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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 3, 2014

1933 Act File No. 333-181879

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form N-2

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

GLADSTONE INVESTMENT CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

1521 Westbranch Drive, Suite 100

McLean, VA 22102

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (703) 287-5800

David Gladstone

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Gladstone Investment Corporation

1521 Westbranch Drive, Suite 100

McLean, Virginia 22102

(Name and address of agent for service)

COPIES TO:

Lori B. Morgan

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

150 Third Avenue South

Suite 2800

Nashville, TN 37201

Tel: (615) 742-6200

Fax: (615) 742-6293

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, as amended, other than securities offered in connection with a dividend reinvestment plan, check the following box.  x

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box)

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to Section 8(a), may determine.

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The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JUNE 3, 2014

PROSPECTUS

$300,000,000

COMMON STOCK

PREFERRED STOCK

SUBSCRIPTION RIGHTS

WARRANTS

DEBT SECURITIES

We may offer, from time to time, up to $300,000,000 aggregate primary offering price of our common stock, $0.001 par value per share, preferred stock, $0.001 par value per share, subscription rights, warrants representing rights to purchase shares of our common stock, or debt securities, or a combined offering of these securities, which we refer to in this prospectus collectively as our Securities, in one or more offerings. The Securities may be offered at prices and on terms to be disclosed in one or more supplements to this prospectus. In the case of our common stock and warrants or rights to acquire such common stock hereunder, the offering price per share of our common stock by us, less any underwriting commissions or discounts, will not be less than the net asset value per share of our common stock at the time of the offering except (i) in connection with a rights offering to our existing stockholders, (ii) with the consent of the holders of the majority of our outstanding stock, or (iii) under such other circumstances as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) may permit. You should read this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement carefully before you invest in our Securities.

We operate as a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company and have elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. For federal income tax purposes, we have elected to be treated as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Our investment objectives are to: (1) achieve and grow current income by investing in debt securities of established businesses that we believe will provide stable earnings and cash flow to pay expenses, make principal and interest payments on our outstanding indebtedness and make distributions to stockholders that grow over time; and (2) provide our stockholders with long-term capital appreciation in the value of our assets by investing in equity securities of established businesses that we believe can grow over time to permit us to sell our equity investments for capital gains.

Our Securities may be offered directly to one or more purchasers, including existing stockholders in a rights offering, through agents designated from time to time by us, or to or through underwriters or dealers. The prospectus supplement relating to the offering will identify any agents or underwriters involved in the sale of our Securities, and will disclose any applicable purchase price, fee, commission or discount arrangement between us and our agents or underwriters or among our underwriters or the basis upon which such amount may be calculated. See “Plan of Distribution.” We may not sell any of our Securities through agents, underwriters or dealers without delivery of a prospectus supplement describing the method and terms of the offering of such Securities. Our common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the symbol “GAIN.” As of June 2, 2014, the last reported sales price of our common stock was $7.70 and the net asset value per share of our common stock on March 31, 2014 (the last date prior to the date of this prospectus on which we determined our net asset value per share) was $8.34. Our 7.125% Series A Cumulative Term Preferred Stock is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol “GAINP.” As of June 2, 2014, the last reported sales price of our 7.125% Series A Cumulative Term Preferred Stock was $26.13.

This prospectus contains information you should know before investing, including information about risks. Please read it before you invest and keep it for future reference. Additional information about us, including our annual, quarterly and current reports, has been filed with the SEC and can be accessed at its website at www.sec.gov. This information is also available free of charge by calling us collect at (703) 287-5893 or on our corporate website located at http://www.gladstoneinvestment.com. You may also call us collect at this number to request other information. See “Additional Information.” Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus, and you should not consider that information to be part of this prospectus. This prospectus may not be used to consummate sales of securities unless accompanied by a prospectus supplement.

The securities in which we invest generally would be rated below investment grade if they were rated by rating agencies. Below investment grade securities, which are often referred to as “junk,” have predominantly speculative characteristics with respect to the issuer’s capacity to pay interest and repay principal. They may also be difficult to value and are illiquid.

An investment in our Securities involves certain risks, including, among other things, the risk of leverage and risks relating to investments in securities of small, private and developing businesses. We describe some of these risks in the section entitled “Risk Factors,” which begins on page 9. Common shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their net asset value per share and this may increase the risk of loss to purchasers of our Securities. You should carefully consider these risks together with all of the other information contained in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement before making a decision to purchase our Securities.

