAV of such shares.

The Maryland General Corporation Law and our articles of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may have the effect of discouraging, delaying or making difficult a change in control of our company or the removal of our incumbent directors. The existence of these provisions, among others, may have a negative impact on the price of our common stock and may discourage third-party bids for ownership of our company. These provisions may prevent any premiums being offered to you for our common stock.

The issuance of shares of preferred stock with dividend or conversion rights, liquidation preferences or other economic terms favorable to the holders of preferred stock could adversely affect the market price for our common stock by making an investment in the common stock less attractive. In addition, the dividends on any preferred stock we issue must be cumulative. Payment of dividends and repayment of the liquidation preference of preferred stock must take preference over any dividends or other payments to our common stockholders, and holders of preferred stock 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 (other than convertible preferred stock that converts into common stock). In addition, under the 1940 Act, preferred stock constitutes a “senior security” for purposes of the asset coverage test.

We, through the Funds, have outstanding SBIC debentures guaranteed by the SBA. The debentures guaranteed by the SBA have a maturity of ten years from the date of issuance and require semiannual payments of interest. We will need to generate sufficient cash flow to make required interest payments on the debentures. If we are unable to meet the financial obligations under the debentures, the SBA, as a creditor, will have a superior claim to the assets of the Funds over our securities holders in the event we liquidate or the SBA exercises its remedies under such debentures as the result of a default by us.

The Funds, our wholly-owned subsidiaries, are licensed to act as SBICs and are regulated by the SBA. The SBA also places certain limitations on the financing terms of investments by SBICs in portfolio companies and prohibits SBICs

Further, the SBIC regulations require, among other things, that a licensed SBIC be periodically examined by the SBA and audited by an independent auditor, in each case to determine the SBIC’s compliance with the relevant SBIC regulations. 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% or more of a class of capital stock of a licensed SBIC. If the Funds fail to comply with applicable SBIC regulations, the SBA could, depending on the severity of the violation, limit or prohibit their use of SBIC debentures, declare outstanding SBIC debentures immediately due and payable, and/or limit them from making new investments. In addition, the SBA can revoke or suspend a license for willful or repeated violation of, or willful or repeated failure to observe, any provision of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder. Such actions by the SBA would, in turn, negatively affect us.

In order for us to continue to qualify for RIC tax treatment and to minimize corporate-level U.S. federal taxes, we will be required to distribute substantially all of our net ordinary taxable income and net capital gain income, including taxable income from certain of our subsidiaries, which includes the income from the Funds. We will be partially dependent on the Funds for cash distributions to enable us to meet the RIC distribution requirements. The Funds may be limited by SBIC regulations from making certain distributions to us that may be necessary to enable us to maintain our status as a RIC. We may have to request a waiver of the SBA’s restrictions for the Funds to make certain distributions to maintain our eligibility for RIC status. We cannot assure you that the SBA will grant such waiver and if the Funds are unable to obtain a waiver, compliance with the SBIC regulations may result in loss of RIC tax treatment and a consequent imposition of an entity-level tax on us.

To maintain RIC tax treatment under the Code, we must meet the following annual distribution, income source and asset diversification requirements:

Failure to meet these requirements may result in our having to dispose of certain investments quickly in order to prevent the loss of RIC status. Because most of our investments are in privately held companies, and therefore illiquid, any such dispositions could be made at disadvantageous prices and could result in substantial losses. Moreover, if we fail to maintain RIC tax treatment for any reason and are subject to corporate income tax, the resulting corporate taxes could substantially reduce our net assets, the amount of income available for distribution and the amount of our distributions.

We will include in income certain amounts that we have not yet received in cash, such as: (i) amortization of original issue discount, which may arise if we receive warrants in connection with the origination of a loan such that ascribing a value to the warrants creates original issue discount in the debt instrument, if we invest in a debt investment at a discount to the par value of the debt security or possibly in other circumstances; (ii) contractual payment-in-kind, or PIK, interest, which represents contractual interest added to the loan balance and due at the end of the loan term; (iii) contractual preferred dividends, which represents contractual dividends added to the preferred stock and due at the end of the preferred stock term, subject to adequate profitability at the portfolio company; or (iv) amortization of market discount, which is associated with loans purchased in the secondary market at a discount to par value. Such amortization of original issue discounts, increases in loan balances as a result of contractual PIK arrangements, cumulative preferred dividends, or amortization of market discount will be included in income before we receive the corresponding cash payments. We also may be required to include in income certain other amounts before we receive such amounts in cash. Investments structured with these features may represent a higher level of credit risk compared to investments generating income which must be paid in cash on a current basis.

