BlackRock seeks buyers for $671M in TCP Capital loans as BDC overhaul accelerates

BlackRock is shopping around a $671 million portfolio of loans held by TCP Capital Corp., its externally managed business development company focused on middle-market lending.

Earlier in August, TCPC completed a sale of roughly 95% of its interest in a continuation vehicle containing approximately $523 million in loans. That deal, which closed shortly after it was announced on August 4, generated about $152 million in gross proceeds and covered positions across 78 portfolio companies.

A balance sheet diet

TCPC’s total assets previously sat in the range of $1.5 billion to $1.9 billion. The August sale alone carved out roughly 48% of the firm’s pre-transaction debt. The earlier transaction pushed TCPC’s pro forma net leverage ratio down toward 0.4x or lower. For context, most BDC peers operate closer to 1.0x or above.

The buyers for the first batch came from funds sponsored by Pantheon, a global private markets investor.

What TCPC has been

TCP Capital Corp. has operated as an externally managed BDC under BlackRock’s umbrella, focused on providing debt financing to companies that are typically too large for community banks but too small to access public debt markets efficiently. Since 1999, the platform has executed approximately $44.1 billion in leveraged loans across 733 companies.

Reading the private credit tea leaves

Pantheon’s willingness to acquire the first tranche suggests pricing wasn’t dramatically distressed. Continuation vehicles, the structure used in the initial Pantheon deal, have become a standard tool for managing illiquid credit portfolios without forcing fire-sale dynamics.

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