The Securities being offered have not been approved or disapproved by the SEC or any state securities commission nor has the SEC or any state securities commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

                    , 2014

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We have not authorized any dealer, salesman or other person to give any information or to make any representation other than those contained in this prospectus or any accompanying supplement to this prospectus. You must not rely upon any information or representation not contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus or any accompanying prospectus supplement as if we had authorized it. This prospectus and any prospectus supplement do not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any security other than the registered securities to which they relate, nor do they constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction. The information contained in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement is accurate as of the dates on their respective covers only. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since such dates.

This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, using the “shelf” registration process. Under the shelf registration process, we may offer, from time to time, up to $300,000,000 of our Securities on terms to be determined at the time of the offering. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the Securities that we may offer. Each time we use this prospectus to offer Securities, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. To the extent required by law, we will amend or supplement the information contained in this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement to reflect any material changes to such information subsequent to the date of the prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement and prior to the completion of any offering pursuant to the prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement. Please carefully read this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement together with the additional information described under “Available Information” and “Risk Factors” before you make an investment decision.

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RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks described below and all other information provided in this prospectus (or any prospectus supplement) before making a decision to purchase our Securities. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or not presently deemed material by us, may also impair our operations and performance.

If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. If that happens, the trading price of our Securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to the Economy and Recent Legislation

The failure of U.S. lawmakers to reach an agreement on the national debt ceiling could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In February 2014, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to increase the debt ceiling through March 2015. Congress will need to pass additional legislation prior to March 2015 to further increase the debt ceiling in order for the government to continue to make payments to its creditors. In the event U.S. lawmakers fail to reach a viable agreement on the national debt ceiling, the U.S. could default on its obligations, which could negatively impact the trading market for U.S. government securities. This may, in turn, negatively affect our ability to obtain financing for our investments. As a result, it may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

While the U.S. has begun to see improving financial indicators since the 2008 recession, recent events have created more uncertainty in the U.S. economy and capital markets. Therefore, we remain cautious about a long-term economic recovery.

Over the last several years, the U.S. capital markets have experienced significant price volatility and liquidity disruptions, which have caused market prices of many stocks and debt securities to fluctuate substantially and the spreads on prospective debt financings to widen considerably. The recession in general, and the disruptions in the capital markets in particular, have impacted our liquidity options and increased our cost of debt and equity capital. As a result, we do not know if adverse conditions will again intensify, and we are unable to gauge the full extent to which disruptions will continue to affect us. The longer these uncertain conditions persist, the greater the probability that these factors could continue to increase our costs of, and significantly limit our access to, debt and equity capital and, thus, have an adverse effect on our operations and financial results. Many of our portfolio companies and the companies we may invest in prospectively are also susceptible to these unstable economic conditions, which may affect the ability of one or more of our portfolio companies to repay our loans or engage in a liquidity event, such as a sale, recapitalization or initial public offering. These unstable economic conditions could also disproportionately impact some of the industries in which we invest, causing us to be more vulnerable to losses in our portfolio, which could cause the number of non-performing assets to increase and the fair value of our portfolio to decrease. The unstable economic conditions may also decrease the value of collateral securing some of our loans as well as the value of our equity investments, which would decrease our ability to borrow under our Credit Facility or raise equity capital, thereby further reducing our ability to make new investments.

Even with the short term increase to the debt ceiling, there is still a great deal of volatility in the marketplace. The unstable economic conditions have affected the availability of credit generally. Though we increased our distributions by 20% during the 2014 fiscal year and maintained that level of distributions, we cannot guarantee that this increase will remain in place due to limitations placed by our Credit Facility on distributions to stockholders and the impact of market conditions. We do not know when market conditions will stabilize, if adverse conditions will intensify or the full extent to which the disruptions will continue to affect us. Also, it is possible that persistent instability of the financial markets could have other unforeseen material effects on our business.

A further downgrade of the United States credit rating and the ongoing economic crisis in Europe could negatively impact our liquidity, financial condition and earnings.

Recent U.S. debt ceiling and budget deficit concerns, together with signs of deteriorating sovereign debt conditions in Europe, have increased the possibility of additional credit-rating downgrades and economic slowdowns. In August 2011, Standard & Poor’s downgraded its long-term sovereign credit rating on the U.S. to AA+ for the first time due to the U.S. Congress’ inability to reach an effective agreement on the national debt ceiling and a budget in a timely manner. The current U.S. debt ceiling and budget deficit concerns have increased the possibility of the credit-rating agencies further downgrading the U.S. credit rating. On October 15, 2013,

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Fitch Ratings Service placed the U.S. credit rating on negative watch, warning that a failure by the U.S. Government to honor interest or principal payments on U.S. treasury securities would impact its decision on whether to downgrade the U.S. credit rating. Fitch also stated that the manner and duration of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and resolve the then existing budget impasse, as well as the perceived risk of such events occurring in the future, would weigh on its ratings. On March 21, 2014, Fitch affirmed its AAA long-term and F1+ short-term sovereign credit rating on the U.S. government with a stable outlook. This resolved the rating watch negative that was placed on the ratings on October 15, 2013.

