PennantPark Investment Corporation Announces Transaction With Pantheon

Joint Venture to Target Middle Market Financing Opportunities

Pantheon Acquires a stake in a Special Purpose Vehicle from PennantPark

Pantheon to Contribute Additional Capital

Transaction Boosts Buying Power and Scales Platform

NEW YORK, Aug. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PennantPark Investment Corporation (“PNNT”) (NASDAQ: PNNT) today announced it has formed a joint venture with the private credit investment business of Pantheon (“Pantheon”) to create PennantPark Senior Loan Fund I, LLC (“PSLF”). The strategic transaction seeks to position PennantPark to leverage its established middle-market lending capabilities and capitalize on compelling senior-loan opportunities amid historic market volatility.

Pantheon has invested $35 million in capital to acquire a 28% stake from PNNT in a Special Purpose Vehicle that currently holds $356 million of senior loans at fair value. Additionally, Pantheon has the opportunity to contribute an additional $30 million of capital in PSLF over time.

By combining its strong middle market financing platform with Pantheon’s growing private credit business, PennantPark will create buying power to drive new loan originations and increase the scale of its middle market financing platform.  After giving effect to the formation of PSLF, PNNT’s leverage will decrease by approximately $245 million, bolstering PNNT’s balance sheet.

“Partnering with Pantheon, one of the world’s leading global alternative private market investors, will greatly enhance our value as a capital solutions provider and help us deliver long-term value to shareholders,” said PNNT Chief Executive Officer Arthur Penn. “PSLF will extend PennantPark’s broad reach in middle market financing during a time when we are seeing attractive risk adjusted returns. United by our similar investment philosophies, we believe PNNT and Pantheon are well positioned to capitalize on the many attractive investment opportunities before us today.”

Rakesh Jain, Partner and Global Head of Private Credit at Pantheon, said, “This transaction is illustrative of our growing private credit business across secondaries, co-investments and primaries. We seek to partner with established organizations, such as PennantPark, to help drive value for both parties. We chose to invest with PennantPark because of its portfolio of assets, investment strategy and successful execution to date.”