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Debt Due to Related Parties
 9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Debt Due to Related Parties Customer ExAlt Trust Loan Payable
On March 24, 2022, Ben Liquidity transferred a $72.5 million ExAlt Loan to a third-party in return for $72.5 million of cash. The loan participation transaction resulted in a third party holding the transferred ExAlt Loan, which was previously eliminated in consolidation against the loan payable issued by a Customer ExAlt Trust for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, the loan payable issued by the Customer ExAlt Trusts is no longer eliminated upon consolidation for financial reporting purposes and is reflected in the Customer ExAlt Trust loan payable line item on the consolidated statements of financial condition.
The Customer ExAlt Trust loan payable does not have scheduled principal or interest payments due prior to its maturity date of December 7, 2033. Prepayment of the loans, in whole or in part, is permitted without premium or penalty. A pro-rata portion of the cash flows from $352.6 million of alternative assets acquired by the Customer ExAlt Trusts on December 7, 2021 (the “Acquired Assets”) are the sole source of cash flows to be used by the Customer ExAlt Trusts to satisfy its obligations under the terms of the loan agreement. The percentage of the Acquired Assets allocated to supporting the repayment of the Customer ExAlt Trust loan payable amounted to approximately 27.8% (the “Participation Allocation”). Ben and its subsidiaries have no obligation or other requirements to repay the Customer ExAlt Trust loan payable should the pro-rata cash flows from the $352.6 million of alternative assets associated with the loan be insufficient to pay all contractual obligations owed under the terms of the loan agreement. The Customer ExAlt Trust loan payable bears interest at 12% per annum.
Termination of Customer ExAlt Trust Loan Payable
On October 18, 2023, the applicable Customer ExAlt Trusts distributed, transferred and assigned the Participation Allocation (net of a qualified charitable distribution) to a subsidiary of the holder of the Customer ExAlt Trust loan payable. As a result, all obligations owed under the Customer ExAlt Trust loan payable have been repaid and the related participation interest no longer remains outstanding. As such, the Customer ExAlt Trusts repaid the entire outstanding principal balance of the ExAlt Trust Loan Payable of $50.9 million including interest paid-in-kind, by transferring $56.7 million of alternative assets. The payoff of the Customer ExAlt Trust Loan Payable was accounted for as a debt extinguishment in accordance with ASC 470, Debt. Accordingly, the Customer ExAlt Trusts recorded a $8.8 million loss on extinguishment related to the payoff for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2023, which is reflected in the loss on extinguishment of debt line item on the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss). The loss on extinguishment represents the difference between the carrying value of the ExAlt Trust Loan Payable at payoff of $47.9 million, net of an unamortized discount of $5.0 million and fair value of the contingent interest derivative liability of $1.9 million, and the NAV of the assets of $56.7 million, which was determined to have the most readily determinable fair value at the time of the nonmonetary transaction.
As of March 31, 2023, the outstanding principal, including interest paid-in-kind, was $54.2 million. The balance reflected on the consolidated statements of financial condition as of March 31, 2023, was $52.1 million, which includes the fair value of the contingent interest derivative liability of $3.5 million and unamortized debt discount of $5.6 million.
The loan agreement included a contingent interest feature whereby additional interest could be owed up to a maximum rate of 21% under certain circumstances, dependent principally on the cash flows generated by the pro rata portion of the underlying collateral. As the contingent interest feature was not based on creditworthiness, such feature was not clearly and closely related to the host instrument and was therefore bifurcated and recognized as a derivative liability with a resulting debt discount at inception. The fair value of the contingent interest derivative liability was $3.5 million as of March 31, 2023, and was recognized as a component of the Customer ExAlt Trust loan payable in the consolidated statements of financial condition. The related net gains of nil and $1.6 million is reflected in gain (loss) on financial instruments, net in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2023, respectively, compared to net gains of $1.3 million and $5.1 million for the same period of 2022, respectively. The amortization of the debt discount, which is reflected as a component of interest expense in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss), was $0.1 million and $0.6 million for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2023, respectively, compared to $0.5 million and $1.0 million for the same period of 2022, respectively.
Debt Due to Related Parties
As of December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2023, the Company’s debt due to related parties consisted of the following:
(Dollars in thousands)December 31, 2023March 31, 2023
First Lien Credit Agreement$22,950 $21,350 
Second Lien Credit Agreement78,782 73,291 
Term Loan
25,257 — 
Other borrowings2,154 2,076 
Unamortized debt (discount) premium, net
(946)2,597 
Total debt due to related parties$128,197 $99,314 
First and Second Lien Credit Agreements
On August 13, 2020, Ben, through its subsidiary Beneficient Capital Company II, L.L.C. (formerly known as Beneficient Capital Company, L.L.C.) (“BCC”), executed the Second Amended and Restated First Lien Credit Agreement (“First Lien Credit Agreement”) and the Second Amended and Restated Second Lien Credit Agreement (“Second Lien Credit Agreement”) collectively, (the “Second A&R Agreements”) with its lender, HCLP Nominees, L.L.C (“HCLP”), to amend its First Lien Credit Agreement and Second Lien Credit Agreement dated September 1, 2017 and December 28, 2018, respectively. The Second A&R Agreements have been further amended from time to time to extend the maturity date and defer principal and interest payments, among other things. In connection with the amendments to the Second A&R Agreements, Ben agreed to pay extension fees on a percentage of the amount outstanding under the credit agreements as of the date of the respective amendment. The interest rate on each loan under the Second A&R Agreements is 1-month LIBOR plus 8.0%, with a maximum interest rate of 9.5%.
