As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 26, 2010

 

Securities Act File No. 333-159720

 

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

 

Form N-2

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 o Pre-Effective Amendment No.

þ Post-Effective Amendment No. 4

 

 

 

 

Fifth Street Finance Corp.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

 

10 Bank Street, 12th Floor

White Plains, NY 10606

(914) 286-6800

(Address and telephone number, including area code, of principal executive offices)

 

Leonard M. Tannenbaum

Fifth Street Finance Corp.

10 Bank Street, 12th Floor

White Plains, NY 10606

 

(Name and address of agent for service)

 

 

 

 

Copies to:

 

 

Approximate date of proposed public offering:  From time to time after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

 

If any securities being registered on this form will be offered on a delayed or continuous basis in reliance on Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered in connection with a dividend reinvestment plan, check the following box.  þ

 

PART C
Item 25. Financial Statements And Exhibits
Item 26. Marketing Arrangements
Item 27. Other Expenses Of Issuance And Distribution
Item 28. Persons Controlled By Or Under Common Control
Item 29. Number Of Holders Of Securities
Item 30. Indemnification
Item 31. Business And Other Connections Of Investment Adviser
Item 32. Location Of Accounts And Records
Item 33. Management Services
Item 34. Undertakings
SIGNATURES
EXHIBIT INDEX
EX-99.H
EX-99L.2

EXPLANATORY NOTE

     This Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 to the Registration Statement on Form N-2 (File No. 333-159720) is being filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), solely for the purpose of adding exhibits to such Registration Statement. Accordingly, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 consists only of a facing page, this explanatory note, and Part C of the Registration Statement on Form N-2. This Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 does not change the form of prospectus relating to the Registration Statement on Form N-2 previously filed with the SEC. As permitted by Rule 462(d), this Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 shall become effective upon filing with the SEC.

PART C

 

Other Information

 

 

(1) Financial Statements

 

The following financial statements of Fifth Street Finance Corp. (the “Registrant” or the “Company”) are included in Part A of this Registration Statement:

 

 

(2) Exhibits

 

 

 

 

 

The information contained under the heading “Plan of Distribution” on this Registration Statement is incorporated herein by reference and any information concerning any underwriters will be contained in the accompanying prospectus supplement, if any.

 

 

The amounts set forth above, except for the SEC, FINRA, and New York Stock Exchange fees, are in each case estimated. All of the expenses set forth above shall be borne by the Registrant.

 

 

The following list sets forth each of the Registrant’s subsidiaries, the state or country under whose laws the subsidiary is organized, and the percentage of voting securities or membership interests owned by the Registrant in such subsidiary:

 

 

 

Each of our subsidiaries is consolidated for financial reporting purposes.

 

In addition, the Registrant may be deemed to control Lighting by Gregory, LLC, one of the Registrant’s portfolio companies.

 

 

The following table sets forth the number of record holders of the Registrant’s capital stock at November 30, 2009.

 

 

 

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law empowers a Delaware corporation to indemnify its officers and directors and specific other persons to the extent and under the circumstances set forth therein.

 

Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law allows a Delaware corporation to eliminate the personal liability of a director to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for liabilities arising (a) from any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders; (b) from acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; (c) under Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; or (d) from any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.

 

Subject to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) or any valid rule, regulation or order of the SEC thereunder, our Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that we will indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened action, suit or proceeding whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he is or was a director or officer of the Registrant, or is or was serving at the request of the Registrant as a director or officer of another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, in accordance with provisions corresponding to Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The 1940 Act provides that a company may not indemnify any director or officer against liability to it or its security holders to which he or she might otherwise be subject by reason of his or her willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office unless a determination is made by final decision of a court, by vote of a majority of a quorum of directors who are disinterested, non-party

directors or by independent legal counsel that the liability for which indemnification is sought did not arise out of the foregoing conduct. In addition, our Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that the indemnification described therein is not exclusive and shall not exclude any other rights to which the person seeking to be indemnified may be entitled under statute, any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or directors who are not interested persons, or otherwise, both as to action in his official capacity and to his action in another capacity while holding such office.

 

The above discussion of Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law and the Registrant’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation is not intended to be exhaustive and is respectively qualified in its entirety by such statute and the Registrant’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation.

 

The Registrant has obtained primary and excess insurance policies insuring our directors and officers against some liabilities they may incur in their capacity as directors and officers. Under such policies, the insurer, on the Registrant’s behalf, may also pay amounts for which the Registrant has granted indemnification to the directors or officers.

 

The Registrant may agree to indemnify any underwriters in connection with an offering pursuant to this Registration Statement against specific liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).

 

 

A description of any other business, profession, vocation, or employment of a substantial nature in which our investment adviser, and each director or executive officer of our investment adviser, is or has been during the past two fiscal years, engaged in for his or her own account or in the capacity of director, officer, employee, partner or trustee, is set forth in Part A of this Registration Statement in the sections entitled “Business — The Investment Adviser,” “Management — Board of Directors and Executive Officers — Directors,” “— Executive Officers” and “Investment Advisory Agreement.” Additional information regarding our investment adviser and its officers and directors is set forth in its Form ADV, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC File No. 801-68676), and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

 

All accounts, books and other documents required to be maintained by Section 31(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the rules thereunder are maintained at the offices of:

 

(1) the Registrant, Fifth Street Finance Corp., 10 Bank Street, 12th Floor, White Plains, NY 10606;

 

(2) the Transfer Agent, American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 59 Maiden Lane, New York, New York, 10038;

 

(3) the Custodian, Bank of America, National Association, Bank of America Corporate Center, 100 N Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001;

 

(4) the investment adviser, Fifth Street Management LLC, 10 Bank Street, 12th Floor, White Plains, NY 10606; and

 

(5) the administrator, FSC, Inc., 10 Bank Street, 12th Floor, White Plains, NY 10606.

 

 

Not Applicable.

 

 

1. We hereby undertake to suspend any offering of shares until the prospectus is amended if (1) subsequent to the effective date of this Registration Statement, our net asset value declines more than ten percent from our net asset

value as of the effective date of this Registration Statement or (2) our net asset value increases to an amount greater than our net proceeds (if applicable) as stated in the prospectus.

 

2. We hereby undertake:

 

a. to file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

 

(1) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

 

(2) to reflect in the prospectus or prospectus supplement any facts or events after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement; and

 

(3) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement.

 

b. for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, that each such post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of those securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

c. to remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

 

d. for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser, that if we are subject to Rule 430C under the Securities Act, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 497(b), (c), (d) or (e) under the Securities Act as part of this Registration Statement relating to an offering shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness, provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus or prospectus supplement that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supercede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use.

 

e. for the purpose of determining liability of the Registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of securities, that if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, we will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to the purchaser:

 

(1) any preliminary prospectus or prospectus or prospectus supplement of us relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 497 under the Securities Act;

 

(2) the portion of any advertisement pursuant to Rule 482 under the Securities Act relating to the offering containing material information about us or our securities provided by or on behalf of us; and

 

(3) any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by us to the purchaser.

 

f. to file a post-effective amendment to the registration statement, and to suspend any offers or sales pursuant to the registration statement until such post-effective amendment has been declared effective under the 1933 Act, in the event our shares of common stock are trading below our net asset value per share and either (i) we receive, or have been advised by our independent registered accounting firm that we will receive, an audit report reflecting substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern or (ii) we have concluded that a fundamental change has occurred in our financial position or results of operations.

 

g. Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers and controlling persons, that we have been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and

Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by us of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of us in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we undertake, unless in the opinion of our counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, to submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by us is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and we will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

3. We hereby undertake that:

 

a. For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this Registration Statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by us pursuant to Rule 424(b) (1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this Registration Statement as of the time it was declared effective.

 

b. For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 to the Registration Statement on Form N-2 to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of White Plains, State of New York, on January 26, 2010.

 

FIFTH STREET FINANCE CORP.

 

Name: Leonard M. Tannenbaum
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 to the Registration Statement on Form N-2 has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated:

 

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit
Number		Description
(h)		Underwriting Agreement, dated January 22, 2010, among Registrant, Fifth Street Management LLC, FSC, Inc., Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and UBS Securities LLC
(l)(2)		Opinion of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

Exhibit (h)

EXECUTION COPY

Fifth Street Finance Corp.

Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share

Underwriting Agreement

January 22, 2010

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC
375 Park Avenue
4th Floor
New York, New York 10152

UBS Securities LLC
299 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10171

As		representatives (the “Representatives”) of the several Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto

Ladies and Gentlemen:

     Fifth Street Finance Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions stated herein, to issue and sell to the Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (the “Underwriters”), an aggregate of 7,000,000 shares (the “Firm Shares”) and, at the election of the Underwriters, up to 1,050,000 additional shares (the “Optional Shares”) of Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share (“Stock”) of the Company (the Firm Shares and the Optional Shares that the Underwriters elect to purchase pursuant to Section 3 hereof being collectively called, the “Shares”).

     The Company and the Underwriters agree that up to 25,000 of the Shares to be purchased by the Underwriters (the “Reserved Securities”) shall be reserved for sale by the Underwriters to the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer (the “Invitee”), as part of the distribution of the Shares by the Underwriters, subject to the terms of this Agreement, the applicable rules, regulations and interpretations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations. To the extent that such Reserved Securities are not orally confirmed for purchase by the Invitee by the end of the first business day after the date of this Agreement, such Reserved Securities may be offered to the public as part of the public offering contemplated hereby.

     On January 2, 2008, Form N-54A Notification of Election to be Subject to Sections 55 through 65 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, (File No. 814-00755) (the “Notification of Election”) was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Investment Company Act”), pursuant to which the Company elected to be treated as a business development company (“BDC”).

     The Company has entered into an amended and restated investment advisory and management agreement, dated as of April 30, 2008 (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”), with Fifth Street Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Adviser”), registered as an investment

adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “Advisers Act”).

     The Company has entered into an administration agreement, dated as of December 14, 2007 (the “Administration Agreement”), with FSC, Inc., a New York corporation (the “Administrator”).

     1. The Company represents and warrants to and agrees with each of the Underwriters, and the Adviser and the Administrator, jointly and severally, represent and warrant to and agree with each of the Underwriters, that:

          (a) A registration statement on Form N-2 (File No. 333-159720) (the “Initial Registration Statement”) in respect of the Shares has been filed with the Commission not earlier than three years prior to the date hereof; the Company is eligible to use Form N-2; the Initial Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, each in the form heretofore delivered to you, and, excluding exhibits thereto, for each of the other Underwriters, have been declared effective by the Commission in such form; other than the correspondences with the Commission and the supplements to the Basic Prospectus as defined below, copies of which have been provided to you, no other document with respect to the Initial Registration Statement has heretofore been filed with the Commission; and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Initial Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto has been issued, no proceeding for that purpose has been initiated or threatened by the Commission and no notice of objection of the Commission to the use of the Initial Registration Statement has been received by the Company (the base prospectus in the form in which it has most recently been filed with the Commission and declared effective on or prior to the date of this Agreement, is hereinafter called the “Basic Prospectus”); the Basic Prospectus and the preliminary prospectus supplement, dated January 21, 2010, that was used prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement and filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 497 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), relating to the Shares hereinafter called the “Preliminary Prospectus”; the various parts of the Initial Registration Statement, including all exhibits thereto and including the information contained in the form of final prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 497 under the Act in accordance with Section 6(A)(a) hereof and deemed by virtue of Rule 430C under the Act to be part of the Initial Registration Statement at the time it was declared effective or hereafter becomes effective, are hereinafter collectively called the “Registration Statement”; the Preliminary Prospectus, together with the price to public and number of Shares to be offered set forth on the cover page of the Prospectus (as defined below) is hereinafter called the “Pricing Prospectus”; and the Basic Prospectus and the form of final prospectus relating to the Shares filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 497 under the Act in accordance with Section 6(A)(a) are hereinafter called the “Prospectus”;

          (b) No order preventing or suspending the use of the Preliminary Prospectus has been issued by the Commission, and the Preliminary Prospectus, at the time of filing thereof, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Investment Company Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and did not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Content (as hereinafter defined);

          (c) For the purposes of this Agreement, the “Applicable Time” is 8:30 a.m. (Eastern time) on January 22, 2010. The Pricing Prospectus, as of the Applicable Time when considered together with the price to the public and number of Shares to be offered set forth on the cover of the Prospectus (such price to the public and number of Shares being referred to herein as the “Pricing Information”), did not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to

make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and each Additional Disclosure Item (as defined in Section 7 hereof) listed on Schedule II(a) hereto does not and will not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus and each such Additional Disclosure Item, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Prospectus as of the Applicable Time when considered together with the Pricing Information, did not and will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Content;

          (d) The Registration Statement conforms, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will conform, in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder and do not and will not, as of the applicable effective date as to each part of the Registration Statement and as of the applicable filing date as to the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Content; there are no contracts or agreements that are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or to be filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement that have not been so described and filed as required;

          (e) None of Fifth Street Funding LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Funding”), FSFC Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, FSF/MP Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, Fifth Street Mezzanine Partners IV, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and FSMP IV GP, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (collectively, the “Subsidiaries”) or the Company has sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included in the Pricing Prospectus any material loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus; and, since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus, there has not been any change in the capital stock or long-term debt of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries (any such change or development is hereinafter referred to as a “Material Adverse Change”), otherwise than as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus; and other than the Subsidiaries, the Company has no other subsidiaries.

          (f) The Company and each of its Subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property and good and marketable title to all personal property owned by them, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects except such as are described in the Pricing Prospectus or such as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and its Subsidiaries; and any real property and buildings held under lease by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and its Subsidiaries; the Company and its Subsidiaries own, lease or have access to all properties and other assets that are necessary to the conduct of their business as described in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus;

          (g) The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus and to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement, and has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be so qualified in any such jurisdiction; and each Subsidiary of the Company has been duly organized and is validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus, and has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation or entity for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be so qualified in any such jurisdiction;

          (h) The Company has an authorized, issued and outstanding capitalization as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Capitalization” and all of the issued shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and conform to the description of the Stock contained in the Pricing Prospectus and Prospectus; and other than the lien granted by the Company on all of its equity interests in Funding in connection with the Company’s $50 million credit facility with Wachovia National Bank, N.A., all of the issued equity capital of each Subsidiary has been duly and validly authorized and issued, is fully paid and non-assessable and is owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, equities or claims;

          (i) The unissued Shares to be issued and sold by the Company to the Underwriters hereunder have been duly and validly authorized and, when issued and delivered against payment therefor as provided herein, will be duly and validly issued and fully paid and non-assessable and will conform to the description of the Stock contained in the Prospectus, and the offer and sale of the Shares as contemplated hereby has been duly approved by all necessary corporate action, including the approval of the stockholders of the Company; no holder of Shares will be subject to personal liability by reason of being such a holder; and the issuance of the Shares is not subject to any pre-emptive, co-sale right, rights of first refusal or other similar rights of any security holder of the Company or any other person;

          (j) This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company; each of the License Agreement, dated as of December 14, 2007 (the “License Agreement”), between the Company and Fifth Street Capital LLC, the Custodian Agreement, dated as of May 5, 2008 (the “Custodian Agreement”), between the Company and Bank of America, National Association, the Investment Advisory Agreement and the Administration Agreement have been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and constitute valid, binding and enforceable agreements of the Company, subject, as to enforcement, to applicable bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency, moratorium or other laws affecting creditors’ rights generally; and the Investment Advisory Agreement has been approved by the Company’s board of directors and stockholders in accordance with Section 15 of the Investment Company Act, contains the applicable provisions required by Section 205 of the Advisers Act and Section 15 of the Investment Company Act and otherwise complies in all material respects with the requirements of the Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act;

          (k) None of the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, will (i) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of

its Subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is subject, or (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation or the Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”) of the Company or any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any of their properties except, with respect to clause (i), to the extent that any such conflict, breach or violation would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the execution, delivery or performance of any of this Agreement, the License Agreement, the Investment Advisory Agreement or the Administration Agreement, or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, except the registration under the Act of the Shares, such consents, approvals, authorizations, registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities or Blue Sky laws in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Shares by the Underwriters and such consents, approvals, authorization, registrations or qualifications which have been obtained or effected;

          (l) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is in violation of its Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws or any other organizational documents or in default in the performance or observance of any material obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound;

          (m) The statements set forth in the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Description of Our Securities”, insofar as they purport to constitute a summary of the terms of the Stock, and under the captions “Regulation”, “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations”, “Plan of Distribution” and “Underwriting”, insofar as they purport to describe the provisions of the laws and documents referred to therein, are accurate, complete and fair;

