By Matt Tracy
May 7 (Reuters) – Asset managers Blackstone and BlackRock cut the value of their private credit funds in the first quarter, they said on Thursday, citing markdowns on troubled loans to companies in software and other sectors.
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s net asset value per share dropped 2.4% to $26.26 in the first quarter at fair value, according to its earnings disclosure.
Another private credit fund, BlackRock TCP Capital Corp, said its NAV declined 5% in the quarter to $6.72 per share.
Investors have taken a closer look at the portfolios of private credit funds known as business development companies, as advances in artificial intelligence threaten the business models of companies in the software sector.
About 20% of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s portfolio was in software companies at fair value at the end of March, while 27.2% of BlackRock TCP’s portfolio was in that sector, according to their quarterly reports.
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund’s non-accrual rate, or the percentage of loans in the portfolio that are well behind on interest payments, was just over 3% last quarter, it said.
Executives for Blackstone’s fund addressed the non-accrual rate on an earnings call on Thursday. The fund said its largest loan on non-accrual, to software firm Medallia, was making progress in restructuring and that Blackstone planned to invest new capital in the business with partners to delever its balance sheet and invest in new AI features.
Almost half of the fund’s loan markdowns in the quarter were tied to two names that became non-accruing, the fund’s executives said on the call. The remaining markdowns were spread across its portfolio and tied in part to concerns around AI’s disruption of software businesses.
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund also declared a dividend of 77 cents, in line with past quarters, it said.
There were $450 million in repayments within its portfolio in the first quarter, while new investments totaled almost $325 million, it added.
COMPANY REPURCHASE PLAN
The non-accrual rate for BlackRock TCP ticked lower to 2.8% last quarter due to two loan restructurings and one asset sale, it said. The firm also disclosed that it recorded $32.7 million in net realized losses and $2 million in net unrealized losses, which it attributed to losses on loans to troubled software firm Pluralsight and other companies.
BlackRock TCP has bought back more than 156,000 shares at a total cost of $600,000 since April 1, as part of its previously approved company repurchase plan, it said. The fund declared a dividend of 17 cents for the coming quarter.
Blackstone and BlackRock’s earnings followed results late on Wednesday from two private credit funds managed by Blue Owl Capital – Blue Owl Capital Corp and Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp – that also cut their NAV per share. In February, Blue Owl sold $1.4 billion in assets to shore up liquidity after elevated investor withdrawal requests at another of its funds.
(Reporting by Matt TracyEditing by Bill Berkrot and Paul Simao)
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