The impact of any further downgrades to the U.S. government’s sovereign credit rating, or its perceived creditworthiness, and deteriorating sovereign debt conditions in Europe, is inherently unpredictable and could adversely affect the U.S. and global financial markets and economic conditions. There can be no assurance that governmental or other measures to aid economic recovery will be effective. These developments and the government’s credit concerns in general could cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise, which may negatively impact our ability to access the debt markets on favorable terms. In addition, the decreased credit rating could create broader financial turmoil and uncertainty, which may weigh heavily on our stock price. Continued adverse economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may experience fluctuations in our quarterly and annual results based on the impact of inflation in the United States.

The majority of our portfolio companies are in industries that are directly impacted by inflation, such as consumer goods and services and manufacturing. Our portfolio companies may not be able to pass on to customers increases in their costs of operations, which could greatly affect their operating results, impacting their ability to repay our loans. In addition, any projected future decreases in our portfolio companies’ operating results due to inflation could adversely impact the fair value of those investments. Any decreases in the fair value of our investments could result in future unrealized losses and therefore reduce our net assets resulting from operations.

Healthcare reform legislation may affect our results of operations and financial condition.

On March 23, 2010, the President of the United States signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and on March 30, 2010, the President signed into law the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, which in part modified the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (together, the “Acts”). Together, the two Acts serve as the primary vehicle for comprehensive health care reform in the U.S. The Acts are intended to reduce the number of individuals in the U.S. without health insurance and effect significant other changes to the ways in which health care is organized, delivered and reimbursed. The complexities and ramifications of the new legislation are significant, and have begun being implemented through a phased approach concluding in 2018. At this time, the effects of health care reform and its impact on our portfolio companies’ business, results of operations and financial condition and the resulting impact on our operations are not yet known. Accordingly, the Acts could adversely affect the cost of providing healthcare coverage generally and could adversely affect the financial and operational performance of the portfolio companies in which we invest and therefore negatively impact our financial and operational performance.

Risks Related to Our External Management

We are dependent upon our key management personnel and the key management personnel of the Adviser, particularly David Gladstone, Terry Lee Brubaker and David Dullum, and on the continued operations of the Adviser, for our future success.

We have no employees. Our chief executive officer, president, chief operating officer, chief financial officer and treasurer, and the employees of the Adviser, do not spend all of their time managing our activities and our investment portfolio. We are particularly dependent upon David Gladstone, Terry Lee Brubaker and David Dullum in this regard. Our executive officers and the employees of the Adviser allocate some, and in some cases a material portion, of their time to businesses and activities that are not related to our business. We have no separate facilities and are completely reliant on the Adviser, which has significant discretion as to the implementation and execution of our business strategies and risk management practices. We are subject to the risk of discontinuation of the Adviser’s operations or termination of the Advisory Agreement and the risk that, upon such event, no suitable replacement will be found. We believe that our success depends to a significant extent upon the Adviser and that discontinuation of its operations could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our investment objectives.

Our success depends on the Adviser’s ability to attract and retain qualified personnel in a competitive environment.

The Adviser experiences competition in attracting and retaining qualified personnel, particularly investment professionals and senior executives, and we may be unable to maintain or grow our business if we cannot attract and retain such personnel. The Adviser’s ability to attract and retain personnel with the requisite credentials, experience and skills depends on several factors including, but not limited to, its ability to offer competitive wages, benefits and professional growth opportunities. The Adviser competes with investment funds (such as private equity funds and mezzanine funds) and traditional financial services companies for qualified personnel, many of which have greater resources than us. Searches for qualified personnel may divert management’s time from the operation of our business. Strain on the existing personnel resources of the Adviser, in the event that it is unable to attract experienced investment professionals and senior executives, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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The Adviser can resign on 60 days’ notice, and we may not be able to find a suitable replacement within that time, resulting in a disruption in our operations that could adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.