          (n) The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Shares and the application of the proceeds thereof, will not be a “registered management investment company”, as such term is used in the Investment Company Act;

          (o) Other than as set forth in the Pricing Prospectus, there are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is a party or of which any property of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is the subject which, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, would individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on the current or future financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries; and, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or threatened by others;

          (p) The Company has duly elected to be regulated by the Commission as a BDC under the Investment Company Act, and no order of suspension or revocation has been issued or proceedings therefor initiated or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened by the Commission. Such election has not been withdrawn and the provisions of the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and compliance by the Company with the investment objectives, policies and restrictions described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, will not conflict with the provisions of the Investment Company Act applicable to the Company;

          (q) Grant Thornton LLP, who have certified certain financial statements of the Company, are independent public accountants of the Company as required by the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder;

          (r) The financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, together with the related notes, present fairly the financial position of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries at the dates indicated and the statement of operations, changes in net assets, cash flows and financial highlights of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries for the periods specified; said financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved. The selected financial data included in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus present fairly the information shown therein and was compiled on a basis consistent with that of the audited financial statements included in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. The estimated range of net investment income for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 and the change in net asset value per share as of December 31, 2009 from September 30, 2009 were made in good faith and based on reasonable assumptions based on the Company’s internal accounting records, including assumptions with respect to normal adjustments that have been or are expected to be recorded in connection with preparation of the Company’s financial statements for the corresponding fiscal period.

          (s) The Company maintains a system of internal accounting and other controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (A) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization and with the investment objectives, policies and restrictions of the Company and the applicable requirements of the Investment Company Act and the Code; (B) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain accountability for assets and to maintain material compliance with the books and records requirements under the Investment Company Act; (C) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (D) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. Except as described in the Pricing Prospectus, since the end of the Company’s most recent audited fiscal year, there has been (1) no material weakness (whether or not remediated) in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15 and 15d-15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) and (2) no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially negatively affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting;

          (t) The Company has established and maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act); such disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company, including material information pertaining to the Company’s operations and assets managed by the Adviser, is made known to the Company’s Chief Financial Officer by others within the Company and the Adviser, and such disclosure controls and procedures are effective to perform the functions for which they were established;

          (u) There are no agreements requiring the registration under the Act of, and there are no options, warrants or other rights to purchase any shares of, or exchange any securities for shares of, the Company’s capital stock;

          (v) The Company owns, or has obtained valid and enforceable licenses for, or other rights to use, the inventions, patent applications, patents, trademarks (both registered and unregistered), trade names, copyrights, trade secrets and other proprietary information described in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus which are necessary for the conduct of its businesses;

          (w) The Company maintains insurance covering its properties, operations, personnel and businesses as the Company deems adequate; such insurance insures against such losses and risks to

an extent which is adequate in accordance with customary industry practice to protect the Company and its business; all such insurance is fully in force;

          (x) Except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, the Company has not sent or received any communication regarding termination of, or intent not to renew, any of the contracts or agreements referred to or described in, or filed as an exhibit to, the Registration Statement, and no such termination or non-renewal has been threatened by the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any other party to any such contract or agreement;

          (y) The Company has not, directly or indirectly, extended credit, arranged to extend credit, or renewed any extension of credit, in the form of a personal loan, to or for any director or executive officer of the Company, or to or for any family member or affiliate of any director or executive officer of the Company;

          (z) Neither the Company nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any employee or agent of the Company has made any payment of funds of the Company or received or retained any funds in violation of any law, rule or regulation, which payment, receipt or retention of funds is of a character required to be disclosed in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Prospectus;

          (aa) Neither the Company nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its respective directors, officers, affiliates or controlling persons has taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed, or which has constituted or might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act, to result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale of the Shares;

          (bb) To the Company’s knowledge, there are no affiliations or associations between any member of FINRA and any of the Company’s officers, directors or securityholders, except as set forth in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus or disclosed by the Company to FINRA through Web COBRADesk;

          (cc) Except as disclosed in the Pricing Prospectus, (i) no person is serving or acting as an officer, director or investment adviser of the Company, except in accordance with the provisions of the Investment Company Act and the Advisers Act and (ii) to the knowledge of the Company, no director of the Company is an “affiliated person” (as defined in the Investment Company Act) of any of the Underwriters;

          (dd) The operations of the Company are in compliance in all material respects with the provisions of the Investment Company Act applicable to a BDC and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder;

          (ee) The Company has not distributed any offering material in connection with the offering or sale of the Shares other than the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus;

          (ff) None of the persons identified as “independent directors” in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Prospectus is an “interested person” as that term is defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Investment Company Act;

          (gg) Except as described in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus, no relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company, on the one hand, and the directors,

officers or stockholders of the Company, on the other hand, that is required to be described in the Registration Statement or the Pricing Prospectus, which is not so described;

          (hh) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus, neither the Company nor the Adviser has any lending or other commercial relationship with any affiliate of any Underwriter and the Company will not use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Shares to repay any indebtedness owed to any affiliate of any Underwriter;

          (ii) The Company qualified to be treated as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), for its taxable year ended September 30, 2009. The Company is in compliance with the requirements of the Code necessary to continue to qualify as a RIC. The Company intends to direct the investment of the net proceeds of the offering of the Shares and to continue to conduct its activities in such a manner as to continue to comply with the requirements for qualification as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. Each of the Company and its Subsidiaries has filed all tax returns that are required to be filed and have paid all taxes required to be paid by it and any other assessment, fine or penalty levied against it, to the extent that any of the foregoing is due and payable, except for any such tax, assessment, fine or penalty that is currently being contested in good faith by appropriate actions and except for such taxes, assessments, fines or penalties the nonpayment of which would not, individually or in the aggregate, be reasonably expected to have a Material Adverse Change. The Company has made adequate charges, accruals and reserves in the applicable financial statements referred to in the Registration Statement and the Preliminary Prospectus in respect of all federal, state, local and foreign income and franchise taxes for all periods as to which the tax liability of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries has not been finally determined. The Company is not aware of any tax deficiency that has been or might be asserted or threatened against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries that could, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change;

          (jj) Other than the Subsidiaries and except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus under the captions “Prospectus Summary—Recent Developments” and “Portfolio Companies”, the Company does not own, directly or indirectly, any shares of stock or any other equity or long term debt securities of any corporation or other entity. Except for Lighting by Gregory, LLC, the Company does not control (as such term is defined in Section 2(a)(9) of the Investment Company Act) any of the companies described in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Portfolio Companies”;

          (kk) The Company is not aware that any executive, key employee or significant group of employees of any of the Company, the Adviser or the Administrator, plans to terminate employment with the Company or any such executive or key employee is subject to any noncompete, nondisclosure, confidentiality, employment, consulting or similar agreement that would be violated by the present or proposed business activities of the Company;

          (ll) The Stock is registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and is listed on The New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”). The Company has taken no action designed to, or likely to have the effect of, terminating the registration of the Stock under the Exchange Act or delisting the common stock of the Company from the Exchange, nor has the Company received any notification that the Commission or the Exchange is contemplating terminating such registration or listing. The Company has continued to satisfy all Exchange listing requirements;

          (mm) The Company (i) has adopted and implemented written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation of the Federal Securities Laws (as that term is defined in Rule 38a-1 under the Investment Company Act) by the Company and its Subsidiaries, (ii) is conducting its business in compliance with all laws, rules, regulations, decisions, directives and orders, except for such

failure to comply which would not, either individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to, result in a Material Adverse Change and (iii) is conducting its business in compliance with the requirements of the Investment Company Act; and

          (nn) The Company’s filings under the Exchange Act and the Investment Company Act, when they were filed with the Commission, as the case may be, conformed in all material respects to the requirements of the Exchange Act and the Investment Company Act, as applicable, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, and none of such documents contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading in light of the circumstances under which they were made.

          (oo) Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that has resulted or would result in a violation by such persons of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “FCPA”), including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA.

          (pp) The operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the applicable money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar applicable rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, “Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its Subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.

          (qq) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or person acting on behalf of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“OFAC”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use any of the proceeds received by the Company from the sale of Shares contemplated by this Agreement, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available any such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC.

          (rr) All of the information provided to the Underwriters or to counsel for the Underwriters by the Company and, to the knowledge of the Company, its officers and directors in connection with letters, filings or other supplemental information provided to the FINRA pursuant to FINRA Conduct Rule 5510 or NASD Conduct Rule 2720 is true, complete and correct.

