BlackRock Private Credit Fund Repurchase Requests Exceed 5% Cap for First Time Since Inception

BlackRock Private Credit Fund reported that second-quarter repurchase requests totaled approximately 5.3% of shares outstanding as of March 31, 2026, exceeding the nontraded business development company’s 5% quarterly repurchase cap for the first time since the fund’s inception in June 2022.

In a shareholder letter, the fund, also known as BDEBT, said it will fulfill repurchases at the cap – 5% of shares outstanding as of March 31, 2026, or approximately $83 million – with requests prorated among tendering shareholders. The repurchase price will be determined at net asset value as of June 30, 2026.

The Q2 2026 tender offer ran from May 11 through June 8. The 5.3% request rate is a modest overage relative to the cap, and BDEBT said the fund’s financial position is sufficiently liquid to meet the $83 million fulfillment while preserving investment capacity. The fund reported approximately $1.4 billion in estimated total liquidity as of April 30, 2026, including $775 million in unused debt capacity, more than $460 million in liquid assets, and more than $170 million in cash. Leverage stood at 0.5x.

The cap breach, while mild, is a notable data point in a category where redemption pressure has been a recurring story. Blue Owl Credit Income Corp. absorbed $988 million in Q1 2026 tender requests – representing 21.9% of shares outstanding – and fulfilled the maximum allowed 5% on a prorated basis. BDEBT’s situation is considerably less acute, but the pattern of nontraded BDC repurchase caps being tested or breached in the first half of 2026 reflects a broader dynamic in the retail alternatives channel, where investors who entered private credit vehicles during the category’s rapid growth period are now seeking periodic exits.

As of April 30, 2026, 99.9% of the portfolio was invested in first lien senior secured loans, with a weighted average loan-to-value ratio of 31% across the private portfolio. The fund’s 290 portfolio companies – spanning more than 45 industries – grew revenue by 12.2% and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization by 9% on a weighted average trailing 12-month basis as of March 31, 2026, while maintaining interest coverage of 2.4x. Loans on non-accrual represented 0.02% of portfolio fair value as of the end of March, and payment-in-kind income accounted for 1.3% of total income during the first quarter.

Since its June 2022 inception, BDEBT has generated a 9.1% annualized net return for Class I shareholders, which the fund said is 135 basis points above public leveraged loans over the same period.

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