FORM OF ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN AB PRIVATE LENDING FUND AND AB PRIVATE CREDIT INVESTORS LLC
Exhibit (k)(1)
FORM OF ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
AND
AB PRIVATE CREDIT INVESTORS LLC
This Agreement (“Agreement”) is made as of [ ], 2024 by and between AB Private Lending Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”), and AB Private Credit Investors LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Administrator”).
WHEREAS, the Fund is a newly organized closed-end management investment fund that intends to elect to be treated as a business development company (“BDC”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”);
WHEREAS, the Fund desires to retain the Administrator to provide administrative services to the Fund in the manner and on the terms hereinafter set forth; and
WHEREAS, the Administrator is willing to provide administrative services to the Fund on the terms and conditions hereafter set forth.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the covenants hereinafter contained and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which is hereby acknowledged, the Fund and the Administrator hereby agree as follows:
1. Duties of the Administrator.
(a) Employment of Administrator. The Fund hereby retains the Administrator to act as administrator of the Fund, and to furnish, or arrange for others to furnish, the administrative services, personnel and facilities described below, subject to review by and the overall control of the Board of Trustees of the Fund (the “Board”), for the period and on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. The Administrator hereby accepts such retention and agrees during such period to render, or arrange for the rendering of, such services and to assume the obligations herein set forth subject to the reimbursement of costs and expenses provided for below. The Administrator shall for all purposes herein be deemed to be an independent contractor and shall, unless otherwise expressly provided or authorized herein, have no authority to act for or represent the Fund in any way or otherwise be deemed an agent of the Fund.
(b) Services. The Administrator shall perform (or oversee, or arrange for, the performance of) the administrative and compliance services necessary for the operation of the Fund, including, but not limited to, maintaining financial records, filing of the Fund’s tax returns, overseeing the calculation of the Fund’s net asset value, compliance monitoring (including diligence and oversight of the Fund’s other service providers), preparing reports to the Fund’s shareholders and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and other regulators, preparing materials and coordinating meetings of the Board, managing the payment of expenses, the payment and receipt of funds for investments and the performance of administrative and professional services rendered by others, providing office space, equipment and office services, and such other services as the Administrator, subject to review by the Board, shall
from time to time determine to be necessary or useful to perform its obligations under this Agreement. The Administrator shall also, on behalf of the Fund, conduct relations with sub-administrators, custodians, depositories, depositaries, transfer agents, escrow agents, dividend disbursing agents, other shareholder servicing agents, accountants, attorneys, underwriters, brokers and dealers, corporate fiduciaries, insurers, banks and such other persons in any such other capacity deemed to be necessary or desirable in fulfilling its administrative duties. The Administrator shall make reports to the Board of its performance of its obligations hereunder and furnish advice and recommendations with respect to such other aspects of the business and affairs of the Fund as it shall determine to be desirable; provided that nothing herein shall be construed to require the Administrator to, and the Administrator shall not, in its capacity as Administrator pursuant to this Agreement, provide any advice or recommendation relating to the securities and other assets that the Fund should purchase, retain or sell or any other investment advisory services to the Fund. AB Private Credit Investors LLC, in its capacity as both the Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”) or AB High Yield, as sub-investment adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”, together with the Adviser, the “Advisers”) and the Administrator, may provide on the Fund’s behalf significant managerial assistance to those portfolio companies that request such assistance. For the avoidance of any doubt, the parties agree that the Administrator is authorized to enter into sub-administration agreements with a sub-administrator or other services provider (each, a “Sub-Administrator”) as the Administrator determines necessary in order to carry out the services set forth in this paragraph, subject to the prior approval of the Board. The Administrator and not the Fund shall be responsible for any compensation payable to any Sub-Administrator; provided, however, that the Adviser shall have the right to direct the Fund to pay directly to any Sub-Administrator the amounts due and payable to such Sub-Administrator from the fees and expenses payable to the Administrator under this Agreement.