     2. (a) The Adviser represents and warrants to the Underwriters that:

     (i) The Adviser has not sustained since January 2, 2008 any material loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree,

otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus; and, since January 2, 2008, there has not been any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Adviser (any such change or development is hereinafter referred to as an “Adviser Material Adverse Change”), otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus;

     (ii) The Adviser has been duly formed and is validly existing as a limited liability company and is in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with power and authority to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus, and has been duly qualified as a foreign entity for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be so qualified in any such jurisdiction;

     (iii) The Adviser is duly registered with the Commission as an investment adviser under the Advisers Act and is not prohibited by the Advisers Act or the Investment Company Act from acting under the Investment Advisory Agreement for the Company as contemplated by the Pricing Prospectus. There does not exist any proceeding or, to the Adviser’s knowledge, any facts or circumstances the existence of which could lead to any proceeding which might adversely affect the registration of the Adviser with the Commission;

     (iv) This Agreement and the Investment Advisory Agreement have each been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Adviser and constitute valid, binding and enforceable agreements of the Adviser, subject, as to enforcement, to applicable bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency, moratorium or other laws affecting creditors’ rights generally; except as amended as of April 30, 2008, the Investment Advisory Agreement has not been amended and continues in full force and effect;

     (v) None of the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement or the Investment Advisory Agreement, or the consummation of transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, will (i) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Adviser or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Adviser or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Adviser or any of its subsidiaries is subject, or (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the limited liability company agreement of the Adviser or any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Adviser or any of its subsidiaries or any of its properties except, with respect to clause (i), to the extent that any such conflict, breach or violation would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in an Adviser Material Adverse Change; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the execution, delivery or performance of any of this Agreement or the Investment Advisory Agreement, or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby by the Adviser, including the conduct of its business, except such as have been obtained under the Act, the Investment Company Act and the Advisers Act;

     (vi) There are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the Adviser is a party or of which any of its property is the subject which, if determined adversely to the Adviser would individually or in the aggregate materially adversely affect the Adviser’s ability to properly render services to the Company or have a material adverse effect on the current or future

financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Adviser and, to the best of its knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or threatened by others;

     (vii) The Adviser is not in violation of its limited liability company agreement or in default in the performance or observance of any material obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound;

     (viii) The Adviser possesses all licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations issued by appropriate federal, state or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct its business, and has not received any notice of proceeding relating to the revocation or modification of any such license, certificate, permit or authorization which, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would have a Adviser Material Adverse Change;

     (ix) The descriptions of the Adviser and its principals and business, and the statements attributable to the Adviser, in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus do not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading;

     (x) The Adviser has the financial resources available to it necessary for the performance of its services and obligations as contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and under this Agreement and the Investment Advisory Agreement; the Adviser owns, leases or has access to all properties and other assets that are necessary to the conduct of its business and to perform the services, as described in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus;

     (xi) The Adviser is not aware that (i) any of its executives, key employees or significant group of employees plans to terminate employment with the Adviser or (ii) any such executive or key employee is subject to any noncompete, nondisclosure, confidentiality, employment, consulting or similar agreement that would be violated by the present or proposed business activities of the Adviser;

     (xii) The Adviser maintains a system of internal controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions effectuated by it under the Investment Advisory Agreement are executed in accordance with its management’s general or specific authorization; and (ii) access to the Company’s assets is permitted only in accordance with its management’s general or specific authorization;

     (xiii) The Adviser has not taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares, and the Advisor is not aware of any such action being taken by any affiliates of the Adviser; and

     (xiv) The Adviser maintains insurance covering its properties, operations, personnel and businesses as it deems adequate; such insurance insures against such losses and risks to an extent which is adequate in accordance with customary industry practice to protect the Adviser and its businesses; all such insurance is fully in force and effect.

     (xv) Neither the Adviser nor and of its subsidiaries, nor, to the knowledge of the Adviser, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Adviser or any of its subsidiaries is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that has resulted or would result in a violation by such persons of the FCPA, including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA.

     (xvi) The operations of the Adviser and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Money Laundering Laws and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Adviser or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Adviser, threatened.

     (xvii) Neither the Adviser nor any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Adviser, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or person acting on behalf of the Adviser or any of its subsidiaries is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the OFAC; and the Adviser will not cause the Company to use any of the proceeds received by the Company from the sale of Shares contemplated by this Agreement, or cause the Company to lend, contribute or otherwise make available any such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC.

     (b) The Administrator represents and warrants to the Underwriters that:

     (i) The Administrator has not sustained since January 2, 2008 any material loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus; and, since January 2, 2008, there has not been any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Administrator (any such change or development is hereinafter referred to as an “Administrator Material Adverse Change”), otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus;

     (ii) The Administrator has been duly formed and is validly existing as a corporation and is in good standing under the laws of the State of New York, with power and authority to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the Pricing Prospectus, and has been duly qualified as a foreign corporation for the transaction of business and is in good standing under the laws of each other jurisdiction in which it owns or leases properties or conducts any business so as to require such qualification, or is subject to no material liability or disability by reason of the failure to be so qualified in any such jurisdiction;

     (iii) This Agreement and the Administration Agreement have each been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Administrator and constitute valid, binding and enforceable agreements of the Administrator, subject, as to enforcement, to applicable bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency, moratorium or other laws affecting creditors’ rights

generally; and the Administration Agreement has not been amended and continues in full force and effect;

     (iv) None of the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement or the Administration Agreement, or the consummation of transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, will (i) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Administrator or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Administrator or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the property or assets of the Administrator or any of its subsidiaries is subject, or (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the organizational documents of the Administrator or any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Administrator or any of its subsidiaries or any of its properties except, with respect to clause (i), to the extent that any such conflict, breach or violation would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in an Administrator Material Adverse Change; and no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the execution, delivery or performance of any of this Agreement or the Administration Agreement, or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby by the Administrator, including the conduct of its business, except such as have been obtained;

     (v) There are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the Administrator is a party or of which any of its property is the subject which, if determined adversely to the Administrator would individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on the current or future financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Administrator and, to the best of its knowledge, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or threatened by others;

     (vi) The Administrator is not in violation of its certificate of incorporation or bylaws or in default in the performance or observance of any material obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement, lease or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties may be bound;

     (vii) The Administrator possesses all licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations issued by appropriate federal, state or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct its business, and has not received any notice of proceeding relating to the revocation or modification of any such license, certificate, permit or authorization which, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would have a Administrator Material Adverse Change;

     (viii) The descriptions of the Administrator and its principals and business, and the statements attributable to the Administrator, in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, if any, do not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading;

     (ix) The Administrator has the financial resources available to it necessary for the performance of its services and obligations as contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus and under this Agreement and the Administration Agreement; the Administrator owns, leases or has access

to all properties and other assets that are necessary to the conduct of its business and to perform the services, as described in the Registration Statement and the Pricing Prospectus;

     (x) The Administrator is not aware that (i) any of its executives, key employees or significant group of employees plans to terminate employment with the Administrator or (ii) any such executive or key employee is subject to any noncompete, nondisclosure, confidentiality, employment, consulting or similar agreement that would be violated by the present or proposed business activities of the Administrator;

     (xi) The Administrator maintains a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions for which it has bookkeeping and record keeping responsibility for under the Administration Agreement are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of the Company’s financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain accountability for the Company’s assets and (ii) the recorded accountability for such assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences;

     (xii) The Administrator has not taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares, and the Administrator is not aware of any such action being taken by any affiliates of the Administrator; and

     (xiii) The Administrator maintains insurance covering its properties, operations, personnel and businesses as it deems adequate; such insurance insures against such losses and risks to an extent which is adequate in accordance with customary industry practice to protect the Administrator and its businesses; all such insurance is in full force and effect.

     (xiv) Neither the Administrator nor and of its subsidiaries, nor, to the knowledge of the Administrator, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Administrator or any of its subsidiaries is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that has resulted or would result in a violation by such persons of the FCPA, including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA.

     (xv) The operations of the Administrator and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Money Laundering Laws and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Administrator or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Administrator, threatened.

     (xvi) Neither the Administrator nor any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Administrator, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or person acting on behalf of the Administrator or any of its subsidiaries is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the OFAC.

