KBRA Assigns a Rating to a Subscription Finance Facility to BBOF VI Holding C.V.
20 Mar 2025 | London
KBRA UK (KBRA) assigns a rating to a revolving credit facility for BBOF VI Holding C.V., an investment vehicle owned by Bencis VI Coöperatief and Bencis VI C.V. (together, “BBOF VI” or the “Fund”). The rating was requested by Bencis Capital Partners B.V. (“Bencis”). KBRA has assigned an A+ rating to the Facility. The Outlook is Stable.
The Facility is a €100 million bilateral facility available as revolving loans and letters of credit provided by ABN AMRO Bank N.V. The purpose of the Facility is for bridging financing acquisition costs, general corporate and working capital purposes and the payment of fees, interest and expenses relating to investments and the Facility. The Facility is due to mature in December 2025, with the option of extensions at Lender discretion. The Lenders benefit from a market standard security package consisting of security over: (i) the investors’ uncalled capital commitments, the rights to issue capital calls and receive proceeds of the capital contributions; and (ii) the collateral accounts into which such capital contributions are required to be paid. Following an enforcement event, the Agent has enforcement rights including the right to accelerate the Facility, prevent withdrawals from the collateral accounts and to issue a capital call directly to the investors for the purpose of repaying all amounts due under the Facility.
BBOF VI focuses on private equity investments in mature middle market companies in Benelux and Germany. Bencis is an investment company that was founded in 1999 by Zoran van Gessel and Jeroen Pit, and invests in businesses headquartered in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Bencis have 34 professionals based in offices in Amsterdam, Brussels and Düsseldorf. Since 2000, Bencis has raised six funds. Bencis is currently an investor in 32 businesses and seeks majority stakes in their investments, and the original shareholders often stay on as part of the management team.
Key Credit Considerations
Investment fund ratings are based on quantitative and qualitative factors. The five key quantitative determinants are as follows:
- In the Asset Quality determinant, KBRA generally measures the quality of the collateral based on a weighted average scoring. For Subscription Facilities (“Sublines”), this includes an assessment using a matrix-based approach that reflects the creditworthiness of the Fund’s Limited Partner (“LP” or "Investor") base.
- The Asset Coverage determinant measures the relative sufficiency of the pledged collateral value to repay the principal amount of the rated debt. For Sublines, this includes an evaluation of the covenants included in the Facility linked to uncalled committed capital (UCC) and net asset value (NAV) of the Fund, and/or advance rates applied to the UCC.
- The Liquidity determinant reflects KBRA’s assessment of the relative price discount that the underlying collateral may incur if the assets are subject to conversion into cash in order to meet scheduled or accelerated debt service requirements. Under the Liquidity determinant, KBRA considers three factors (type, complexity and price discovery / transparency) and scores these factors individually on a scale of zero to two, with two being the most liquid.
- In the Duration determinant, KBRA examines the tenor profile of the pledged collateral relative to the rated debt, and the associated vulnerability to changes in price of collateral over time.
- When appropriate, KBRA will perform a cash flow analysis in order to test the transaction’s ability to meet its rated interest and principal payment obligations under various economic, financial, and market scenarios. This is not applicable to Subscription Facilities, as LP capital calls typically occur on a non-periodic basis and the primary source of repayment for Sublines is the Fund’s UCC so once a capital call is issued, the LP is typically required to meet the capital call within a short window. Therefore, repayment capacity is analysed in the context of the prior rating determinants.
The above quantitative determinants produce a quantitative rating outcome. In addition to the above quantitative determinants, KBRA’s analysis considers a variety of qualitative factors, which can lead to upward or downward adjustments in the final rating outcome and these are assessed in the context of: (i) Manager Review; (ii) Legal Review, and (iii) Other Factors including alignment of interests, incentives to fund future capital calls and diversification within the LP base.
Rating Sensitivities
It should be noted that many aspects, including but not limited to, the rating sensitivities listed below, macroeconomic factors, market conditions, competitive landscape, and a fund manager’s investment acumen can impact the performance of the fund and influence KBRA’s rating decisions. If performance of the transaction differs meaningfully from the expected levels, KBRA may consider making a rating change.
Decline in LP Credit Quality
A decline in the credit quality of the Fund’s LPs as a result of: (i) deterioration in the credit quality of underlying LPs; (ii) transfer of interests to LPs of lower credit quality characteristics; (iii) inclusion of LPs with weak credit quality characteristics; and (iv) weaker than expected LP diversification, may result in negative rating changes.
Improvement in LP Credit Quality
An overall higher credit quality of the Fund’s LPs as a result of: (i) improvement in the credit quality of underlying LPs; (ii) transfer of interests to LPs with better credit characteristics; (iii) inclusion of LPs with strong credit quality characteristics; and (iv) stronger than expected LP diversification, may result in positive rating changes.
Underperformance of Fund Assets or Investments
A decrease in the Fund’s NAV due to underperformance of the Fund’s underlying assets or investments may jeopardise debt repayment as the deterioration of the Fund may, for example, elicit hesitation of the Fund’s LPs to fund their respective capital calls regardless of their contractual obligations to do so and the underlying LPs’ security and protections to the Lender.
This Press Release has been updated on 6 February 2026 to include certain information that is also found in the published Ratings Rationale Report relating to this transaction.
To access ratings and relevant documents, click here.
Click here to view the report.