2. Records. The Administrator agrees to maintain and keep all books, accounts and other records of the Fund that relate to activities performed by the Administrator hereunder and will maintain and keep such books, accounts and records in accordance with the Investment Company Act. The Administrator may delegate the foregoing responsibility to a third party with the consent of the Board, subject to the oversight of the Administrator and the Fund. In compliance with the requirements of Rule 31a-3 under the Investment Company Act, the Administrator agrees that all records which it or its delegate maintains for the Fund shall at all times remain the property of the Fund, shall be readily accessible during normal business hours, and shall be promptly surrendered upon the termination of the Agreement or otherwise on written request. The Administrator further agrees that all records which it or its delegate maintains for the Fund pursuant to Rule 31a-1 under the Investment Company Act will be preserved for the periods prescribed by Rule 31a-2 under the Investment Company Act unless any such records are earlier surrendered as provided above. Records shall be surrendered in usable machine-readable form. The Administrator shall have the right to retain copies of such records subject to observance of its confidentiality obligations under this Agreement.
3. Confidentiality. The parties hereto agree that each shall treat all information provided by each party to the other regarding its business and operations. All confidential information provided by a party hereto, including nonpublic personal information (regulated pursuant to Regulation S-P), shall be used by any other party hereto solely for the purpose of rendering services pursuant to this Agreement and, except as may be required in carrying out this Agreement, shall not be disclosed to any third party, without the prior consent of such providing party. The foregoing shall
not be applicable to any information that is publicly available when provided or thereafter becomes publicly available other than through a breach of this Agreement, or that is required to be disclosed by any regulatory authority, any authority or legal counsel of the parties hereto, by judicial or administrative process or otherwise by applicable law or regulation.
4. Compensation; Allocation of Costs and Expenses.
(a) In full consideration of the provision of the services of the Administrator, the Fund shall reimburse the Administrator for the costs and expenses incurred by the Administrator in performing its obligations, including the Fund’s allocable portion of the costs and expenses of providing personnel and facilities hereunder, except as otherwise provided herein, in that certain Investment Advisory Agreement, by and between the Fund and the Adviser, as amended from time to time (the “Advisory Agreement”), and in that certain Investment Sub-Advisory Agreement, by and between the Fund and the Sub-Adviser, as amended from time to time (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement” and, together with the Advisory Agreement, the “Advisory Agreements”).
(b) Except as specifically provided herein or otherwise in the Advisory Agreements, the Fund anticipates that all investment professionals and staff of the Advisers, when and to the extent engaged in providing investment advisory services to the Fund, and the base compensation, bonus and benefits, and the routine overhead expenses, of such personnel allocable to such services, will be provided and paid for by the Advisers. The Fund will bear all other costs and expenses of the Fund’s operations, administration and transactions, including, but not limited to:
(i) investment advisory fees, including management fees and incentive fees, to the Adviser, pursuant to the Advisory Agreement;
(ii) investment advisory fees, including management fees and incentive fees, to the Sub-Adviser, pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement;
(iii) the Fund’s allocable portion of compensation and other expenses incurred by the Administrator in performing its administrative obligations under this Agreement, including but not limited to: (x) the Fund’s chief compliance officer, chief financial officer and their respective staffs; (y) investor relations, legal, operations and other non-investment professionals at the Administrator that perform duties for the Fund; and (z) any internal audit group personnel of AB Private Credit Investors LLC or any of its affiliates; and
(iv) all other expenses of the Fund’s operations, administration and transactions including, without limitation, those relating to:
