...January 6, 2021 NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Jan. 6, 2021--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its '###-' debt rating to Ares Capital Corp.'s (ARCC) proposed issuance of potentially up to $750 million of senior unsecured notes due 2026. ARCC expects to use net proceeds from this offering to repay outstanding indebtedness under its revolving credit facilities. In our opinion, ARCC has one of the best market positions in the business development company (BDC) industry, reflecting its scale, deep and experienced investment team, and affiliation with Ares Management. Leverage is relatively low, with debt to equity of 1.10x and debt to adjusted total equity (which deducts from equity ARCC's investment in the Senior Direct Lending Program) of 1.15x as of Sept. 30, 2020. ARCC has a strong historical underwriting track-record, in our view. However, its exposure to second-lien loans, about 28% of its investments, is relatively high compared to peer BDCs. The majority of ARCC's borrowings are unsecured...