We may distribute taxable dividends that are payable in part in our stock. Under certain applicable provisions of the Code and the Treasury regulations, distributions payable by us in cash or in shares of stock (at the stockholders’ election) would satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement. Taxable stockholders receiving such dividends will be required to include the full amount of the dividend as ordinary income (or as long-term capital gain to the extent such dividend is 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 dividends in excess of any cash received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, 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 dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend 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 dividends, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our stock.

If stockholders participate in our dividend reinvestment plan, they will be deemed to have received, and for federal income tax purposes will be taxed on, the amount reinvested in our common stock to the extent the amount reinvested was not a tax-free return of capital. As a result, unless a stockholder is a tax-exempt entity, it may have to use

At any time, the federal income tax laws governing RICs or the administrative interpretations of those laws or regulations may be amended. Any new laws, regulations or interpretations may take effect retroactively and could adversely affect the taxation of us or our stockholders. Therefore, changes in tax laws, regulations or administrative interpretations or any amendments thereto could diminish the value of an investment in our shares or the value or the resale potential of our investments. If we do not comply with applicable laws and regulations, we could lose any licenses that we then hold for the conduct of our business and may be subject to civil fines and criminal penalties.

Periods of market volatility could occur in response to pandemics or other events outside of our control. We and the portfolio companies in which we invest in could be affected by force majeure events (i.e., events beyond the control of the party claiming that the event has occurred, such as acts of God, fire, flood, earthquakes, outbreaks of an infectious disease, pandemic or any other serious public health concern, war, terrorism, labor strikes, major plant breakdowns, pipeline or electricity line ruptures, failure of technology, defective design and construction, accidents, demographic changes, government macroeconomic policies, social instability, etc.). Some force majeure events could adversely affect the ability of a party (including us, a portfolio company or a counterparty to us) to perform its obligations until it is able to remedy the force majeure event. In addition, force majeure events, such as the cessation of the operation of equipment for repair or upgrade, could similarly lead to the unavailability of essential equipment and technologies. These risks could, among other effects, adversely impact the cash flows available from a portfolio company, cause personal injury or loss of life, including to an officer, director or a member of our investment team, damage property, or instigate disruptions of service. In addition, the cost to a portfolio company or us of repairing or replacing damaged assets resulting from such force majeure event could be considerable.

It will not be possible to insure against all such events, and insurance proceeds received, if any, could be inadequate to completely or even partially cover any loss of revenues or investments, any increases in operating and maintenance expenses, or any replacements or rehabilitation of property. Certain events causing catastrophic loss could be either uninsurable, or insurable at such high rates as to adversely impact us or portfolio companies, as applicable. Force majeure events that are incapable of or are too costly to cure could have permanent adverse effects. Certain force majeure events (such as war or an outbreak of an infectious disease) could have a broader negative impact on the world economy and international business activity generally, or in any of the countries in which we invest or our portfolio companies operate specifically. Such force majeure events could result in or coincide with: increased volatility in the global securities, derivatives and currency markets; a decrease in the reliability of market prices and difficulty in valuing assets; greater fluctuations in currency exchange rates; increased risk of default (by both government and private issuers); further social, economic, and political instability; nationalization of private enterprise; greater governmental involvement in the economy or in social factors that impact the economy; less governmental regulation and supervision of the securities markets and market participants and decreased monitoring of the markets by governments or self-regulatory organizations and reduced enforcement of regulations; limited, or limitations on, the activities of investors in such markets; controls or restrictions on foreign investment, capital controls and limitations on repatriation of invested capital; inability to purchase and sell investments or otherwise settle security or derivative transactions (i.e., a market freeze); unavailability of currency hedging techniques; substantial, and in some periods extremely high, rates of inflation, which can last many years and have substantial negative effects on credit and securities markets as well as the economy as a whole; recessions; and difficulties in obtaining and/or enforcing legal judgments.

The success of our activities is affected by general economic and market conditions, including, among others, interest rates, availability of credit, inflation rates, economic uncertainty, changes in laws, and trade barriers. These factors

These disruptions in the capital markets have increased the spread between the yields realized on risk-free and higher risk securities, resulting in illiquidity in parts of the capital markets. Such disruptions could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and future market disruptions and/or illiquidity could negatively impact us. These unfavorable economic conditions could increase our funding costs and limit our access to the capital markets, and could result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to us in the future. These events could limit our investments, our ability to grow and could negatively impact our operating results and the fair values of our debt and equity investments.