As part of Ben’s formative transactions in 2017, the First Lien Credit Agreement proceeds were loaned by HCLP to a subsidiary of Ben. Ben’s subsidiary then loaned the amount on to the Customer ExAlt Trusts so that the Customer ExAlt Trusts could acquire investments in alternative assets purchased from certain other constituent trusts of the formative ExAlt PlanTM of which MHT Financial, L.L.C. (“MHT Financial” or “MHT”) was named the beneficiary (such trusts, the “2017-18 Exchange Trusts”). As discussed in Note 13, the balance of this related party debt at the time of Ben’s September 1, 2017 commencement of Ben’s commercial operations reduced the balance of the preferred equity held by Ben’s founders.
On March 24, 2022, Ben executed Consents and Amendments No. 4 to the Second A&R Agreements with HCLP, which, among other things, (i) deferred the payment of accrued and unpaid interest to March 24, 2022, (ii) evidenced the terms agreed to in the December 1, 2021 term sheet, (iii) extended the maturity date of the loans to August 31, 2023, and (iv) established revised installment payments for each loan of $5.0 million due on May 10, 2022, August 10, 2022, December 10, 2022, and March 10, 2023, so long as each payment does not cause the Company to incur a going concern, and (v) amended the occurrence of an event of default to require notice from HCLP on almost all potential defaults listed under the Second A&R Agreements. In addition, Ben agreed to pay fees totaling approximately 6.5% of the outstanding principal before giving effect to the amendments.
On February 15, 2023, Ben executed those certain Amendment No. 5 to Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement and Consent and Amendment No. 5 to Second Amended and Restated Second Lien Credit Agreement with HCLP, pursuant to which, as required by Amendments No. 4, certain Ben subsidiaries became subsidiary guarantors and entered into those certain Amended and Restated Security and Pledge Agreement (First Lien) and Amended and Restated Security and Pledge Agreement (Second Lien), that certain first lien Guaranty and that certain second lien Guaranty.
On June 5, 2023, BCH, entered into those certain Consent and Amendment No. 6 to Second Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, which amended the First Lien Credit Agreement, and Consent and Amendment No. 6 to Second Amended and Restated Second Lien Credit Agreement (collectively, the “Sixth Amendments”), which amended the Second Lien Credit Agreement, each among BCH, HCLP and the other parties thereto. Among other things, the Sixth Amendments (i) allowed for the consummation of the Transactions pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, and effective as June 7, 2023 (ii) amended the definition of “Change of Control” (as defined therein), and (iii) provided that Beneficient will be the “Parent” thereunder.
On July 12, 2023, BCH, entered into (a) that certain Amendment No. 7 to the First Lien Amendment, which amended the First Lien Credit Agreement, and (b) that certain Amendment No. 7 to Second Lien Amendment (together with the First Lien Amendment, the “Seventh Amendments”), which amended the Second Lien Credit Agreement, each among BCH, HCLP and the other parties thereto. Among other things, the Seventh Amendments (i) modified the interest rate to a fixed rate of 9.5%,
(ii) extended the maturity dates of the First Lien Amendment and the Second Lien Amendment to September 15, 2024 and September 15, 2027, respectively, and (iii) agreed to installment payments on the First Lien Amendment of $5.0 million on each of March 29th, June 28th, September 29th, and December 29th of each year for so long as the obligations remain outstanding, and so long as such payments do not cause a going concern. No payments will be made on the Second Lien Amendment until the obligations on the First Lien Amendment have been fully satisfied. Ben agreed to pay fees totaling approximately $0.1 million. During the nine months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, no deferred financing costs were paid to HCLP. As of December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2023, the unamortized premium related to the Second A&R Agreements was $0.6 million and $2.6 million, respectively. Through December 31, 2023, all required principal and interest payments due under the Second A&R Agreements have been paid.
In connection with the Second A&R Agreements, Beneficient Holdings, Inc. (“BHI”), which owns a majority of the BCH Class S Ordinary Units, BCH Preferred A.1, and FLP Subclass 1 Unit Accounts issued by BCH, will grant certain tax-related concessions to HCLP as may be mutually agreed upon between the parties. In exchange for the tax-related concessions, 5.0% of BHI’s BCH Preferred A.1, which will be held by HCLP, may convert to BCH Preferred A.0. In addition, recipients of a grant of BCH Preferred A.1 from BHI will have the right to put an amount of BCH Preferred A.1 to Ben equal to any associated tax liability stemming from any such grant; provided that the aggregated associated tax liability shall not relate to more than $30.0 million of grants of BCH Preferred A.1 from BHI. No such liability existed as of December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2023.