     3. Subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, (a) the Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price per share of $10.696, the number of Firm Shares set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto and (b) in the event and to the extent that the Underwriters shall exercise the election to purchase Optional Shares as provided below, the Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at the purchase price per share set forth in clause (a) of this Section 3, that portion of the number of Optional Shares as to which such election shall have been exercised (to be adjusted by you so as to eliminate fractional shares) determined by multiplying such number of Optional Shares by a fraction, the numerator of which is the maximum number of Optional Shares which such Underwriter is entitled to purchase as set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter in Schedule I hereto and the denominator of which is the maximum number of Optional Shares that all of the Underwriters are entitled to purchase hereunder.

     The Company hereby grants to the Underwriters the right to purchase at their election up to 1,050,000 Optional Shares, at the purchase price per share set forth in the paragraph above, for the sole purpose of covering sales of shares in excess of the number of Firm Shares, provided that the purchase price per Optional Share shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Shares but not payable on the Optional Shares. Any such election to purchase Optional Shares may be exercised only by written notice from you to the Company, given within a period of 30 calendar days after the date of this Agreement, setting forth the aggregate number of Optional Shares to be purchased and the date on which such Optional Shares are to be delivered, as determined by you but in no event earlier than the First Time of Delivery (as defined in Section 5(a) hereof) or, unless you and the Company otherwise agree in writing, earlier than two or later than ten business days after the date of such notice.

     4. Upon the authorization by you of the release of the Firm Shares, the several Underwriters propose to offer the Firm Shares for sale upon the terms and conditions set forth in the Prospectus.

     5. (a) The Shares to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder, in definitive form, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representative may request upon at least forty-eight hours’ prior notice to the Company shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company to the Representative, through the facilities of the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified by the Company to the Representatives at least forty-eight hours in advance. The Company will cause the certificates representing the Shares to be made available for checking and packaging at least twenty-four hours prior to the Time of Delivery (as defined below) with respect thereto at the office of DTC or its designated custodian (the “Designated Office”). The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be, with respect to the Firm Shares, 10:30 a.m., New York City time, on the third (fourth if the pricing occurs after 4:30 p.m., New York time) day following the date hereof or such other time and date as the Representative and the Company may agree upon in writing, and, with respect to the Optional Shares, 10:30 a.m., New York time, on the date specified by the Representative in the written notice given by the Representative of the Underwriters’ election to purchase such Optional Shares, or such other time and date as the Representative and the Company may agree upon in writing. Such time and date for delivery of the Firm Shares is herein called the “First Time of Delivery”, such time and date for delivery of the Optional Shares, if not the First Time of Delivery, is herein called the “Second Time of Delivery”, and each such time and date for delivery is herein called a “Time of Delivery”.

          (b) The documents to be delivered at each Time of Delivery by or on behalf of the parties hereto pursuant to Section 9 hereof, including the cross receipt for the Shares and any additional

documents requested by the Underwriters pursuant to Section 9(k) hereof, will be delivered at the offices of Hunton & Williams LLP, 200 Park Avenue, 52^nd Floor, New York, NY (the “Closing Location”), and the Shares will be delivered at the Designated Office, all at such Time of Delivery. A meeting will be held at the Closing Location at 3:00 p.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next preceding such Time of Delivery, at which meeting the final drafts of the documents to be delivered pursuant to the preceding sentence will be available for review by the parties hereto. For the purposes of this Section 5, “New York Business Day” shall mean each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, which is not a day on which banking institutions in New York City are generally authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close.

     6. (A) The Company agrees with each of the Underwriters:

          (a) To prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by you and to file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 497 under the Act not later than the Commission’s close of business on the second business day following the execution and delivery of this Agreement; to make no further amendment or any supplement to the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus prior to the last Time of Delivery which shall be disapproved by you promptly after reasonable notice thereof; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the time when any amendment to the Registration Statement has been filed or becomes effective or any amendment or supplement to the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus has been filed and to furnish you with copies thereof; to advise you, promptly after it receives notice thereof, of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of the Basic Prospectus or any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus in respect of the Shares, of the suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose, or of any request by the Commission for the amending or supplementing of the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or for additional information; and, in the event of the issuance of any stop order or of any order preventing or suspending the use of the Basic Prospectus or any Preliminary Prospectus or other prospectus or suspending any such qualification, to promptly use its best efforts to obtain the withdrawal of such order;

          (b) Promptly from time to time to take such action as you may reasonably request to qualify the Shares for offering and sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as you may request and to comply with such laws so as to permit the continuance of sales and dealings therein in such jurisdictions for as long as may be necessary to complete the distribution of the Shares, provided that in connection therewith the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction;

          (c) Prior to 3:00 p.m., New York City time, on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement and from time to time, to furnish the Underwriters with written and electronic copies of the Prospectus in New York City in such quantities as you may reasonably request, and, if the delivery of a prospectus is required at any time prior to the expiration of nine months after the time of issue of the Prospectus in connection with the offering or sale of the Shares and if at such time any event shall have occurred as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made when such Prospectus is delivered, not misleading, or, if for any other reason it shall be necessary during such same period to amend or supplement the Prospectus in order to comply with the Act, to notify you and upon your request to prepare and furnish without charge to each Underwriter and to any dealer in securities as many written and electronic copies as you may from time to time reasonably request of an amended Prospectus or a supplement to the Prospectus which will correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; and in case any Underwriter is required to deliver a prospectus in connection with sales of

any of the Shares at any time nine months or more after the time of issue of the Prospectus, upon your request but at the expense of such Underwriter, to prepare and deliver to such Underwriter as many written and electronic copies as you may request of an amended or supplemented Prospectus complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act;

          (d) To make generally available to the Company’s securityholders as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than 16 months after the effective date of the Registration Statement (as defined in Rule 158(c) under the Act), an earnings statement of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries (which need not be audited) complying with Section 11(a) of the Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (including, at the option of the Company, Rule 158);

          (e) During the period beginning from the date hereof and continuing to and including the date 60 days after the date of the Prospectus (the “Lock-Up Period”), not to offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale or otherwise dispose, except as provided hereunder, of any securities of the Company that are substantially similar to the Shares, including but not limited to any options or warrants to purchase shares of Stock or any securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, Stock or any such substantially similar securities (other than pursuant to a dividend reinvestment plan described in the Pricing Prospectus), without the prior written consent of Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and UBS Securities LLC; provided, however, that if (1) during the last 17 days of the initial Lock-Up Period, the Company releases earnings results or announces material news or a material event or (2) prior to the expiration of the initial Lock-Up Period, the Company announces that it will release earnings results during the 15-day period following the last day of the initial Lock-Up Period, then in each case the Lock-Up Period will be automatically extended until the expiration of the 18-day period beginning on the date of release of the earnings results or the announcement of the material news or material event, as applicable, unless each of Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and UBS Securities LLC waives, in writing, such extension;

          (f) To furnish to its stockholders as soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year an annual report (including a balance sheet and statements of income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries certified by independent public accountants) and, as soon as practicable after the end of each of the first three quarters of each fiscal year (beginning with the fiscal quarter ending after the effective date of the Registration Statement), to make available to its stockholders consolidated summary financial information of the Company and its subsidiaries for such quarter in reasonable detail;

          (g) During a period of five years from the effective date of the Registration Statement and only to the extent not otherwise available on the Commission’s EDGAR system, to furnish to you copies of all reports or other communications (financial or other) furnished to stockholders, and to deliver to you (i) as soon as they are available, copies of any reports and financial statements furnished to or filed with the Commission or any national securities exchange on which any class of securities of the Company is listed; and (ii) such additional information concerning the business and financial condition of the Company as you may from time to time reasonably request (such financial statements to be on a consolidated basis to the extent the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries are consolidated in reports furnished to its stockholders generally or to the Commission);

          (h) To use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement in the manner specified in the Pricing Prospectus under the caption “Use of Proceeds”;

          (i) To use its best efforts to list, subject to notice of issuance, the Shares on the Exchange;

          (j) To use its best efforts to maintain in effect its qualification and election to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code for each taxable year during which it is a BDC under the Investment Company Act;

          (k) The Company, during a period of two years from the effective date of the Registration Statement, will use its best efforts to maintain its status as a BDC; provided, however, the Company may change the nature of its business so as to cease to be, or to withdraw its election as, a BDC, with the approval of the board of directors and a vote of stockholders as required by Section 58 of the Investment Company Act or any successor provision;

          (l) Not to take, directly or indirectly, any action designed, or which could reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act, in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale of the Shares;

          (m) To maintain a transfer agent and, if necessary under the jurisdiction of incorporation of the Company, a registrar for the Stock; and

          (n) The Company will comply with the Act, the Exchange Act and the Investment Company Act, and the rules and regulations thereunder, so as to permit the completion of the distribution of the Shares as contemplated in this Agreement and the Prospectus.