The central banks and, in particular, the U.S. Federal Reserve, have taken unprecedented steps since the financial crises of 2008-2009 and the COVID-19 global pandemic and in response to inflationary pressures. It is impossible to predict if, how, and to what extent the United States and other governments would further intervene in the credit markets. Such intervention is often prompted by politically sensitive issues involving family homes, student loans, real estate speculation, credit card receivables, pandemics, etc., and could, as a result, be contrary to what we would predict from an “economically rational” perspective.

On the other hand, recent governmental intervention could mean that the willingness of governmental bodies to take additional extraordinary action is diminished. As a result, in the event of near-term major market disruptions, like those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there might be only limited additional government intervention, resulting in correspondingly greater market dislocation and materially greater market risk.

We could experience fluctuations in our 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 level of portfolio dividend and fee income, 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, operating results for any period should not be relied upon as being indicative of performance in future periods.

Technological innovations have disrupted traditional approaches in multiple industries and can permit younger companies to achieve success and in the process disrupt markets and market practices. We can provide no assurance that new businesses and approaches will not be created that would compete with us and/or our portfolio companies or alter the market practices in which we have been designed to function within and on which we depend on for our investment return. New approaches could damage our investments, disrupt the market in which we operate and subject us to increased competition, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of investments.

Our business is highly dependent on our and third parties’ communications and information systems. Any failure or interruption of those systems, including as a result of the termination of an agreement with any third-party service providers, could cause delays or other problems in our activities. Our financial, accounting, data processing, backup or other operating systems and facilities may fail to operate properly or become disabled or damaged as a result of a number of factors including events that are wholly or partially beyond our control and adversely affect our business. There could be:

The occurrence of a disaster such as a cyber-attack, a natural catastrophe, an industrial accident, a terrorist attack or war, events unanticipated in our disaster recovery systems, or a support failure from external providers, could have an adverse effect on our ability to conduct business and on our results of operations and financial condition, particularly if those events affect our computer-based data processing, transmission, storage, and retrieval systems or destroy data. If a significant number of our managers were unavailable in the event of a disaster, our ability to effectively conduct our business could be severely compromised.

We depend heavily upon computer systems to perform necessary business functions. Despite our implementation of a variety of security measures, our computer systems could be subject to cyber-attacks and unauthorized access, such as physical and electronic break-ins or unauthorized tampering. Like other companies, we may experience threats to our data and systems, including malware and computer virus attacks, unauthorized access, system failures and disruptions. If one or more of these events occurs, it could potentially jeopardize the confidential, proprietary and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, our computer systems and networks, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations, which could result in damage to our reputation, financial losses, litigation, increased costs, regulatory penalties and/or customer dissatisfaction or loss.

Third parties with which we do business (including, but not limited to, service providers, such as accountants, custodians, transfer agents and administrators, and the issuers of securities in which we invest) may also be sources or targets of cyber security or other technological risks. While we engage in actions to reduce our exposure resulting from outsourcing, we cannot control the cyber security plans and systems put in place by these third parties and ongoing threats may result in unauthorized access, loss, exposure or destruction of data, or other cybersecurity incidents, with increased costs and other consequences, including those described above. Privacy and information security laws and regulation changes, and compliance with those changes, may also result in cost increases due to system changes and the development of new administrative processes.

None.

We do not own any real estate or other physical properties materially important to our operations. Currently, we lease office space in Houston, Texas for our corporate headquarters.

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 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.

Not applicable.

Our common stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol “MAIN.”

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the range of high and low closing prices of our common stock as reported on the NYSE, and the sales price as a percentage of the NAV per share of our common stock.

On February 23, 2023, the last sale price of our common stock on the NYSE was $40.19 per share, and there were 381 holders of record of the common stock which did not include stockholders for whom shares are held in “nominee” or “street name.” The NAV per share of our common stock on December 31, 2022 was $26.86, and the premium of the February 23, 2023 closing price of our common stock was 50% to this NAV per share.

Shares of BDCs may trade at a market price that is less than the value of the net assets attributable to those shares. The possibility that our shares of common stock will trade at a discount from NAV per share or at premiums that are unsustainable over the long term are separate and distinct from the risk that our NAV per share will decrease. It is not possible to predict whether our common stock will trade at, above, or below NAV per share. Since our IPO in October 2007, our shares of common stock have traded at prices both less than and exceeding our NAV per share.