The Adviser has the right to resign under the Advisory Agreement at any time upon not less than 60 days’ written notice, whether we have found a replacement or not. If the Adviser resigns, we may not be able to find a new investment adviser or hire internal management with similar expertise and ability to provide the same or equivalent services on acceptable terms within 60 days, or at all. If we are unable to do so quickly, our operations are likely to experience a disruption, our financial condition, business and results of operations as well as our ability to pay distributions are likely to be adversely affected and the market price of our shares may decline. In addition, the coordination of our internal management and investment activities is likely to suffer if we are unable to identify and reach an agreement with a single institution or group of executives having the expertise possessed by the Adviser and its affiliates. Even if we are able to retain comparable management, whether internal or external, the integration of such management and their lack of familiarity with our investment objective may result in additional costs and time delays that may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our incentive fee may induce the Adviser to make certain investments, including speculative investments.

The management compensation structure that has been implemented under the Advisory Agreement may cause the Adviser to invest in high-risk investments or take other risks. In addition to its management fee, the Adviser is entitled under the Advisory Agreement to receive incentive compensation based in part upon our achievement of specified levels of income. In evaluating investments and other management strategies, the opportunity to earn incentive compensation based on net income may lead the Adviser to place undue emphasis on the maximization of net income at the expense of other criteria, such as preservation of capital, maintaining sufficient liquidity, or management of credit risk or market risk, in order to achieve higher incentive compensation. Investments with higher yield potential are generally riskier or more speculative. This could result in increased risk to the value of our investment portfolio.

We may be obligated to pay the Adviser incentive compensation even if we incur a loss.

The Advisory Agreement entitles the Adviser to incentive compensation for each fiscal quarter in an amount equal to a percentage of the excess of our investment income for that quarter (before deducting incentive compensation, net operating losses and certain other items) above a threshold return for that quarter. When calculating our incentive compensation, our pre-incentive fee net investment income excludes realized and unrealized capital losses that we may incur in the fiscal quarter, even if such capital losses result in a net loss on our statement of operations for that quarter. Thus, we may be required to pay the Adviser incentive compensation for a fiscal quarter even if there is a decline in the value of our portfolio or we incur a net loss for that quarter. For additional information on incentive compensation under the Advisory Agreement with the Adviser, see “Business — Ongoing Management of Investments and Portfolio Company Relationships — Investment Advisory and Management Agreement.”

We may be required to pay the Adviser incentive compensation on income accrued, but not yet received in cash.

That part of the incentive fee payable by us that relates to our net investment income is computed and paid on income that may include interest that has been accrued but not yet received in cash, such as debt instruments with PIK interest. If a portfolio company defaults on a loan, it is possible that such accrued interest previously used in the calculation of the incentive fee will become uncollectible. Consequently, we may make incentive fee payments on income accruals that we may not collect in the future and with respect to which we do not have a clawback right against the Adviser.

The Adviser’s failure to identify and invest in securities that meet our investment criteria or perform its responsibilities under the Advisory Agreement would likely adversely affect our ability for future growth.

Our ability to achieve our investment objectives will depend on our ability to grow, which in turn will depend on the Adviser’s ability to identify and invest in securities that meet our investment criteria. Accomplishing this result on a cost-effective basis will be largely a function of the Adviser’s structuring of the investment process, its ability to provide competent and efficient services to us, and our access to financing on acceptable terms. The senior management team of the Adviser has substantial responsibilities under the Advisory Agreement. In order to grow, the Adviser will need to hire, train, supervise, and manage new employees successfully. Any failure to manage our future growth effectively would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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There are significant potential conflicts of interest which could impact our investment returns.

Our executive officers and directors, and the officers and directors of the Adviser, serve or may serve as officers, directors, or principals of entities that operate in the same or a related line of business as we do or of investment funds managed by our affiliates. Accordingly, they may have obligations to investors in those entities, the fulfillment of which might not be in the best interests of us or our stockholders. For example, Mr. Gladstone, our chairman and chief executive officer, is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Adviser, Gladstone Investment, Gladstone Commercial and Gladstone Land. In addition, Mr. Brubaker, our vice chairman and chief operating officer, is the vice chairman and chief operating officer of the Adviser, Gladstone Capital, Gladstone Commercial and Gladstone Land. Mr. Dullum, our president and a director, is a director of Gladstone Capital and Gladstone Commercial, as well as an executive managing director of the Adviser. Moreover, the Adviser may establish or sponsor other investment vehicles which from time to time may have potentially overlapping investment objectives with ours and accordingly may invest in, whether principally or secondarily, asset classes we target. While the Adviser generally has broad authority to make investments on behalf of the investment vehicles that it advises, the Adviser has adopted investment allocation procedures to address these potential conflicts and intends to direct investment opportunities to the Gladstone affiliate with the investment strategy that most closely fits the investment opportunity. Nevertheless, the management of the Adviser may face conflicts in the allocation of investment opportunities to other entities managed by the Adviser. As a result, it is possible that we may not be given the opportunity to participate in certain investments made by other funds managed by the Adviser. Our Board of Directors approved a revision of our investment objectives and strategies that became effective on January 1, 2013, which may enhance the potential for conflicts in the allocation of investment opportunities to us and other entities managed by the Adviser.