(1) organization and offering expenses associated with this offering (including legal, accounting, printing, mailing, subscription processing and filing fees and expenses and other offering expenses, including costs associated with technology integration between the Fund’s systems and those of the Fund’s participating broker-dealers, reasonable bona fide due diligence expenses of participating broker-dealers supported by detailed and itemized invoices, costs in connection with preparing sales materials and other marketing expenses, design and website expenses, fees and expenses of the Fund’s escrow agent and transfer agent, fees to attend retail seminars sponsored by participating broker-dealers and costs, expenses and reimbursements for travel, meals, accommodations, entertainment and other similar expenses related to meetings or events with prospective investors, broker-dealers, registered investment advisers or financial or other advisers, but excluding the shareholder servicing fee);
(2) all taxes, fees, costs, and expenses, retainers and/or other payments of accountants, legal counsel, advisors (including tax advisers), administrators, auditors (including with respect to any additional auditing required under The Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and any applicable legislation implemented by an EEA Member state in connection with such Directive (the “AIFMD”), investment bankers, administrative agents, paying agents, depositaries, custodians, trustees, sub-custodians, consultants (including individuals consulted through expert network consulting firms), engineers, senior advisers, industry experts, operating partners, deal sourcers (including personnel dedicated to but not employed by the Administrator, its affiliates in the credit-focused business of the Advisers), and other professionals (including, for the avoidance of doubt, the costs and charges allocable with respect to the provision of internal legal, tax, accounting, technology or other services and professionals related thereto (including secondees and temporary personnel or consultants that may be engaged on short- or long-term arrangements) as deemed appropriate by the Administrator, with the oversight of the Board, where such internal personnel perform services that would be paid by the Fund if outside service providers provided the same services); fees, costs, and expenses herein include (x) costs, expenses and fees for hours spent by its in-house attorneys and tax advisers that provide transactional legal advice and/or services to the Fund or its portfolio companies on matters related to potential or actual investments and transactions and the ongoing operations of the Fund and (y) expenses and fees to provide administrative and accounting services to the Fund or its portfolio companies, and expenses, charges and/or related costs incurred directly by the Fund or affiliates in connection such services, in each case, (I) that are specifically charged or specifically allocated or attributed by the Administrator, with the oversight of the Board, to the Fund or its portfolio companies and (II) provided that any such amounts shall not be greater than what would be paid to an unaffiliated third party for substantially similar advice and/or services);
(3) the cost of calculating the Fund’s net asset value, including the cost of any third-party valuation services;
(4) the cost of effecting any sales and repurchases of the Fund’s common shares of beneficial interest and other securities;
(5) fees and expenses payable under any dealer manager and selected dealer agreements, if any;
(6) interest and fees and expenses arising out of all borrowings, guarantees and other financings or derivative transactions (including interest, fees and related legal expenses) made or entered into by the Fund, including, but not limited to, the arranging thereof and related legal expenses;
(7) all fees, costs and expenses of any loan servicers and other service providers and of any custodians, lenders, investment banks and other financing sources;
(8) costs incurred in connection with the formation or maintenance of entities or vehicles to hold the Fund’s assets for tax or other purposes;
(9) costs of derivatives and hedging;
(10) expenses, including travel, entertainment, lodging and meal expenses, incurred by the Advisers or members of its investment team, or payable to third parties, in negotiating, structuring and performing due diligence on prospective portfolio companies, including such expenses related to potential investments that were not consummated, and, if necessary, enforcing the Fund’s rights;
(11) expenses (including the allocable portions of compensation and out-of-pocket expenses such as travel expenses) or an appropriate portion thereof of employees of the Advisers to the extent such expenses relate to attendance at meetings of the Board or any committees thereof;
(12) all fees, costs and expenses, if any, incurred by or on behalf of the Fund in negotiating and structuring prospective or potential investments that are not ultimately made, including, without limitation any legal, tax, administrative, accounting, travel, meals, accommodations and entertainment, advisory, excluding advisory services provided by the Adviser contemplated herein, consulting and printing expenses, reverse termination fees and any liquidated damages, commitment fees that become payable in connection with any proposed investment that is not ultimately made, forfeited deposits or similar payments;