We currently intend to distribute dividends or make distributions to our stockholders out of assets legally available for distribution. Our dividends and other distributions, if any, will be determined by our Board of Directors from time to time. Our ability to declare dividends depends on our earnings, our overall financial condition (including our liquidity position), 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 are 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 (a distribution of the stockholders’ invested capital), investors will be required to reduce their basis in our stock for federal tax purposes. In the future, our distributions may include a return of capital.

We have adopted a dividend reinvestment and direct stock purchase plan (the “Plan”). The dividend reinvestment feature of the Plan (the “DRIP”) provides for the reinvestment of dividends on behalf of our stockholders, unless a stockholder has elected to receive dividends in cash. As a result, if we declare a cash dividend, our stockholders who have not “opted out” of the DRIP by the dividend record date will have their cash dividend automatically reinvested into additional shares of MSCC common stock. The share requirements of the DRIP may be satisfied through the issuance of new shares of common stock or through open market purchases of common stock by the DRIP plan administrator. Newly issued shares will be valued based upon the final closing price of MSCC’s common stock on a valuation date determined for each dividend by our Board of Directors. Shares purchased in the open market to satisfy the DRIP requirements will be valued based upon the average price of the applicable shares purchased by the DRIP plan administrator, before any associated brokerage or other costs. Our DRIP is administered by our transfer agent on behalf of our record holders and participating brokerage firms. Brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries may decide not to participate in our DRIP but may provide a similar dividend reinvestment plan for their clients.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we issued a total of 625,196 shares of our common stock under the DRIP. These issuances were not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The aggregate value of the shares of our common stock issued under the DRIP during 2022 was $24.1 million.

Upon vesting of restricted stock awarded pursuant to our employee equity compensation plan, shares may be withheld to meet applicable tax withholding requirements. Any withheld shares are treated as common stock purchases by the Company in our consolidated financial statements as they reduce the number of shares received by employees upon vesting (see “Purchase of vested stock for employee payroll tax withholding” in the consolidated statements of changes in net assets for share amounts withheld).

The following graph compares the stockholder return on our common stock from October 5, 2007 to December 31, 2022 with the S&P 500 Index, the Russell 2000 Index, the KBW Regional Bank Index and the S&P BDC Index. This comparison assumes $100.00 was invested on October 5, 2007 (the date our common stock began to trade in connection with our initial public offering) in our common stock and in the comparison groups and assumes the reinvestment of all cash dividends prior to any tax effect. The comparisons in the graph below are based on historical data and are not intended to forecast the possible future performance of our common stock.

The following tables provide a summary of our investments in the LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolios as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 (this information excludes Other Portfolio investments, short-term portfolio investments and the External Investment Manager which are discussed further below):

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we achieved a total return on investments of 11.1% and 16.6%, respectively. Total return on investments is calculated using the interest, dividend, and fee income, as well as the realized and unrealized change in fair value of the Investment Portfolio for the specified period. Our total return on investments is not reflective of what an investor in shares of our common stock will realize on its investment because it does not reflect changes in the market value of our stock, our utilization of debt capital in our capital structure, our expenses or any sales load paid by an investor.

As of December 31, 2022, we had Other Portfolio investments in 14 companies, collectively totaling $116.3 million in fair value and $120.4 million in cost basis and which comprised 2.8% and 3.2% of our Investment Portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, we had Other Portfolio investments in 13 companies, collectively totaling $166.1 million in fair value and $173.7 million in cost basis and which comprised 4.7% and 5.3% of our Investment Portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively.

As previously discussed, the External Investment Manager is a wholly-owned subsidiary that is treated as a portfolio investment. As of December 31, 2022, this investment had a fair value of $122.9 million and a cost basis of $29.5 million, which comprised 3.0% and 0.8% of our Investment Portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, this investment had a fair value of $140.4 million and a cost basis of $29.5 million, which comprised 3.9% and 0.9% of our Investment Portfolio at fair value and cost, respectively.

Due to the inherent uncertainty in the valuation process, our determination of fair value for our Investment Portfolio may differ materially from the values that would have been determined had a ready market for the securities existed. In addition, changes in the market environment, portfolio company performance and other events that may occur over the lives of the investments may cause the gains or losses ultimately realized on these investments to be materially different than the valuations currently assigned. We determine the fair value of each individual investment and record changes in fair value as unrealized appreciation or depreciation.

In December 2020, the SEC adopted Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act, which permits a BDC’s board of directors to designate its executive officers or investment adviser as a valuation designee to determine the fair value for its investment portfolio, subject to the active oversight of the board. Our Board of Directors has approved policies and procedures pursuant to Rule 2a-5 (the “Valuation Procedures”) and has designated a group of our executive officers to serve as the Board of Directors’ valuation designee. We believe our Investment Portfolio as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 approximates fair value as of those dates based on the markets in which we operate and other conditions in existence on those reporting dates.