     (B) The Adviser agrees with each of the Underwriters not to take, directly or indirectly, any action designed, or which could reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act, in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale of the Shares.

     7. The Company represents and agrees that, without the prior consent of the Representative, (i) it will not distribute any offering material other than the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, and (ii) it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Shares that would constitute a “free writing prospectus” as defined in Rule 405 under the Act and which the parties agree, for the purposes of this Agreement, includes (x) any “advertisement” as defined in Rule 482 under the Act; and (y) any sales literature, materials or information provided to investors by, or with the approval of, the Company in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Shares, including any in-person roadshow or investor presentations (including slides and scripts relating thereto) made to investors by or on behalf of the Company (the materials and information referred to in this Section 7 are herein referred to as an “Additional Disclosure Item”); any Additional Disclosure Item the use of which has been consented to by the Representative is listed on Schedule II(a) hereto.

     8. The Company covenants and agrees with the several Underwriters that the Company will pay or cause to be paid the following: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company’s counsel and accountants in connection with the registration of the Shares under the Act and all other expenses in connection with the preparation, printing, reproduction and filing of the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, and the Prospectus and amendments and supplements thereto and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers; (ii) the cost of printing or producing any Agreement among Underwriters, this Agreement, the Blue Sky Memorandum, closing documents (including any compilations thereof) and any other documents in connection with the offering, purchase, sale and delivery of the Shares; (iii) all expenses in connection with the qualification of the Shares for offering and sale under state securities laws as provided in Section 6(A)(b) hereof, including the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky survey; (iv) all fees and expenses in connection with listing the Shares on the Exchange; (v) the filing fees incident to, and the fees and disbursements of counsel for the

Underwriters in connection with, any required review by FINRA of the terms of the sale of the Shares; (vi) the cost of preparing stock certificates; (vii) the cost and charges of any transfer agent or registrar; (viii) “road show” expenses of the Company (including but not limited to travel and accommodations), (ix) all costs and expenses of the Underwriters in connection with matters related to the Reserved Securities which are designated by the Company for sale to the Invitee and (x) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator of their obligations hereunder which are not otherwise specifically provided for in this Section. It is understood, however, that, except as provided in this Section, and Sections 10 and 13 hereof, the Underwriters will pay all of their own costs and expenses, including the fees of their counsel, stock transfer taxes on resale of any of the Shares by them, and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.

     9. The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder, as to the Shares to be delivered at each Time of Delivery, shall be subject, in their discretion, to the condition that all representations and warranties and other statements of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator herein are, at and as of such Time of Delivery, true and correct, the condition that the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator shall have performed all of their respective obligations hereunder theretofore to be performed, and the following additional conditions:

          (a) The Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 497 under the Act within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by the rules and regulations under the Act and in accordance with Section 6(A)(a) hereof; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceeding for that purpose shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; the Registration Statement shall be effective and no stop order suspending or preventing the use of the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; and all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to your reasonable satisfaction;

          (b) Hunton & Williams LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, shall have furnished to the Representatives such written opinion or opinions, dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters;

          (c) Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, counsel for the Company, shall have furnished to you their written opinion (a draft of such opinion is attached as Annex I(a) hereto), dated such Time of Delivery, in form and substance satisfactory to you;

          (d) Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, counsel for the Adviser and the Administrator, shall have furnished to you their written opinion (a draft of such opinion being attached as Annex I(b) hereto), dated such Time of Delivery in form and substance satisfactory to you;

          (e) At the time of the execution of this Agreement, Grant Thornton LLP shall have furnished to the Representatives a letter or letters, dated the respective dates of delivery thereof, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, together with signed or reproduced copies of such letter for each of the other Underwriters containing statement and information of the type ordinarily included in accountant’s “comfort letters” to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus;

          (f) At each Time of Delivery, the Representatives shall have received from Grant Thornton LLP a letter, dated as of the Time of Delivery, to the effect that they reaffirm the statements

made in the letter furnished pursuant to paragraph (e) of this Section, except that the specified data referred to shall not be more than three (3) business days prior to the Time of Delivery;

          (g) (i) Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall have sustained since the date of the latest audited financial statements included in the Pricing Prospectus any loss or interference with its business from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or court or governmental action, order or decree, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, and (ii) since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Pricing Prospectus there shall not have been any change in the capital stock or long-term debt of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in or affecting the general affairs, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity or results of operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries, otherwise than as set forth or contemplated in the Pricing Prospectus, the effect of which, in any such case described in clause (i) or (ii), is in your judgment so material and adverse as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Shares being delivered at such Time of Delivery on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus;

          (h) On or after the Applicable Time there shall not have occurred any of the following: (i) a suspension or material limitation in trading in securities generally on the Exchange; (ii) a suspension or material limitation in trading in the Company’s securities on the Exchange; (iii) a general moratorium on commercial banking activities declared by either Federal or New York State authorities or a material disruption in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States; (iv) the outbreak or escalation of hostilities involving the United States or the declaration by the United States of a national emergency or war or (v) the occurrence of any other calamity or crisis or any change in financial, political or economic conditions in the United States or elsewhere, if the effect of any such event specified in clause (iv) or (v) in your judgment makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering or the delivery of the Shares being delivered at such Time of Delivery on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus;

          (i) The Shares to be sold at such Time of Delivery shall have been duly listed, subject to notice of issuance, on the Exchange;

          (j) The Company shall have complied with the provisions of Section 6(A)(c) hereof with respect to the furnishing of prospectuses on the New York Business Day next succeeding the date of this Agreement;

          (k) The Company, the Adviser and the Administrator shall have furnished or caused to be furnished to you at such Time of Delivery certificates of their respective officers satisfactory to you as to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator herein at and as of such Time of Delivery, as to the performance by the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator of all of their respective obligations hereunder to be performed at or prior to such Time of Delivery, as to the matters set forth in subsections (a) and (g) of this Section, as to the accuracy of the first quarter information provided in the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus, and as to such other matters as you may reasonably request;

          (l) The Company shall continue to be regulated as a BDC under the Investment Company Act; and

          (m) The Company shall have obtained and delivered to the Underwriters executed copies of an agreement from each of the directors and officers of the Company (as considered prior to the First Time of Delivery) in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A.

     10. (a) The Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Underwriter may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Additional Disclosure Item, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and will reimburse each Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Additional Disclosure Item in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Content.

          (b) In connection with the offer and sale of the Reserved Securities, the Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Underwriters, their Affiliates and selling agents and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of either Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense (including, without limitation, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with defending, investigating or settling any such action or claim), as incurred, (i) arising out of the violation of any applicable laws or regulations of foreign jurisdictions where Reserved Securities have been offered; (ii) arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any prospectus wrapper or other material prepared by or with the consent of the Company for distribution to the Invitee in connection with the offering of the Reserved Securities or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; (iii) caused by the failure of the Invitee to pay for and accept delivery of Reserved Securities which have been orally confirmed for purchase by any Invitee by the end of the first business day after the date of the Agreement; or (iv) related to, or arising out of or in connection with, the offering of the Reserved Securities.

          (c) The Adviser and the Administrator, severally and not jointly, will indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Underwriter may become subject, under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Additional Disclosure Item, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and will reimburse each Underwriter for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Additional Disclosure Item, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Adviser (in the case of the Adviser) or the Administrator (in the case of the Administrator), respectively.

          (d) Each Underwriter will indemnify and hold harmless the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which it may become subject,

under the Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Additional Disclosure Item, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in the Registration Statement, the Basic Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Additional Disclosure Item, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by such Underwriter through the Representative expressly for use therein; and will reimburse the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by the Company, the Advisor and the Administrator in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim as such expenses are incurred; it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the following information in the Preliminary Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter (collectively, the “Underwriter Content”): (i) the fifth paragraph of text in the prospectus supplement under the caption “Underwriting”, concerning the terms of the offering by the Underwriters, (ii) the first, second, fourth, and fifth sentences of paragraph nine of text in the prospectus supplement under the caption “Underwriting”, concerning price stabilization and short positions, (iii) the first sentence of the tenth paragraph of text in the prospectus supplement under the caption “Underwriting”, concerning penalty bids, (iv) the twenty sixth paragraph of text in the prospectus supplement under the caption “Underwriting”, concerning electronic prospectus delivery and (v) the twenty seventh paragraph of text in the prospectus supplement under the caption “Underwriting”, concerning sales to discretionary accounts.