In certain circumstances, we may make investments in a portfolio company in which one of our affiliates has or will have an investment, subject to satisfaction of any regulatory restrictions and, where required, the prior approval of our Board of Directors. As of March 31, 2014, our Board of Directors has approved the following types of co-investment transactions:

Certain of our officers, who are also officers of the Adviser, may from time to time serve as directors of certain of our portfolio companies. If an officer serves in such capacity with one of our portfolio companies, such officer will owe fiduciary duties to stockholders of the portfolio company, which duties may from time to time conflict with the interests of our stockholders.

In the course of our investing activities, we will pay management and incentive fees to the Adviser and will reimburse the Administrator for certain expenses it incurs. As a result, investors in our common stock will invest on a “gross” basis and receive distributions on a “net” basis after expenses, resulting in, among other things, a lower rate of return than one might achieve through our investors themselves making direct investments. As a result of this arrangement, there may be times when the management team of the Adviser has interests that differ from those of our stockholders, giving rise to a conflict. In addition, as a BDC, we make available significant managerial assistance to our portfolio companies and provide other services to such portfolio companies. Although, neither we nor the Adviser currently receives fees in connection with managerial assistance, the Adviser and Gladstone Securities have, at various times, provided other services to certain of our portfolio companies and received fees for these other services.

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Our business model is dependent upon developing and sustaining strong referral relationships with investment bankers, business brokers and other intermediaries and any change in our referral relationships may impact our business plan.

We are dependent upon informal relationships with investment bankers, business brokers and traditional lending institutions to provide us with deal flow. If we fail to maintain our relationship with such funds or institutions, or if we fail to establish strong referral relationships with other funds, we will not be able to grow our portfolio of investments and fully execute our business plan.

Our base management fee may induce our Adviser to incur leverage.

The fact that our base management fee is payable based upon our gross assets, which would include any investments made with proceeds of borrowings, may encourage our Adviser to use leverage to make additional investments. Under certain circumstances, the use of increased leverage may increase the likelihood of default, which would disfavor holders of our securities. Given the subjective nature of the investment decisions made by our Adviser on our behalf, we will not be able to monitor this potential conflict of interest.

Risks Related to Our External Financing

In addition to regulatory limitations on our ability to raise capital, our credit facility contains various covenants which, if not complied with, could accelerate our repayment obligations under the facility, thereby materially and adversely affecting our liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions.

We will have a continuing need for capital to finance our investments. As of March 31, 2014, we had $61.2 million in borrowings outstanding under our fifth amended and restated credit agreement, which provides for maximum borrowings of $105 million, with a revolving period end date of April 30, 2016 (the “Credit Facility”). Our Credit Facility permits us to fund additional loans and investments as long as we are within the conditions set forth in the credit agreement. Our Credit Facility contains covenants that require our wholly-owned subsidiary Gladstone Business Investment, LLC (“Business Investment”) to maintain its status as a separate legal entity, prohibit certain significant corporate transactions (such as mergers, consolidations, liquidations or dissolutions) and restrict material changes to our credit and collection policies without lenders’ consent. The facility also limits payments as distributions to the aggregate net investment income for each of the twelve month periods ending March 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017. We are also subject to certain limitations on the type of loan investments we can make, including restrictions on geographic concentrations, sector concentrations, loan size, dividend payout, payment frequency and status, average life and lien property. The Credit Facility also requires us to comply with other financial and operational covenants, which obligate us to, among other things, maintain certain financial ratios, including asset and interest coverage, a minimum net worth and a minimum number of obligors required in the borrowing base of the credit agreement. Additionally, we are subject to a performance guaranty that requires us to maintain (i) a minimum net worth of $170 million plus 50% of all equity and subordinated debt raised after April 30, 2013 which equates to $170 million as of March 31, 2014, (ii) “asset coverage” with respect to “senior securities representing indebtedness” of at least 200%, in accordance with Section 18 of the 1940 Act and (iii) our status as a BDC under the 1940 Act and as a RIC under the Code. As of March 31, 2014, we were in compliance with the covenants under the fifth amended and restated credit agreement, and as of May 12, 2014, we were in compliance with the covenants under the Credit Facility; however, our continued compliance depends on many factors, some of which are beyond our control.

