Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This annual report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, and undue reliance should not be placed thereon. Any statements about our expectations, beliefs, plans, predictions, forecasts, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and may be forward-looking. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believes,” “can,” “could,” “may,” “predicts,” “potential,” “should,” “will,” “estimate,” “plans,” “projects,” “continuing,” “ongoing,” “expects,” “intends” and similar words or phrases. Accordingly, these statements are only predictions and involve estimates, known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of several factors discussed under Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of Part I of this annual report on Form 10-K, including, but not limited to, the following:
Additionally, there may be other risks that are otherwise described from time to time in the reports that we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Any forward-looking statements in this annual
report on Form 10-K should be considered in light of various important factors, including the risks and uncertainties listed above, as well as others. All forward-looking statements are necessarily only estimates of future results, and there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from expectations, and, therefore, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Any forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the risk factors discussed throughout this annual report on Form 10-K. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Because we are an investment company, the forward-looking statements and projections contained in this annual report on Form 10-K are excluded from the safe harbor protections provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) (the “safe harbor” provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995).
Except where the context suggests otherwise, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” and “the Company,” refer to Trinity Capital Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
Trinity Capital Inc. (“Trinity Capital”), incorporated in Maryland on August 12, 2019, is an internally managed, closed-end, non-diversified management investment company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company (“BDC”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Because we are internally managed, all of our executive officers and employees are employed by Trinity Capital. Therefore, we do not pay any external investment advisory fees, but instead directly incur the operating costs associated with employing investment and portfolio management professionals.
We have elected to be treated, currently qualify and intend to qualify annually, as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In order to maintain our treatment as a RIC, we are generally required to distribute at least annually to our stockholders at least the sum of 90% of our investment company taxable income (which generally includes our net ordinary taxable income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses) and 90% of our net tax-exempt income (if any). We generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on these distributed amounts but will pay U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates tax on any retained amounts.
On January 16, 2020, we completed a private equity offering (the “Private Common Stock Offering”) of shares of our common stock, pursuant to which we issued and sold 8,333,333 shares of our common stock for total aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $125.0 million, inclusive of an over-allotment option that was exercised in full on January 29, 2020.
Concurrent with the closing of the Private Common Stock Offering, we completed a private debt offering (the “144A Note Offering” and together with the Private Common Stock Offering, the “Private Offerings”) of $125.0 million in aggregate principal amount of our unsecured 7.00% Notes due 2025 (the “2025 Notes”), inclusive of an over-allotment option that was exercised in full on January 29, 2020.
On January 16, 2020, through a series of transactions (the “Formation Transactions”), we acquired Trinity Capital Investment, LLC, Trinity Capital Fund II, L.P. (“Fund II”), Trinity Capital Fund III, L.P., Trinity Capital Fund IV, L.P. and Trinity Sidecar Income Fund, L.P. (collectively, the “Legacy Funds”) and all of their respective assets, including their respective investment portfolios (the “Legacy Portfolio”), as well as Trinity Capital Holdings, LLC (“Trinity Capital Holdings”), a holding company whose subsidiaries managed and/or had the right to receive fees from certain of the Legacy Funds. We used a portion of the proceeds from the Private Offerings to complete these transactions.
In the Formation Transactions, the Legacy Funds were merged with and into Trinity Capital, and we issued 9,183,185 shares of our common stock for an aggregate amount of approximately $137.7 million and paid approximately $108.7 million in cash to the Legacy Funds’ investors, which included the general partners/managers of the Legacy Funds (the “Legacy Investors”). Our senior management team, led by Steven L. Brown, comprises the majority of the senior management team that managed the Legacy Funds and sourced the Legacy Portfolio.
As part of the Formation Transactions, we also acquired 100% of the equity interests of Trinity Capital Holdings for an aggregate purchase price of $10.0 million, which was comprised of 533,332 shares of our common stock, totaling approximately $8.0 million, and approximately $2.0 million in cash. In connection with the acquisition of such equity interests, we also assumed a $3.5 million severance related liability with respect to a former member of certain general partners of certain Legacy Funds. As a result of the Formation Transactions, Trinity Capital Holdings, a Delaware limited liability company, became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Since its acquisition, Trinity Capital Holdings has not engaged in any operations.
On January 29, 2021, our common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “TRIN,” and we completed our initial public offering of 8,006,291 shares of our common stock, par value $0.001, inclusive of an over-allotment option that was exercised in full on February 2, 2021 (“IPO”).
TrinCap Funding, LLC (“TCF”), a Delaware limited liability company, was formed on August 5, 2021 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company to serve as a bankruptcy-remote entity for purposes of securing lending in conjunction with a $300 million credit agreement, as amended, with KeyBank, National Association (“KeyBank”) (such credit facility, the “KeyBank Credit Facility”). TCF is included as a consolidated subsidiary of the Company in our consolidated financial statements.