Portfolio and Investment Activity
As of December 31, 2024, the fair value of WhiteHorse Finance’s investment portfolio was $642.2 million, compared with $654.3 million as of September 30, 2024. The portfolio as of December 31, 2024 consisted of 127 positions across 71 companies with a weighted average effective yield of 12.5% on income-producing debt investments. The average debt investment size (excluding investments in STRS JV (as defined below)) was $5.5 million with the overall portfolio comprised of approximately 78.2% first lien secured loans, 1.3% second lien secured loans, 0.2% unsecured loans, 3.6% equity and 16.7% in investments in STRS JV. Almost all loans were variable rate investments (primarily indexed to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate) with fixed rate securities representing only 1.3% of loans at fair value. Nearly all performing floating rate investments have interest rate floors.
During the three months ended December 31, 2024, WhiteHorse Finance made investments in six new portfolio companies for a total of $27.4 million, added a total of $8.0 million to existing portfolio companies and net fundings of $1.5 million to revolver loans. Proceeds from sales and repayments totaled approximately $32.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024, driven by full repayments from ATSG, Inc, HC Salon Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a Hair Cuttery), Industrial Specialty Services USA LLC and a full sale of Hollander Intermediate LLC (d/b/a Hollander Sleep Products, LLC).
In addition to the transactions discussed above, during the three months ended December 31, 2024, WhiteHorse Finance transferred assets comprised of three new and two existing portfolio companies, totaling $13.7 million to STRS JV in exchange for cash proceeds.
Distributions
The Company's board of directors has declared a distribution of $0.385 per share with respect to the quarter ended December 31, 2024. The distribution will be payable on April 4, 2025 to stockholders of record as of March 21, 2025.
On November 7, 2024, the Company declared a distribution of $0.385 per share for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, with distributions declared at or above $0.355 for the forty-ninth consecutive quarter since the Company’s initial public offering. The distribution was paid on January 3, 2025 to stockholders of record as of December 20, 2024. On October 15, 2024 the Company declared a special distribution of $0.245 per share, which was paid on December 10, 2024 to stockholder of record as of October 31, 2024.
Distributions are paid from taxable earnings and may include return of capital and/or capital gains. The specific tax characteristics of the distributions will be reported to stockholders on Form 1099-DIV after the end of the calendar year and in the Company’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Conference Call
WhiteHorse Finance will host a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter results for the period ended December 31, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. ET on Friday, March 7, 2025. To access the teleconference, please dial 800-267-6316 (domestic) or +1 203-518-9783 (international) approximately 10 minutes before the teleconference’s scheduled start time and reference ID #WHFQ424. Investors may also access the call on the investor relations portion of the Company’s website www.whitehorsefinance.com.
If you are unable to access the live teleconference, a replay will be available beginning approximately two hours after the call’s completion through March 14, 2025. The teleconference replay can be accessed by dialing 800-839-2389 or +1 402-220-7204 for international callers. A webcast replay will also be available on the investor relations portion of the Company’s website at www.whitehorsefinance.com.
About WhiteHorse Finance, Inc.
WhiteHorse Finance is a business development company that originates and invests in loans to privately held, lower middle market companies across a broad range of industries. The Company’s investment activities are managed by H.I.G. WhiteHorse Advisers, LLC, an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, LLC, (“H.I.G. Capital”). H.I.G. Capital is a leading global alternative asset manager with $67 billion of capital under management(3) across a number of funds focused on the small and mid-cap markets. For more information about H.I.G. Capital, please visit http://www.higcapital.com. For more information about the Company, please visit http://www.whitehorsefinance.com.