The Second A&R Agreements and ancillary documents contain covenants that (i) prevent Ben from issuing any securities senior to the BCH Preferred A.0 or BCH Preferred A.1; (ii) prevent Ben from incurring additional debt or borrowings greater than $10.0 million, other than trade payables, while the loans are outstanding; and (iii) prevent, without the written consent of HCLP, GWG Holdings from selling, transferring, or otherwise disposing of any BCH Preferred A.1 held as of May 15, 2020, other than to its subsidiary GWG DLP Funding V, LLC. Ben obtained consents for the Second A&R Agreements from HCLP in connection with the HH-BDH Credit Agreement (as defined below). As of December 31, 2023, the Company was in compliance with all covenants.
Term Loan
On October 19, 2023, Beneficient Financing, L.L.C. (the “Borrower”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and BCH, as guarantor (the “Guarantor” and together with the Borrower, the “Loan Parties”), entered into a Credit and Guaranty Agreement (the “HH-BDH Credit Agreement”) with HH-BDH L.L.C. (the “HH-BDH”), as administrative agent. All capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the HH-BDH Credit Agreement.
HH-BDH’s sole member is Hicks Holdings. The managing member of Hicks Holdings is Mr. Thomas O. Hicks, a member of the Company’s Board. HH-BDH will receive customary fees and expenses in its capacity as a lender and as the administrative agent under the HH-BDH Credit Agreement, as further described below. Hicks Holdings and Mr. Hicks may be deemed to have a direct or indirect material financial interest with respect to the transactions contemplated by the HH-BDH Credit Agreement, as described below. HH-BDH funded the amounts under the HH-BDH Credit Agreement with the proceeds of a third-party financing (the “Financing”).
The HH-BDH Credit Agreement provides for a three-year term loan in the aggregate principal amount of $25.0 million (the “Term Loan”), which was fully drawn on closing.
Borrowings under the HH-BDH Credit Agreement bear interest, at the Company’s option, calculated according to a base rate, adjusted term SOFR rate, or adjusted daily simple SOFR rate, plus an applicable margin, subject to a Maximum Rate determined by applicable law in the State of New York. The Company elected the adjusted daily simple SOFR rate with a margin of 6.5% for the first two years and 5.5% for the third year. Accrued and unpaid interest is payable monthly, upon prepayment, and at maturity. The Term Loan will mature on October 19, 2026, and all outstanding principal amounts and accrued and unpaid interest thereon shall be due and payable on such date. During the nine months ended December 31, 2023, $1.6 million deferred financing costs were paid related to the Term Loan. As of December 31, 2023, the unamortized discount related to the Term Loan was $1.6 million.
The Term Loan is secured in part by pledges of: (a) substantially all of the assets of the Borrower, (b) the Guarantor’s equity interests in the Borrower, (c) 97.5% of the equity interests held by The EP-00117 Custody Trust, a Delaware statutory trust known as the “Custody Trust”, in certain entities that hold interests in private investment funds, which, as of December 31, 2023, represented approximately 38.6% of all assets held by the Customer ExAlt Trusts and (d) certain deposit accounts.
The HH-BDH Credit Agreement contains customary representations, warranties, affirmative and negative covenants, including covenants which restrict the ability of the Loan Parties, the Custody Trust and certain affiliated entities to, among other things, create liens, incur additional indebtedness, make certain restricted payments and engage in certain other transactions, in each case subject to certain customary exceptions. In addition, the HH-BDH Credit Agreement contains
certain financial maintenance covenants, including a debt service coverage ratio of 1.25 to 1.00. As of December 31, 2023, the Company was in compliance with all covenants.
Additionally, the HH-BDH Credit Agreement contains customary events of default relating to, among other things, payment defaults, breach of covenants, cross default of material indebtedness, bankruptcy-related defaults, judgment defaults, and the occurrence of certain change of control events. The occurrence of an event of default may result in the acceleration of repayment obligations with respect to any outstanding principal amounts and foreclosure on the collateral.
Hicks Holdings will receive the following fees and payments in connection with the Term Loan:
•A non-refundable fee in an amount equal to 1.0% of the aggregate commitments under the Term Loan upon execution of the HH-BDH Credit Agreement (the “Closing Date”);
•On each Payment Date, from and including: (1) from the Closing Date until the second anniversary of the Closing Date, an interest payment at an interest rate equal to 3.0% per annum; and (2) from the second anniversary of the Closing Date until the loans are repaid in full, interest payments at an interest rate equal to 2.0% per annum (such interest is in included in HH-BDH’s receipt of interest payments as described above);
•If any amounts under the HH-BDH Credit Agreement are prepaid prior to the scheduled Make Whole Date, including by reason of acceleration, a make-whole payment equal to the product of the principal amounts being repaid and the applicable interest rate plus 3.0% and the number of calendar days between the date of such prepayment and the scheduled Make Whole Date, divided by 360; and
•Certain fees, payments and expenses incurred by Hicks Holdings in connection with the Financing.
Aggregate maturities of principal on the debt due to related parties for the next five fiscal years ending March 31 are as follows:
(Dollars in thousands)Debt Due to Related Parties
2024$— 
202525,104 
2026— 
202725,257 
202878,782