Interest and Dividend Income

We record interest and dividend income on the accrual basis to the extent amounts are expected to be collected. Dividend income is recorded as dividends are declared by the portfolio company or at the point an obligation exists for the portfolio company to make a distribution. In accordance with our valuation policies, we evaluate accrued interest and dividend income periodically for collectability. When a loan or debt security becomes 90 days or more past due, and if we otherwise do not expect the debtor to be able to service its debt obligation, we will generally place the loan or debt security on non-accrual status and cease recognizing interest income on that loan or debt security until the borrower has demonstrated the ability and intent to pay contractual amounts due. If a loan or debt security’s status significantly improves regarding the debtor’s ability to service the debt obligation, or if a loan or debt security is sold or written off, we remove it from non-accrual status.

Fee Income

We may periodically provide services, including structuring and advisory services to our portfolio companies or other third parties. For services that are separately identifiable and evidence exists to substantiate fair value, fee income is

Payment-in-Kind (“PIK”) Interest and Cumulative Dividends

The following tables summarize the composition of our total combined LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments at cost and fair value by type of investment as a percentage of the total combined LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 (this information excludes Other Portfolio investments, short-term portfolio investments and the External Investment Manager).

We utilize an internally developed investment rating system to rate the performance of each LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio company and to monitor our expected level of returns on each of our LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market investments in relation to our expectations for the portfolio company. The investment rating system takes into consideration various factors, including each investment’s expected level of returns, the collectability of our debt investments and the ability to receive a return of the invested capital in our equity investments, comparisons to competitors and other industry participants, the portfolio company’s future outlook and other factors that are deemed to be significant to the portfolio company.

As of December 31, 2022, our total Investment Portfolio had 12 investments on non-accrual status, which comprised 0.6% of its fair value and 3.7% of its cost. As of December 31, 2021, our total Investment Portfolio had nine investments on non-accrual status, which comprised 0.7% of its fair value and 3.3% of its cost.

The operating results of our portfolio companies are impacted by changes in the broader fundamentals of the United States economy. In periods during which the United States economy contracts, it is likely that the financial results of small to mid-sized companies, like those in which we invest, could experience deterioration or limited growth from current levels, which could ultimately lead to difficulty in meeting their debt service requirements, to an increase in defaults on our debt investments or in realized losses on our investments and to difficulty in maintaining historical dividend payment rates and unrealized appreciation on our equity investments. Consequently, we can provide no assurance that the performance of certain portfolio companies will not be negatively impacted by future economic cycles or other conditions, which could also have a negative impact on our future results.

Total investment income for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $376.9 million, a 30% increase from the $289.0 million of total investment income for the prior year. The following table provides a summary of the changes in the comparable period activity.

Total expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 were $131.5 million, a 24% increase from $106.4 million in the prior year. The following table provides a summary of the changes in the comparable period activity.

Net investment income for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased 34% to $245.3 million, or $3.29 per share, compared to net investment income of $182.7 million, or $2.65 per share, in 2021. The increase in net investment income was principally attributable to the increase in total investment income, partially offset by higher operating expenses, both as discussed above. The increase in net investment income per share reflects these changes and the impact of the increase in weighted average shares outstanding for the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily due to (i) shares issued through our public offering in August 2022 and our at-the-market equity program (the “ATM Program”), (ii) shares issued through our equity incentive plans and (iii) shares issued through our dividend reinvestment plan. The increase in net investment income on a per share basis includes (i) a $0.18 per share decrease in investment income considered less consistent or non-recurring, partially offset by a decrease in deferred compensation expense of $0.04 per share resulting from the comparable period difference in the fair value of deferred compensation plan assets and corresponding liabilities, both of which are discussed above.

Distributable net investment income for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased 32% to $257.5 million, or $3.46 per share, compared with $194.7 million, or $2.82 per share, in 2021. The increase in distributable net investment income was primarily due to the increased level of total investment income, partially offset by higher operating expenses, excluding the impact of share-based compensation expense and deferred compensation expense (benefit), both as discussed above. The increase in distributable net investment income per share reflects the net impact of the increase in weighted average shares outstanding for the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily due to (i) shares issued through our public offering in August 2022 and our ATM Program, (ii) shares issued through our equity incentive plans and (iii) shares issued through our dividend reinvestment plan. The increase in distributable net investment income on a per share basis includes a $0.18 per share decrease in investment income considered less consistent or non-recurring, as discussed above.