(13) the allocated costs incurred by the Advisers or their affiliates in providing (or arranging for the provision of) managerial assistance to those portfolio companies that request it;
(14) all brokerage costs, hedging costs, prime brokerage fees, custodial expenses, agent bank and other bank service fees; private placement fees, commissions, appraisal fees, commitment fees and underwriting costs; costs and expenses of any lenders, investment banks and other financing sources, and other investment costs, fees and expenses actually incurred in connection with evaluating, making, holding, settling, clearing, monitoring or disposing of actual investments (including, without limitation, travel, meals, accommodations and entertainment expenses and any expenses related to attending trade association and/or industry meetings, conferences or similar meetings, any costs or expenses relating to currency conversion in the case of investments denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars) and expenses arising out of trade settlements (including any delayed compensation expenses);
(15) investment costs, excluding internal costs of the Adviser for providing investment advisory services, and any fees, costs and expenses related to the organization or maintenance of any vehicle through which the Fund directly or indirectly participates in the acquisition, holding and/or disposition of investments or which otherwise facilitate the Fund’s investment activities;
(16) transfer agent, dividend agent and custodial fees;
(17) fees and expenses associated with marketing efforts;
(18) federal and state registration fees, franchise fees, any stock exchange listing fees and fees payable to rating agencies;
(19) independent trustees’ fees and expenses including reasonable travel, entertainment, lodging and meal expenses, and any legal counsel or other advisers retained by, or at the discretion or for the benefit of, the independent trustees;
(20) costs of preparing financial statements and maintaining books and records, costs of ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇-▇▇▇▇▇ Act of 2002 compliance and attestation and costs of preparing and filing reports or other documents with the SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and other regulatory bodies and other reporting and compliance costs, including registration and exchange listing and the costs associated with reporting and compliance obligations under the Investment Company Act and any other applicable federal and state securities laws, and the compensation of professionals responsible for the foregoing;
(21) all fees, costs and expenses associated with the preparation and issuance of the Fund’s periodic reports and related statements (e.g., financial statements and tax returns) and other internal and third-party printing (including a flat service fee), publishing (including time spent performing such printing and publishing services) and reporting-related expenses (including other notices and communications) in respect of the Fund and its activities (including internal expenses, charges and/or related costs incurred, charged or specifically attributed or allocated by the Fund or the Advisers or their respective affiliates in connection with such provision of services thereby);
(22) the costs of any reports, proxy statements or other notices to shareholders (including printing and mailing costs) and the costs of any shareholder or Trustee meetings;
(23) proxy voting expenses;
(24) costs associated with an exchange listing;
(25) costs of registration rights granted to certain investors, if any;
(26) any taxes and/or tax-related interest, fees or other governmental charges (including any penalties incurred where the Advisers lacks sufficient information from third parties to file a timely and complete tax return) levied against the Fund and all expenses incurred in connection with any tax audit, investigation, litigation, settlement or review of the Fund and the amount of any judgments, fines, remediation or settlements paid in connection therewith;
(27) all fees, costs and expenses of any litigation, arbitration or audit involving the Fund any vehicle or its portfolio companies and the amount of any judgments, assessments fines, remediations or settlements paid in connection therewith, trustees and officers, liability or other insurance (including costs of title insurance) and indemnification (including advancement of any fees, costs or expenses to persons entitled to indemnification) or extraordinary expense or liability relating to the affairs of the Fund;
(28) all fees, costs and expenses associated with the Fund’s information and data technology systems;
(29) the costs of specialty and custom software for investments;
(30) costs associated with individual or group shareholders;
(31) fidelity bond, trustees and officers errors and omissions liability insurance and other insurance premiums;
(32) direct costs and expenses of administration, including printing, mailing, long distance telephone, copying and secretarial and other staff;