Given the continued uncertainty in the capital markets, the cumulative unrealized depreciation in our portfolio may increase in future periods and threaten our ability to comply with the minimum net worth covenant and other covenants under our Credit Facility.

Any inability to renew, extend or replace our Credit Facility on terms favorable to us, or at all, could adversely impact our liquidity and ability to fund new investments or maintain distributions to our stockholders.

The revolving period end date of our Credit Facility is April 30, 2016 (the “Revolving Period End Date”) and, if not renewed or extended by the Revolving Period End Date, all principal and interest will be due and payable one year later on or before April 30, 2017. Subject to certain terms and conditions, the Credit Facility may be expanded to a total of $200 million through the addition of other lenders to the facility. However, if additional lenders are unwilling to join the facility on its terms, we will be unable to expand the facility and thus will continue to have limited availability to finance new investments under our Credit Facility. There can be no guarantee that we will be able to renew, extend or replace the Credit Facility upon its revolving period end in 2016 on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. Our ability to expand the Credit Facility, and to obtain replacement financing at or before the time of its maturity, will be constrained by then-current economic conditions affecting the credit markets. In the event that we are not able to expand the Credit Facility, or to renew, extend or refinance the Credit Facility by the end of its revolving period, this could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and ability to fund new investments, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and our ability to qualify as a RIC under the Code.

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most recent balance sheet date, which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition to selling assets, or as an alternative, we may issue equity in order to repay amounts outstanding under the Credit Facility. Based on the recent trading prices of our stock, such an equity offering may have a substantial dilutive impact on our existing stockholders’ interest in our earnings, assets and voting interest in us. If we are able to renew, extend or refinance our Credit Facility prior to maturity, any renewal, extension or refinancing of the Credit Facility will potentially result in significantly higher interest rates and related charges and may impose significant restrictions on the use of borrowed funds to fund investments or maintain distributions to stockholders.

Our business plan is dependent upon external financing, which is constrained by the limitations of the 1940 Act.

The last equity offerings we completed were for our Term Preferred Stock in March 2012 and our common offering in October 2012, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to raise capital through issuing equity in the near future. Our business requires a substantial amount of cash to operate and grow. We may acquire such additional capital from the following sources:

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We financed certain of our investments with borrowed money and capital from the issuance of Senior Securities, which will magnify the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested and may increase the risk of investing in us.

The following table illustrates the effect of leverage on returns from an investment in our common stock assuming various annual returns on our portfolio, net of expenses. The calculations in the table below are hypothetical, and actual returns may be higher or lower than those appearing in the table below.

Based on an aggregate outstanding indebtedness of $66.2 million at cost as of March 31, 2014, the effective annual interest rate of 4.8% as of that date, and aggregate liquidation preference of our Term Preferred Stock of $40 million, our investment portfolio at fair value would have had to produce an annual return of at least 1.7% to cover annual interest payments on the outstanding debt and dividends on our Term Preferred Stock.

A change in interest rates may adversely affect our profitability and our hedging strategy may expose us to additional risks.

We anticipate using a combination of equity and long-term and short-term borrowings to finance our investment activities. As a result, a portion of our income will depend upon the difference between the rate at which we borrow funds and the rate at which we loan these funds. Higher interest rates on our borrowings will decrease the overall return on our portfolio. As of March 31, 2014, based on the total principal balance of debt outstanding, our portfolio consisted of 82.5% of loans at variable rates with floors and 17.5% at fixed rates.

We currently hold one interest rate cap agreement. While hedging activities may insulate us against adverse fluctuations in interest rates, they may also limit our ability to participate in the benefits of lower interest rates with respect to the hedged portfolio. Adverse developments resulting from changes in interest rates or any future hedging transactions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our ability to receive payments pursuant to an interest rate cap agreement is linked to the ability of the counter-party to that agreement to make the required payments. To the extent that the counter-party to the agreement is unable to pay pursuant to the terms of the agreement, we may lose the hedging protection of the interest rate cap agreement.

Risks Related to Our Investments

We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities.