The following table provides a summary of the primary components of the total net realized loss on investments of $5.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022:

The following table provides a summary of the primary components of the total net realized gain on investments of $45.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021:

The following table provides a summary of the total net unrealized appreciation of $24.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022:

The following table provides a summary of the total net unrealized appreciation of $135.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021:

The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2022 of $23.3 million principally consisted of (i) a deferred tax provision of $18.1 million, which is primarily the result of the net activity relating to our portfolio investments held in our Taxable Subsidiaries, including changes in loss carryforwards, changes in net unrealized appreciation/depreciation and other temporary book-tax differences, and (ii) a current tax provision of $5.2 million related to a $2.8 million provision for excise tax on our estimated undistributed taxable income and a $2.4 million provision for current U.S. federal and state income taxes.

The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2021 of $32.9 million principally consisted of (i) a deferred tax provision of $27.1 million and (ii) a current tax provision of $5.7 million primarily related to a $3.1 million provision for current U.S. federal and state income taxes and a $2.6 million provision for excise tax on our estimated undistributed taxable income.

The net increase in net assets resulting from operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $241.6 million, or $3.24 per share, compared with $330.8 million, or $4.80 per share, during the year ended December 31, 2021. The tables above provide a summary of the reasons for the change in net assets resulting from operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we realized a net increase in cash and cash equivalents of $16.5 million, which is the result of $246.9 million of cash used in our operating activities and $263.4 million of cash provided by our financing activities.

The $246.9 million of cash used in our operating activities resulted primarily from (i) cash uses totaling $1,152.6 million for the funding of new and follow-on portfolio company investments and settlement of accruals for portfolio investments existing as of December 31, 2021 and (ii) cash payments of $14.2 million related to changes in other assets and liabilities, partially offset by (i) cash proceeds totaling $680.0 million from the sales and repayments of debt investments and sales of and return on capital from equity investments and (ii) cash flows that we generated from the operating profits earned totaling $239.9 million, which is our distributable net investment income, excluding the non-cash effects of the accretion of unearned income, payment-in-kind interest income, cumulative dividends and the amortization expense for deferred financing costs.

The $263.4 million of cash provided by our financing activities principally consisted of (i) $287.0 million in net proceeds from our multi-year corporate-level revolving credit facility (the “Corporate Facility”) and the SPV Facility (together, the “Credit Facilities”), (ii) $265.6 million in net cash proceeds from equity offerings from our ATM Program and Equity Offering (both as described below) and direct stock purchase plan and (iii) $100.0 million in proceeds from the initial issuance of the December 2025 Notes (as defined below), partially offset by (i) $194.2 million in cash dividends paid to stockholders, (ii) $185.0 million for the redemption of the December 2022 Notes (as defined below), (iii) $5.1 million for payments of deferred debt issuance costs, SBIC debenture fees and other costs, net of debt issuance premiums, and (iv) $4.9 million for purchases of vested restricted stock from employees to satisfy their tax withholding requirements upon the vesting of such restricted stock.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, we experienced a net increase in cash and cash equivalents in the amount of $0.7 million, which is the net result of $515.4 million of cash used in our operating activities and $516.1 million of cash provided by our financing activities.

The $515.4 million of cash used in our operating activities resulted primarily from cash uses totaling $1,763.8 million for the funding of new and follow-on portfolio company investments and settlement of accruals for portfolio investments existing as of December 31, 2020, partially offset by (i) cash proceeds totaling $1,054.5 million from the sales and repayments of debt investments and sales of and return on capital from equity investments, (ii) cash flows generated from the operating profits earned totaling $171.7 million, which is our distributable net investment income, excluding the non-cash effects of the accretion of unearned income, payment-in-kind interest income, cumulative dividends and the amortization expense for deferred financing costs, and (iii) cash proceeds of $22.2 million related to changes in other assets and liabilities.

The $516.1 million of cash provided by our financing activities principally consisted of (i) $500.0 million in proceeds from the initial and follow-on issuance of the July 2026 Notes (as defined below), (ii) $98.9 million in net cash proceeds from our ATM Program (described below) and direct stock purchase plan, (iii) $80.2 million in cash proceeds from the issuance of SBIC debentures and (iv) $51.0 million in net proceeds from the Corporate Facility, partially offset by (i) $160.5 million in cash dividends paid to stockholders, (ii) $40.0 million in repayment of SBIC debentures, (iii) $8.2 million for debt issuance premiums, net of payments of deferred debt issuance costs, SBIC debenture fees and other costs, and (iv) $5.3 million for purchases of vested restricted stock from employees to satisfy their tax withholding requirements upon the vesting of such restricted stock.