          (e) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under subsection (a), (b), (c) or (d) above of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under such subsection, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have to any indemnified party otherwise than under such subsection. In case any such action is brought against any indemnified party, and it notifies the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party will be entitled to participate therein, and to the extent that it may elect by written notice delivered to the indemnified party promptly after receiving the aforesaid notice from such indemnified party, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel satisfactory to such indemnified party; provided that, if the defendants in any such action include both the indemnified party and the indemnifying party and the indemnified party shall have reasonably concluded that there may be legal defenses available to it and/or other indemnified parties which are different from or additional to those available to the indemnifying party, the indemnified party or parties shall have the right to select separate counsel to assert such legal defenses and to otherwise participate in the defense of such action on behalf of such indemnified party or parties. Upon receipt of notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense of such action and approval by the indemnified party of counsel, the indemnifying party will not be liable to such indemnified party under Section 10(a), (b), (c) or (d) for any legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party (other than reasonable costs of investigation) in connection with the defense thereof unless (i) the indemnified party shall have employed separate counsel in connection with the assertion of legal defenses in accordance with the proviso to the next preceding sentence (it being understood, however, that the indemnifying party shall not be liable for the expenses of more than one separate counsel, approved by the Representatives, representing the indemnified parties who are parties to such action), (ii) the indemnifying party shall not have employed counsel satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party within a reasonable time after notice of commencement of the action or (iii) the indemnifying party has authorized the employment of counsel for the indemnified party

at the expense of the indemnifying party; and except that, if clause (i) or (iii) is applicable, such liability shall be only in respect of the counsel referred to in such clause (i) or (iii). No indemnifying party shall, without the written consent of the indemnified party, effect the settlement or compromise of, or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to, any pending or threatened action or claim in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified party is an actual or potential party to such action or claim) unless such settlement, compromise or judgment (i) includes an unconditional release of the indemnified party from all liability arising out of such action or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

          (f) If the indemnification provided for in this Section 10 is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsection (a), (b), (c) or (d) above in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Shares. If, however, the allocation provided by the immediately preceding sentence is not permitted by applicable law or if the indemnified party failed to give the notice required under subsection (e) above, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to such amount paid or payable by such indemnified party in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only such relative benefits but also the relative fault of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof), as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the total underwriting discount received by the Underwriters, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company, the Adviser or the Administrator on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company, the Adviser and the Administrator and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this subsection (f) were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this subsection (f). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) referred to above in this subsection (f) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (f), no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Shares underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages which such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations in this subsection (f) to contribute are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint.

          (g) The obligations of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator under this Section 10 shall be in addition to any liability which the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator

may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of the Act and each broker-dealer affiliate of any Underwriter; and the obligations of the Underwriters under this Section 10 shall be in addition to any liability which the respective Underwriters may otherwise have and shall extend, upon the same terms and conditions, to each officer and director of the Company (including any person who, with his or her consent, is named in the Registration Statement as about to become a director of the Company) and the Adviser and to each person, if any, who controls the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator within the meaning of the Act. No party shall be entitled to indemnification under this Section 10 if such indemnification of such party would violate Section 17(i) of the Investment Company Act.

     11. (a) If any Underwriter shall default in its obligation to purchase the Shares which it has agreed to purchase hereunder at a Time of Delivery, you may in your discretion arrange for you or another party or other parties to purchase such Shares on the terms contained herein. If within thirty-six hours after such default by any Underwriter you do not arrange for the purchase of such Shares, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of thirty-six hours within which to procure another party or other parties satisfactory to you to purchase such Shares on such terms. In the event that, within the respective prescribed periods, you notify the Company that you have so arranged for the purchase of such Shares, or the Company notifies you that it has so arranged for the purchase of such Shares, you or the Company shall have the right to postpone such Time of Delivery for a period of not more than seven days, in order to effect whatever changes may thereby be made necessary in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or in any other documents or arrangements, and the Company agrees to file promptly any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus which in your opinion may thereby be made necessary. The term “Underwriter” as used in this Agreement shall include any person substituted under this Section with like effect as if such person had originally been a party to this Agreement with respect to such Shares.

          (b) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you and the Company as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate number of such Shares which remains unpurchased does not exceed one-eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Shares to be purchased at such Time of Delivery, then the Company shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the number of shares which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder at such Time of Delivery and, in addition, to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase its pro rata share (based on the number of Shares which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder) of the Shares of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

          (c) If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by you and the Company as provided in subsection (a) above, the aggregate number of such Shares which remains unpurchased exceeds one-eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Shares to be purchased at such Time of Delivery, or if the Company shall not exercise the right described in subsection (b) above to require non-defaulting Underwriters to purchase Shares of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters, then this Agreement (or, with respect to the Second Time of Delivery, the obligations of the Underwriters to purchase and of the Company to sell the Optional Shares) shall thereupon terminate, without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company, except for the expenses to be borne by the Company as provided in Section 8 hereof and the indemnity and contribution agreements in Section 10 hereof; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

     12. The respective indemnities, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company, the Adviser, the Administrator and the several Underwriters, as set forth in this

Agreement or made by or on behalf of them, respectively, pursuant to this Agreement, shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation (or any statement as to the results thereof) made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or any controlling person of any Underwriter, or the Company, or any officer or director or controlling person of the Company, and shall survive delivery of and payment for the Shares.

     13. If this Agreement shall be terminated pursuant to Section 11 hereof, the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator shall not then be under any liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 8 and 10 hereof; but, if for any other reason, any Shares are not delivered by or on behalf of the Company as provided herein, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters through you for all out-of-pocket expenses approved in writing by you, including fees and disbursements of counsel, reasonably incurred by the Underwriters in making preparations for the purchase, sale and delivery of the Shares not so delivered, but the Company shall then be under no further liability to any Underwriter except as provided in Sections 8 and 10 hereof.

     14. In all dealings hereunder, you shall act on behalf of each of the Underwriters, and the parties hereto shall be entitled to act and rely upon any statement, request, notice or agreement on behalf of any Underwriter made or given by you jointly or by Wells Fargo Securities, LLC or UBS Securities LLC on behalf of you as the Representative.

     All statements, requests, notices and agreements hereunder shall be in writing, and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail or overnight mail to you as the Representatives in care of Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, 375 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10152, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department and UBS Securities LLC, 299 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10171-002, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department; and if to the Company shall be delivered or sent by mail or overnight mail to the address of the Company set forth in the Registration Statement, Attention: Secretary; provided, however, that any notice to an Underwriter pursuant to Section 10(e) hereof shall be delivered or sent by mail or overnight mail to such Underwriter at its address set forth in its Underwriters’ Questionnaire, which address will be supplied to the Company by you upon request; provided, however, that notices under subsection 6(A)(e) shall be in writing, and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered or sent by mail or overnight mail to you as the Representative at Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, 375 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10152, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department and UBS Securities LLC, 299 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10171-0026, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department. Any such statements, requests, notices or agreements shall take effect upon receipt thereof.

     In accordance with the requirements of the USA Patriot Act (Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)), the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.

     15. This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure solely to the benefit of, the Underwriters, the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator and, to the extent provided in Sections 10 and 12 hereof, the officers and directors of the Company and each person who controls the Company or any Underwriter, and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, and no other person shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement. No purchaser of any of the Shares from any Underwriter shall be deemed a successor or assign by reason merely of such purchase.

     16. Time shall be of the essence of this Agreement. As used herein, the term “business day” shall mean any day when the Commission’s office in Washington, D.C. is open for business.

     17. Each of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator hereby acknowledges and agrees that (i) the purchase and sale of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other, (ii) in connection therewith and with the process leading to such transaction each Underwriter is acting solely as a principal and not the agent or fiduciary of the Company, (iii) no Underwriter has assumed an advisory or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company, the Adviser or the Administrator with respect to the offering contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company on other matters) or any other obligation to the Company, the Adviser or the Administrator except the obligations expressly set forth in this Agreement and (iv) each of the Company, the Adviser or the Administrator has consulted its own legal and financial advisors to the extent it deemed appropriate. Each of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator agrees that it will not claim that the Underwriters, or any of them, has rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owes a fiduciary or similar duty to the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator in connection with such transaction or the process leading thereto.