There has been increased competitive pressure in the BDC and investment company marketplace for senior and senior subordinated debt, resulting in lower yields for increasingly riskier investments. A large number of entities compete with us and make the types of investments that we seek to make in small and mid-sized companies. We compete with public and private buyout funds, commercial and investment banks, commercial financing companies, and, to the extent that they provide an alternative form of financing, hedge funds. Many of our competitors are substantially larger and have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. For example, some competitors may have a lower cost of funds and access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which would allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish more relationships than us. Furthermore, many of our competitors are not subject to the regulatory restrictions that the 1940 Act imposes on us as a BDC. The competitive pressures we face could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, as a result of this competition, we may not be able to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time and we can offer no assurance that we will be able to identify and make investments that are consistent with our investment objective. We do not seek to compete based on the interest rates we offer, and we believe that some of our competitors may make loans with interest rates that will be comparable to or lower than the rates we offer. We may lose investment opportunities if we do not match our competitors’ pricing, terms, and structure. However, if we match our competitors’ pricing, terms, and structure, we may experience decreased net interest income and increased risk of credit loss.

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Our investments in small and medium-sized portfolio companies are extremely risky and could cause you to lose all or a part of your investment.

Investments in small and medium-sized portfolio companies are subject to a number of significant risks including the following:

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Because the loans we make and equity securities we receive when we make loans are not publicly traded, there is uncertainty regarding the value of our privately held securities that could adversely affect our determination of our NAV.

Our portfolio investments are, and we expect will continue to be, in the form of securities that are not publicly traded. The fair value of securities and other investments that are not publicly traded may not be readily determinable. Our Board of Directors has established an investment valuation policy that the Adviser and Administrator apply to determine the fair value of these securities quarterly. These procedures for the determination of value of many of our debt securities rely on the opinions of value submitted to us by SPSE or the use of internally developed discounted cash flow (“DCF”) methodologies or indicative bid prices (“IBP”) offered by the respective originating syndication agent’s trading desk, or secondary desk, specifically for our syndicated loans, or internal methodologies based on the total enterprise value (“TEV”) of the issuer used for certain of our equity investments. SPSE will only evaluate the debt portion of our investments for which we specifically request evaluation, and SPSE may decline to make requested evaluations for any reason in its sole discretion. However, to date, SPSE has accepted each of our requests for evaluation.

Our use of these fair value methods is inherently subjective and is based on estimates and assumptions of each security. In the event that we are required to sell a security, we may ultimately sell for an amount materially less than the estimated fair value calculated by SPSE, or utilizing the TEV, IBP or the DCF methodology.

Our procedures also include provisions whereby the Adviser will establish the fair value of any equity securities we may hold where SPSE or third-party agent banks are unable to provide evaluations. The types of factors that may be considered in determining the fair value of our debt and equity securities include some or all of the following:

Because such valuations, particularly valuations of private securities and private companies, are not susceptible to precise determination, may fluctuate over short periods of time, and may be based on estimates, our determinations of fair value may differ from the values that might have actually resulted had a readily available market for these securities been available.

A portion of our assets are, and will continue to be, comprised of equity securities that are valued based on internal assessment using our own valuation methods approved by our Board of Directors, without the input of SPSE or any other third-party evaluator. We believe that our equity valuation methods reflect those regularly used as standards by other professionals in our industry who value equity securities. However, determination of fair value for securities that are not publicly traded, whether or not we use the recommendations of an independent third-party evaluator, necessarily involves the exercise of subjective judgment. Our NAV could be adversely affected if our determinations regarding the fair value of our investments were materially higher than the values that we ultimately realize upon the disposal of such securities.

The lack of liquidity of our privately held investments may adversely affect our business.

We will generally make investments in private companies whose securities are not traded in any public market. Substantially all of the investments we presently hold and the investments we expect to acquire in the future are, and will be, subject to legal and other restrictions on resale and will otherwise be less liquid than publicly-traded securities. The illiquidity of our investments may make it difficult for us to quickly obtain cash equal to the value at which we record our investments if the need arises. This could cause us to miss important investment opportunities. In addition, if we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio quickly, we may record substantial realized losses upon liquidation. We may also face other restrictions on our ability to liquidate an investment in a portfolio company to the extent that we, the Adviser, or our respective officers, employees or affiliates have material non-public information regarding such portfolio company.

Due to the uncertainty inherent in valuing these securities, our determinations of fair value may differ materially from the values that could be obtained if a ready market for these securities existed. Our NAV could be materially affected if our determinations regarding the fair value of our investments are materially different from the values that we ultimately realize upon our disposal of such securities.

Our financial results could be negatively affected if a significant portfolio investment fails to perform as expected.

