Private Credit
Liquidity Services
Creating Markets for Non-Traditional Products
Imperial Capital has a 25-year track record of successfully helping institutional lenders (traditional, direct, club) find liquidity in the most illiquid positions within their portfolios. These situations run the gamut from hyper-performing ROI realization to distressed securities aimed at a targeted audience. In speaking with lenders, we have been presented with a continuously growing list of motivations to sell these “non-traded” positions – with nearly all boiling down to portfolio repositioning and expanding risk management options by way of secondary trading.
What are Direct Lending Secondaries?
With the evolution of the private/direct lending markets, portfolios have grown significantly in both size and diversity of product. While traditional exit strategies for private loans have been focused on refinancing, M&A exits, and maturity, ever-changing market dynamics have made these avenues less reliable. Imperial Capital for years has helped clients develop and execute alternative strategies for these opportunities. Trading direct loans and other private securities across the capital structure creates flexibility for lenders and the opportunity for interested buyers to grow their portfolio of private credit outside of the competitive primary issuance market.
Why Sell?
There are a range of motivations for sellers looking to exit these illiquid investments outside of borrower underperformance:
1. Generating a significant ROI on performing investments
2. Last remaining investment in end-of-life fund
3. Reduce exposure (beneficial to bring in a co-investor)
4. Stagnant M&A environments
5. Portfolio rebalance / rightsizing private credit positioning
6. Older loans no longer fit current fund mandates
7. Event driven
Why Us?
i. Active relationships with 3,000+ asset managers offering access to a significant and unique set of relationships across the investment landscape
ii. Dedicated team of analysts with deep expertise in illiquid securities, loans, special situations, and complex capital structures
iii. Experienced closing professionals facilitate the preparation and negotiation of transaction documents and assist clients through the settlement process, closing complex transactions seamlessly
Case Study: BOX Inc.
– $500mm privately placed convertible preferred club deal issued May 2021
– BOX Inc. was hyper performing and one of the lenders ($100mm+) wanted to take a profit and print a significant ROI
– These converts had never traded and required a targeted and sensitive approach in order to place the securities to buyers acceptable to the company
– Imperial Capital was able to build a book of buyers at a significant premium for a security that had never been traded previously