As of December 31, 2022, we had $49.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and $568.0 million of unused capacity under the Credit Facilities which we maintain to support our investment and operating activities. As of December 31, 2022, our NAV totaled $2,108.6 million, or $26.86 per share.

Through the Funds, we have the ability to issue SBIC debentures guaranteed by the SBA at favorable interest rates and favorable terms and conditions. Under existing SBIC regulations, SBA-approved SBICs under common control have the ability to issue debentures guaranteed by the SBA up to a regulatory maximum amount of $350.0 million. Under existing SBA-approved commitments, we had $350.0 million of outstanding SBIC debentures guaranteed by the SBA as of December 31, 2022 through our wholly-owned SBICs, which bear a weighted-average annual fixed interest rate of 2.9%, paid semiannually, and mature ten years from issuance. The first maturity related to our SBIC debentures occurs in March 2023, and the weighted-average remaining duration is 5.1 years as of December 31, 2022. Debentures guaranteed by the SBA have fixed interest rates that equal prevailing 10-year Treasury Note rates plus a market spread and have a maturity of ten years with interest payable semiannually. The principal amount of the debentures is not required to be paid before maturity, but may be pre-paid at any time with no prepayment penalty. We expect to maintain SBIC debentures under the SBIC program in the future, subject to periodic repayments and borrowings, in an amount up to the regulatory maximum amount for affiliated SBIC funds.

We maintain a program with certain selling agents through which we can sell shares of our common stock by means of at-the-market offerings from time to time (the “ATM Program”).

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we sold 5,407,382 shares of our common stock at a weighted-average price of $39.29 per share and raised $212.4 million of gross proceeds under the ATM Program. Net proceeds were $209.9 million after commissions to the selling agents on shares sold and offering costs. As of December 31, 2022, sales transactions representing 43,217 shares had not settled and are not included in shares issued and outstanding on the face of the Consolidated Balance Sheets but are included in the weighted average shares outstanding in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and in the shares used to calculate the NAV per share. In March 2022, we entered into new distribution agreements to sell up to 15,000,000 shares through the ATM Program. As of December 31, 2022, 10,462,684 shares remained available for sale under the ATM Program.

In August 2022, we completed a public equity offering (the “Equity Offering”) of 1,345,500 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $42.85 per share, including the underwriters’ full exercise of their option to purchase 175,500 additional shares, resulting in total net proceeds, including exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us, of approximately $55.1 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we sold 2,332,795 shares of our common stock at a weighted-average price of $42.71 per share and raised $99.6 million of gross proceeds under the ATM Program. Net proceeds were $98.4 million after commissions to the selling agents on shares sold and offering costs. As of December 31, 2021, sales transactions representing 36,136 shares had not settled and are not included in shares issued and outstanding on the face of the Consolidated Balance Sheets but are included in the weighted average shares outstanding in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and in the shares used to calculate the NAV per share.

We anticipate that we will continue to fund our investment activities through existing cash and cash equivalents, cash flows generated through our ongoing operating activities, utilization of available borrowings under our Credit Facilities, and a combination of future issuances of debt and equity capital. Our primary uses of funds will be investments in portfolio companies, operating expenses, cash distributions to holders of our common stock and repayments of note and debenture obligations as they come due.

We periodically invest excess cash balances into marketable securities and idle funds investments. The primary investment objective of marketable securities and idle funds investments is to generate incremental cash returns on excess cash balances prior to utilizing those funds for investment in our LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments. Marketable securities and idle funds investments generally consist of debt investments, independently rated debt investments, certificates of deposit with financial institutions, diversified bond funds and publicly traded debt and equity investments. We may also invest in short-term portfolio investments that are atypical of our LMM, Private Loan and Middle Market portfolio investments in that they are intended to be a short-term deployment of capital and are more liquid than investments within the other portfolios. Short-term portfolio investments consist primarily of investments in secured debt investments and independently rated debt investments.

If our common stock trades below our NAV per share, we will generally not be able to issue additional common stock at the market price, unless our stockholders approve such a sale and our Board of Directors makes certain determinations. We did not seek stockholder authorization to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock at our 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, and have not sought such authorization since 2012, because our common stock price per share has generally traded significantly above the NAV per share of our common stock since 2011. We would therefore need future approval from our stockholders to issue shares below the then current NAV per share.

