XML 27 R16.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.25.3
Conversion to an Operating Company
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2022
Conversion to an Operating Company  
Conversion to an Operating Company

(6) Conversion to an Operating Company

 

Authorization to Withdraw BDC Election—On August 17, 2021, holders of a majority of the outstanding common stock of the Fund approved our cessation as a BDC under the 1940 Act and authorized our Board to cause the Fund’s withdrawal of its election to be classified as a BDC, effective as of a date designated by the Board and our Chief Executive Officer. Although this authorization has since expired, we expect to receive a further authorization from our shareholders as a consequence of our expressed intent to transform Equus into an operating company or a permanent capital vehicle. Notwithstanding any such authorization to withdraw our BDC election, we will not submit any such withdrawal unless and until Equus has entered into a definitive agreement to effect a transformative transaction. Further, even if we are again authorized to withdraw our election as a BDC, we will require a subsequent affirmative vote from holders of a majority of our outstanding voting shares to enter into any such definitive agreement or change the nature of our business. While we are presently evaluating various opportunities that could enable us to accomplish this transformation, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so within any particular time period or at all, and, although we expect that our shareholders will extend our current authorization, we do not expect to cause the Fund to withdraw its election to be classified as BDC prior to June 30, 2022. Moreover, we cannot assure you that the terms of any such transformative transaction would be acceptable to us.

 

Increase in Authorized Shares—On January 20, 2021, holders of a majority of the outstanding common stock of the Fund approved the restatement of our Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of our authorized shares of common stock from 50,000,000 to 100,000,000, and the number of our authorized shares of preferred stock from 5,000,000 to 10,000,000. The increase is intended to help facilitate the transformation of Equus into an operating company and provide sufficient authorized shares to evaluate larger business concerns as possible acquisition or merger candidates.