(33) all fees, costs and expenses of winding up and liquidating the Fund’s assets;
(34) extraordinary expenses (such as litigation or indemnification);
(35) all fees, costs and expenses related to compliance-related matters (such as developing and implementing specific policies and procedures in order to comply with certain regulatory requirements) and regulatory filings; notices or disclosures related to the Fund’s activities (including, without limitation, expenses relating to the preparation and filing of filings required under the Securities Act, TIC Form SLT filings, Internal Revenue Service filings under FATCA and FBAR reporting requirements applicable to the Fund or reports to be filed with the CFTC, reports, disclosures, filings and notifications prepared in connection with the laws and/or regulations of jurisdictions in which the Fund engages in activities, including any notices, reports and/or filings required under the AIFMD, European Securities and Markets Authority and any related regulations, and other regulatory filings, notices or disclosures of the Advisers relating to the Fund and its affiliates relating to the Fund, and their activities) and/or other regulatory filings, notices or disclosures of the Advisers and their affiliates relating to the Fund including those pursuant to applicable disclosure laws and expenses relating to FOIA requests, but excluding, for the avoidance of doubt, any expenses incurred for general compliance and regulatory matters that are not related to the Fund and its activities;
(36) costs and expenses (including travel) in connection with the diligence and oversight of the Fund’s service providers;
(37) costs and expenses, including travel, meals, accommodations, entertainment and other similar expenses, incurred by the Advisers or their respective affiliates for meetings with existing investors and any broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, financial and other advisers representing such existing investors; and
(38) all other expenses incurred by the Administrator in connection with administering the Fund’s business.
(c) From time to time, AB Private Credit Investors LLC, in its capacity as both the Adviser and the Administrator, the Sub-Adviser or their affiliates may pay third-party providers of goods or services. Unless such expenses are specifically assumed by the Advisers, Administrator or their affiliates under this Agreement or the Advisory Agreement, the Fund will reimburse the Advisers, the Administrator or such affiliates thereof for any such amounts paid on the Fund’s behalf. From time to time, the Advisers and the Administrator may defer or waive fees and/or rights to be reimbursed for expenses. All of the foregoing expenses will ultimately be borne by the Fund’s shareholders.
(d) Costs and expenses of AB Private Credit Investors LLC in its capacity as both the Administrator and the Adviser that are eligible for reimbursement by the Fund will be reasonably allocated to the Fund on the basis of time spent, assets under management, usage rates, proportionate holdings, a combination thereof or other reasonable methods determined by the Administrator.
5. Limit of Liability. The Administrator and its officers, managers, partners, agents, employees, controlling persons, members and any other person or entity affiliated with it (the “Indemnified Parties”) shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any act or omission or any loss suffered by the Fund in connection with the matters to which this Agreement relates, provided that the Administrator shall not be protected against any liability to the Fund or its shareholders to which the Administrator would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on its part in the performance of its duties or by reason of the reckless disregard of its duties and obligations (“Disabling Conduct”). An Indemnified Party may consult with counsel and accountants in respect of the Fund’s affairs and shall be fully protected and justified in any action or inaction which is taken in accordance with the advice or opinion of such counsel and accountants; provided, that such counsel or accountants were selected with reasonable care. Absent Disabling Conduct, the Fund will indemnify the Indemnified Parties against, and hold them harmless from, any damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and amounts reasonably paid in settlement) arising from the rendering of the Administrator’s services under this Agreement or otherwise as administrator for the Fund. The Indemnified Parties shall not be liable under this Agreement or otherwise for any loss due to the mistake, action, inaction, negligence, dishonesty, fraud or bad faith of any broker or other agent; provided, that such broker or other agent shall have been selected, engaged or retained and monitored by the Administrator in good faith, unless such action or inaction was made by reason of Disabling Conduct, or in the case of a criminal action or proceeding, where the Administrator had reasonable cause to believe its conduct was unlawful.
