Company: GAINI
Filing Date: 2025-05-13
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001321741-25-000010
Chunk: 135

Company: GLADSTONE INVESTMENT CORPORATION\DE
Filing Date: 2025-05-13
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 135
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 will be exposed to all of the operating risks that new businesses face and may be particularly susceptible to, among other risks, market downturns, competitive pressures and the departure of key executive officers.•Debt securities of Lower Middle Market companies typically are not rated by a credit rating agency. Typically, a Lower Middle Market business cannot or will not expend the resources to have their debt securities rated by a credit rating agency. We expect that most, if not all, of the debt securities we acquire will be unrated. Investors should assume that these loans would be at rates below what is considered “investment grade” quality. Investments rated below investment grade are often referred to as high yield securities or junk bonds and may be considered high risk as compared to investment grade debt instruments.•Lower Middle Market companies may be highly leveraged. Some of our portfolio companies are highly leveraged, which could have adverse consequences to these companies and to us as an investor. These companies may be subject to restrictive financial and operating covenants and the leverage could impair these companies’ ability to finance their future operations and capital needs. As a result, these companies’ flexibility to respond to changing business and economic conditions and to take advantage of business opportunities may be limited. Further, a leveraged company’s income and net assets will tend to increase or decrease at a greater rate than if borrowed money were not used.•Lower Middle Market companies may operate in regulated industries or provide services to governments. Some of our portfolio companies may operate in regulated industries and/or provide services to federal, state or local governments, or operate in industries that provide services to regulated industries or federal, state or local governments, any of which could lead to delayed payments for services or subject the company to changing payment and reimbursement rates or other terms.Because the majority of the loans we make and equity securities we invest in are not publicly traded, there is uncertainty regarding the value of our privately-held securities.Substantially all of our portfolio investments are, and we expect will continue to be, in the form of securities that are not publicly traded. The fair value of securities and other investments that are not publicly traded may not be readily determinable. In valuing our investment portfolio, several techniques are used, including, a total enterprise value approach, a yield analysis, and market quotes. A third-party valuation firm provides estimates of fair value on generally all of our debt investments that are not valued using total enterprise value (“TEV”) and we use another independent valuation firm to provide valuation inputs for our significant equity investments, which are generally valued using