Tricolor Holdings — BlackRock and Tricolor: preferred investment, loan references and fund scope

analysisIn September 2021 Tricolor announced a $90 million investment by BlackRock-managed funds as convertible preferred capital capable of converting into a minority interest. This was distinct from the August 2020 BlackRock Loan Agreement identified in the warehouse contract, whose borrowers were Tricolor Auto Acceptance and Holdings and whose agent was Wilmington Savings Fund Society. The same contract refers to a January 2020 subscription agreement. Separately, a CION Ares fund filing lists a September 2022 SPV 3 first-lien revolving commitment of $2.273 million, comprising $1.498 million funded and $775,000 unfunded.

qualification

The BlackRock brand does not identify every legal fund or make the public parent the direct lender. The 2024 reorganization of the public BlackRock registrant cannot supply the identity of a 2021 investing fund. A contract’s treatment of preferred equity as debt is specific to its definitions. SPV 4 is expressly excluded from the defined BlackRock loan obligation; that is not evidence of a direct loan from BlackRock to SPV 4. CION’s disclosed position does not conclusively identify an anonymous lender in the criminal indictment. BlackRock’s separately disclosed 7.9% Origin Bancorp shareholding is not evidence of coordinated lending decisions.

outcome

A later retained report says the BlackRock Impact Opportunities fund was being closed to new investments and wound down after Tricolor’s failure. That is a reported fund-management decision, not a finding that the investor participated in fraud.