Blank Rome’s Fund Finance practice covers the full array of financing options for investment funds, including secured and unsecured subscription lines of credit, net asset value (“NAV”) loans, and “hybrid” facilities consisting of a combination of subscription lines of credit and NAV loans.

Our attorneys represent both borrowers and lenders in bilateral and syndicated credit facilities for debt and equity funds, including Small Business Investment Company (“SBIC”) funds—both levered and unlevered. We also counsel commercial banks in making investments in SBIC funds. Our Fund Finance practice is a multidisciplinary team of finance, fund formation, licensing, regulatory, and SBIC attorneys.

Our Fund Finance team provides an unparalleled broad range of services to investments funds, their lenders, and investors. By working with our ERISA, tax, fund formation, licensing, regulatory, and SBIC attorneys, and our extensive network of foreign counsel, we bring a holistic, integrated approach to fund finance for domestic and multijurisdictional transactions.

How We Can Help

Subscription Lines of Credit

We represent numerous commercial banks and investment funds in providing or obtaining revolving credit facilities secured by a fund’s right to call capital from its investors. These short-term loans conveniently bridge the timing gap between when a fund needs to make an investment or deploy funds for other purposes and when the fund receives capital following a capital call upon its investors. Through our own attorneys and our wide network of foreign counsel, we handle facilities for both domestic and offshore master funds, parallel funds, alternative investment vehicles (“AIVs”), and feeder funds. Our services also include work on management company lines of credit, loans to general partners, loans to investment advisers, and employee co-investment loan programs.

NAV Loans

For later-stage funds with material portfolio assets, our attorneys represent clients in providing or obtaining loans made upon the basis of the net equity value of a fund’s holdings of subsidiary portfolio companies. Our lender clients appreciate NAV facilities as a differentiated, senior-secured product with the protection of portfolio diversification and higher pricing than subscription lines. Funds recognize NAV facilities as a means of obtaining longer-term financing that allows them the time to hold and grow the value of portfolio assets, rather than being forced to sell those assets in unfavorable market conditions to satisfy short-term debt obligations.

“Hybrid” Facilities     

Our work on “hybrid” facilities allows our credit provider clients the ability to provide “one-stop” credit products to investment funds and to maintain a lending relationship with a fund throughout the entire life cycle of the fund. These facilities involve a greater use of subscription lines early in a fund’s life, when the fund has more uncalled capital commitments than portfolio assets, and a greater use of NAV loan features in the fund’s later stages, when the fund has fewer uncalled capital commitments and more portfolio assets.

Investments in SBIC Funds   

We represent commercial banks and their holding companies in investing in SBIC funds. Our clients appreciate these investments for which they can receive consideration for Community Reinvestment Act credits and exemptions from certain capital charge regulations and lending affiliation rules under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.         

What Sets Us Apart