Strong market position relative to other business development companies (BDCs) we rate Diverse portfolio in terms of asset class and number of borrowers Stable funding from permanent capital and multiple long-term debt issuances Predominately illiquid investments that may constrain financial flexibility in adverse markets Historically higher adjusted leverage ratio than peers' The stable outlook reflects S&P Global Ratings' expectation that over the next 18-24 months ARES Capital Corp. (ARCC) will slightly increase leverage, as measured by debt to adjusted total equity (ATE), but stay below historical levels of 1.0x to 1.5x. We could lower the rating if we expect the company's asset coverage ratio to fall below 220%. We could also lower the rating if debt to ATE were to