     18. This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (whether written or oral) between the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other, or any of them, with respect to the subject matter hereof.

     19. THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

     20. THE COMPANY, THE ADVISER, THE ADMINISTRATOR AND EACH OF THE UNDERWRITERS HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY AND ALL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY.

     21. THIS AGREEMENT MAY BE EXECUTED BY ANYONE OR MORE OF THE PARTIES HERETO IN ANY NUMBER OF COUNTERPARTS, EACH OF WHICH SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE AN ORIGINAL, BUT ALL SUCH COUNTERPARTS SHALL TOGETHER CONSTITUTE ONE AND THE SAME INSTRUMENT.

     22. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Company is authorized to disclose to any persons the U.S. federal and state income tax treatment and tax structure of the potential transaction and all materials of any kind (including tax opinions and other tax analyses) provided to the Company relating to that treatment and structure, without the Underwriters imposing any limitation of any kind. However, any information relating to the tax treatment and tax structure shall remain confidential (and the foregoing sentence shall not apply) to the extent necessary to enable any person to comply with securities laws. For this purpose, “tax structure” is limited to any facts that may be relevant to that treatment.

     23. Except as set forth below, no claim, counterclaim or dispute of any kind or nature whatsoever arising out of or in any way relating to this Agreement (a “Claim”) may be commenced, prosecuted or continued in any court other than the courts of the State of New York located in the City and County of New York or in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which courts shall have jurisdiction over the adjudication of such matters, and the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator each consents to the jurisdiction of such courts and personal service with respect thereto. The Company, the Adviser and the Administrator each hereby consents to personal jurisdiction, service and venue in any court in which any Claim arising out of or in any way relating to this Agreement

is brought by any third party against any Underwriter or any indemnified party. Each Underwriter and the Company (on its behalf and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, on behalf of its stockholders and affiliates), the Adviser and the Administrator (each on its behalf and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, its members and affiliates) each waive all right to trial by jury in any action, proceeding or counterclaim (whether based upon contract, tort or otherwise) in any way arising out of or relating to this Agreement. The Company, the Adviser and the Administrator each agrees that a final judgment in any such action, proceeding or counterclaim brought in any such court shall be conclusive and binding upon each of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator and may be enforced in any other courts to the jurisdiction of which any of the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator each is or may be subject, by suit upon such judgment.

     If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, please sign and return to us five counterparts hereof, and upon the acceptance hereof by you, on behalf of each of the Underwriters, this Agreement and such acceptance hereof shall constitute a binding agreement among each of the Underwriters, the Company, the Adviser and the Administrator. It is understood that your acceptance of this Agreement on behalf of each of the Underwriters is pursuant to the authority set forth in a form of Agreement among Underwriters, the form of which shall be submitted to the Company for examination upon request, but without warranty on your part as to the authority of the signers thereof.

[Signature page follows.]

Accepted as of the date hereof:

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC

By:
		Name:
		Title:
UBS Securities LLC
By:
By:

SCHEDULE I

						Number of Optional
						Shares to be
		Total Number of				Purchased if
		of Firm Shares				Maximum Option
Underwriter		to be Purchased				Exercised
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC			2,275,000				341,250
UBS Securities LLC			1,750,000				262,500
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated			875,000				131,250
RBC Capital Markets Corporation			700,000				105,000
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC			350,000				52,500
Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc.			350,000				52,500
Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc.			175,000				26,250
Gilford Securities Incorporated			350,000				52,500
ING Financial Markets LLC			175,000				26,250
Total			7,000,000				1,050,000

SCHEDULE II

(a) Additional Disclosure Item:

     o     Press releases filed pursuant to Rule 482.

Exhibit (l)(2)

[Letterhead of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP]

January 26, 2010

Fifth Street Finance Corp.
445 Hamilton Avenue, Suite 1206
White Plains, NY 10601

Ladies and Gentlemen:

     We have acted as counsel to Fifth Street Finance Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the registration statement on Form N-2 (File No. 333-159720) (the “Registration Statement”) filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), previously declared effective by the Commission, relating to the public offering of securities of the Company that may be offered by the Company from time to time as set forth in the prospectus dated July 15, 2009, which forms a part of the Registration Statement (the “Prospectus”), and as may be set forth from time to time in one or more supplements to the Prospectus. This opinion letter is rendered in connection with the public offering of 8,050,000 shares of common stock of the Company (the “Shares”), including 1,050,000 shares issuable by the Company to cover the underwriters’ over-allotment option, as described in the Prospectus and a prospectus supplement dated January 22, 2010 (the “Prospectus Supplement”). All of the Shares are to be sold by the Company as described in the Registration Statement and related Prospectus and Prospectus Supplement.

     The Shares are to be sold by the Company pursuant to an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”), dated as of January 22, 2010, among the Company, Fifth Street Management LLC, FSC, Inc., Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and UBS Securities LLC, which is being filed as Exhibit (h) to the Company’s Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 (the “Post-Effective Amendment”) to the Registration Statement, to be filed with the Commission on the date hereof.

     As counsel to the Company, we have participated in the preparation of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Prospectus Supplement and have examined the originals or copies of such records, documents or other instruments as we in our judgment deem necessary or appropriate for us to render the opinions set forth in this opinion letter including, without limitation, the following:

(i)

The Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company, certified as of the date of this opinion letter by an officer of the Company;

Fifth Street Finance Corp.
January 26, 2010
Page 2

	(ii)		The Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Company, certified as of the date of this opinion letter by an officer of the Company;
	(iii)		A Certificate of Good Standing with respect to the Company issued by the Delaware Secretary of State as of a recent date; and
	(iv)		The resolutions of the board of directors, or a duly authorized committee thereof, of the Company relating to, among other things, (a) the authorization and approval of the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement, and (b) the authorization, issuance, offer and sale of the Shares pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement and the Registration Statement, certified as of the date of this opinion letter by an officer of the Company.

     As to certain matters of fact relevant to the opinions in this opinion letter, we have relied on certificates of officers of the Company. We have also relied on certificates of public officials. We have not independently established the facts, or in the case of certificates of public officials, the other statements, so relied upon.

     For purposes of our opinions in this opinion letter, we have assumed, without any independent investigation or verification, that: (a) each document that we have reviewed is accurate and complete, is either an authentic original or a copy that conforms to an authentic original, and the signatures on it are genuine; (b) each governmental or officer’s certificate has been properly issued and that it is accurate, complete and authentic (and we have assumed that such certificates remain accurate on the date of this letter); (c) all natural persons have sufficient legal capacity; and (d) the accuracy and completeness of all corporate records made available to us by the Company.

     This opinion letter is limited to the effect of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as in effect on the date hereof, and reported judicial decisions interpreting the foregoing, and we express no opinion as to the applicability or effect of any other laws of such jurisdiction or the laws of any other jurisdictions. Without limiting the preceding sentence, we express no opinion as to any state securities or broker dealer laws or regulations thereunder relating to the offer, issuance and sale of the Shares.

     On the basis of and subject to the foregoing, and in reliance thereon, and subject to the limitations and qualifications set forth in this opinion letter, we are of the opinion that the Shares have been duly authorized and, when issued and paid for in accordance with the terms of the Underwriting Agreement, the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

     The opinions expressed in this opinion letter (a) are strictly limited to the matters stated in this opinion letter, and without limiting the foregoing, no other opinions are to be implied and

Fifth Street Finance Corp.
January 26, 2010
Page 3

(b) are only as of the date of this opinion letter, and we are under no obligation, and do not undertake, to advise the addressee of this opinion letter or any other person or entity either of any change of law or fact that occurs, or of any fact that comes to our attention, after the date of this opinion letter, even though such change or such fact may affect the legal analysis or a legal conclusion in this opinion letter.

     We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Post-Effective Amendment and to the reference to our firm in the “Legal Matters” section in the Registration Statement and related Prospectus and Prospectus Supplement. We do not admit by giving this consent that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act. Otherwise, this opinion letter may not be relied on by, or furnished to, any other person or entity without our prior written consent and without limiting the foregoing, may not be quoted, published or otherwise disseminated, without in each instance our prior written consent.