Indemnification shall be made only following: (i) a final decision on the merits by a court or other body before which the proceeding was brought that the Indemnified Party was not liable by reason of Disabling Conduct or (ii) in the absence of such a decision, a reasonable determination, based upon a review of the facts, that the Indemnified Party was not liable by reason of Disabling Conduct by (a) the vote of a majority of a quorum of trustees of the Fund who are neither “interested persons” of the Fund nor parties to the proceeding (“Disinterested Non-Party Trustees”) or (b) an independent legal counsel in a written opinion.
An Indemnified Party shall be entitled to advances from the Fund for payment of the reasonable expenses (including reasonable counsel fees and expenses) incurred by it in connection with the matter as to which it is seeking indemnification in the manner and to the fullest extent permissible under law. Prior to any such advance, the Indemnified Party shall provide to the Fund a written affirmation of its good faith belief that the standard of conduct necessary for
indemnification by the Fund has been met and a written undertaking to repay any such advance if it should ultimately be determined that the standard of conduct has not been met. In addition, at least one of the following additional conditions shall be met: (a) the Indemnified Party shall provide a security in form and amount acceptable to the Fund for its undertaking; (b) the Fund is insured against losses arising by reason of the advance; or (c) a majority of a quorum of Disinterested Non-Party Trustees or independent legal counsel, in a written opinion, shall have determined, based on a review of facts readily available to the Fund at the time the advance is proposed to be made, that there is reason to believe that the Indemnified Party will ultimately be found to be entitled to indemnification.
6. Activities of the Administrator. The services of the Administrator to the Fund are not to be deemed to be exclusive, and the Administrator and each affiliate is free to render services to others. It is understood that trustees, officers, employees and shareholders of the Fund are or may become interested in the Administrator and its affiliates, as trustees, officers, members, managers, employees, partners, shareholders or otherwise, and that the Administrator and trustees, officers, members, managers, employees, partners and shareholders of the Administrator and its affiliates are or may become similarly interested in the Fund as shareholders or otherwise.
7. Duration and Termination.
(a) This Agreement shall become effective as of the date first written above. This Agreement may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, on 120 days’ written notice, by the Fund or by the Administrator. The provisions of Section 5 of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect, and the Administrator shall remain entitled to the benefits thereof, notwithstanding any termination of this Agreement. Further, notwithstanding the termination or expiration of this Agreement as aforesaid, the Administrator shall be entitled to any amounts owed under Section 4 through the date of termination or expiration, and Section 5 shall continue in force and effect and apply to the Administrator and its representatives as and to the extent applicable.
(b) This Agreement shall continue in effect for two years from the date hereof, or to the extent consistent with the requirements of the Investment Company Act, from the date of the Fund’s election to be regulated as a BDC under the Investment Company Act, and thereafter shall continue automatically for successive annual periods, provided that such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by (i) the vote of the Board, or by the vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund and (ii) the vote of a majority of the Fund’s Board of Trustees who are not parties to this Agreement or “interested persons” (as such term is defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Investment Company Act) of any such party, in accordance with the requirements of the Investment Company Act.
(c) This Agreement will automatically terminate in the event of its “assignment” (as such term is defined for purposes of Section 15(a)(4) of the Investment Company Act).
8. Amendments of this Agreement. This Agreement may be amended pursuant to a written instrument by mutual consent of the parties.
9. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed, construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed as being inconsistent with the Investment Company Act.
10. Entire Agreement. This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings and arrangements with respect to the subject matter hereof.
11. Notices. Any notice under this Agreement shall be given in writing, addressed and delivered or mailed, postage prepaid, to the other party at its principal office.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this Agreement as of the date first above written.
| AB PRIVATE LENDING FUND | ||
| By: |
| |
| Name: | ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ | |
| Title: | Assistant Secretary | |
| AB PRIVATE CREDIT INVESTORS LLC | ||
| By: |
| |
| Name: | ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ | |
| Title: | Vice President | |
[Signature Page to Administration Agreement]