In order to satisfy the Code requirements applicable to a RIC, we intend to distribute to our stockholders, after consideration and application of our ability under the Code to carry forward certain excess undistributed taxable income from one tax year into the next tax year, substantially all of our taxable income.

In addition, as a BDC, we generally are required to meet a coverage ratio, or BDC asset 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% (or 150% if certain requirements are met). In January 2008, we received an exemptive order from the SEC to exclude SBA-guaranteed debt securities issued by the Funds and any other wholly-owned subsidiaries of ours which operate as SBICs from the BDC asset coverage ratio which, in turn, enables us to fund more investments with debt capital. In May 2022, our stockholders also approved the application of the reduced BDC asset coverage ratio. As a result, the BDC asset coverage ratio applicable to us decreased from 200% to 150% effective May 3, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, our BDC asset coverage ratio was 227%.

Although we have been able to secure access to additional liquidity, including through the Credit Facilities, public and private debt issuances, leverage available through the SBIC program and equity offerings, there is no assurance that debt or equity capital will be available to us in the future on favorable terms, or at all.

Inflation has not historically had a significant effect on our results of operations in any of the reporting periods presented herein. However, our portfolio companies have experienced, specifically including over the last few years, as a result of recent geopolitical events, supply chain and labor issues, and may continue to experience, the increasing impacts of inflation on their operating results, including periodic escalations in their costs for labor, raw materials and third-party services and required energy consumption. These issues and challenges related to inflation are receiving significant attention from our investment teams and the management teams of our portfolio companies as we work to manage these growing challenges. Prolonged or more severe impacts of inflation to our portfolio companies could continue to impact

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. These instruments include commitments to extend credit and fund equity capital and involve, to varying degrees, elements of liquidity and credit risk in excess of the amount recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. At December 31, 2022, we had a total of $274.4 million in outstanding commitments comprised of (i) 83 investments with commitments to fund revolving loans that had not been fully drawn or term loans with additional commitments not yet funded and (ii) ten investments with equity capital commitments that had not been fully called.

As of December 31, 2022, the future fixed commitments for cash payments in connection with our SBIC debentures, the May 2024 Notes, the July 2026 Notes, the December 2025 Notes, and rent obligations under our office lease for each of the next five years and thereafter are as follows (dollars in thousands):

As of December 31, 2022, we had $407.0 million in borrowings outstanding under our Corporate Facility, and the Corporate Facility is scheduled to mature in August 2027. As of December 31, 2022, we had $200.0 million in borrowings outstanding under our SPV Facility, and the SPV Facility is scheduled to mature in November 2027.

In January 2023, we expanded our total commitments under the Corporate Facility from $920.0 million to $980.0 million. The recent increase in total commitments was executed under the accordion feature of the Corporate Facility which allows for an increase up to $1.4 billion in total commitments under the facility from new and existing lenders on the same terms and conditions as the existing commitments.

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Main Street Capital Corporation (a Maryland corporation) and subsidiaries (the “Company”), including the consolidated schedule of investments, as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes and financial statement schedule included under Item 15(2) (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”), and our report dated February 24, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion.

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing a separate opinions on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

As described further in Note C to the financial statements, the Company’s investments at fair value were $4,102,177 thousand at December 31, 2022, of which $4,100,273 thousand were categorized as Level 3 investments within the fair value hierarchy. Management’s valuation techniques of these investments, for which there are no readily available market values, are measured using significant unobservable inputs and assumptions, and generally use valuation techniques such as the income and market approach. The significant unobservable inputs disclosed by management include, among others, weighted-average cost of capital (“WACC”) inputs and market multiples for equity investments, and risk adjusted discount rates, percentage of expected principal recovery and third-party quotes for debt investments. Changes in these assumptions could have a significant impact on the determination of fair value. As such, we identified fair value of Level 3 investments measured using significant unobservable inputs and assumptions as a critical audit matter.

The principal considerations for our determination that fair value of Level 3 investments measured using significant unobservable inputs is a critical audit matter are the significant management judgements used in developing complex valuation techniques and inherent estimation uncertainty. Auditing these investments requires a high degree of subjective auditor judgement, including use of valuation professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, to evaluate the reasonableness of unobservable inputs and assumptions.

Our audit procedures related to the critical audit matter included the following, among others:

In testing the above, we considered available third-party market information and published studies, current economic conditions and subsequent events, and other information that could be corroborated to source information.

We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Main Street Capital Corporation (a Maryland corporation) and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in the 2013 Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by COSO.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the consolidated financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022, and our report dated February 24, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.