Our total investment in companies may be significant individually or in the aggregate. As a result, if a significant investment in one or more companies fails to perform as expected, our financial results could be more negatively affected and the magnitude of the loss could be more significant than if we had made smaller investments in more companies. Our five largest investments represented 32.8% of the fair value of our total portfolio as of March 31, 2014, compared to 50.2% as of March 31, 2013. Any disposition of a significant investment in one or more companies may negatively impact our net investment income and limit our ability to pay distributions.

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When we are a debt or minority equity investor in a portfolio company, which we expect will generally be the case, we may not be in a position to control the entity, and its management may make decisions that could decrease the value of our investment.

We anticipate that most of our investments will continue to be either debt or minority equity investments in our portfolio companies. Therefore, we are and will remain subject to risk that a portfolio company may make business decisions with which we disagree, and the shareholders and management of such company may take risks or otherwise act in ways that do not serve our best interests. As a result, a portfolio company may make decisions that could decrease the value of our portfolio holdings. In addition, we will generally not be in a position to control any portfolio company by investing in its debt securities.

We typically invest in transactions involving acquisitions, buyouts and recapitalizations of companies, which will subject us to the risks associated with change in control transactions.

Our strategy, in part, includes making debt and equity investments in companies in connection with acquisitions, buyouts and recapitalizations, which subjects us to the risks associated with change in control transactions. Change in control transactions often present a number of uncertainties. Companies undergoing change in control transactions often face challenges retaining key employees and maintaining relationships with customers and suppliers. While we hope to avoid many of these difficulties by participating in transactions where the management team is retained and by conducting thorough due diligence in advance of our decision to invest, if our portfolio companies experience one or more of these problems, we may not realize the value that we expect in connection with our investments, which would likely harm our operating results and financial condition.

Our portfolio companies may incur debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, our investments in such companies.

We invest in debt securities issued by our portfolio companies. In some cases portfolio companies will be permitted to have other debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, the debt securities in which we invest. By their terms, such debt instruments may provide that the holders thereof are entitled to receive payment of interest and principal on or before the dates on which we are entitled to receive payments in respect of the debt securities in which we invest. Also, in the event of insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization, or bankruptcy of a portfolio company, holders of debt instruments ranking senior to our investment in that portfolio company would typically be entitled to receive payment in full before we receive any distribution in respect of our investment. After repaying such senior creditors, such portfolio company may not have any remaining assets to use for repaying its obligation to us. In the case of debt ranking equally with debt securities in which we invest, we would have to share on an equal basis any distributions with other creditors holding such debt in the event of an insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization, or bankruptcy of a portfolio company.

Prepayments of our investments by our portfolio companies could adversely impact our results of operations and reduce our return on equity.

In addition to risks associated with delays in investing our capital, we are also subject to the risk that investments we make in our portfolio companies may be repaid prior to maturity. During the fiscal year 2014, we experienced prepayments of debt investments from Venyu Solutions, Inc. (“Venyu”), Channel Technologies Group, LLC (“CTG”) and Cavert II Holding Corp. (“Cavert”). We will first use any proceeds from prepayments to repay any borrowings outstanding on our Credit Facility. In the event that funds remain after repayment of our outstanding borrowings, then we will generally reinvest these proceeds in government securities, pending their future investment in new debt and/or equity securities. These government securities will typically have substantially lower yields than the debt securities being prepaid and we could experience significant delays in reinvesting these amounts. As a result, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected if one or more of our portfolio companies elect to prepay amounts owed to us. Additionally, prepayments could negatively impact our return on equity, which could result in a decline in the market price of our common stock.

Higher taxation of our portfolio companies may impact our quarterly and annual operating results.

The recession’s adverse effect on federal, state and municipality revenues may induce these government entities to raise various taxes to make up for lost revenues. Additional taxation may have an adverse affect on our portfolio companies’ earnings and reduce their ability to repay our loans to them, thus affecting our quarterly and annual operating results.

Our portfolio is concentrated in a limited number of companies and industries, which subjects us to an increased risk of significant loss if any one of these companies does not repay us or if the industries experience downturns.

As of March 31, 2014, we had investments in 29 portfolio companies, of which there were three investments, SOG, Acme, and Galaxy that comprised $70.9 million or 22.6% of our total investment portfolio, at fair value. A consequence of a limited number of investments is that the aggregate returns we realize may be substantially adversely affected by the unfavorable performance of a small number of such loans or a substantial write-down of any one investment. Beyond our regulatory and income tax diversification requirements, we do not have fixed guidelines for industry concentration and our investments could potentially be concentrated in

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relatively few industries. In addition, while we do not intend to invest 25% or more of our total assets in a particular industry or group of industries at the time of investment, it is possible that as the values of our portfolio companies change, one industry or a group of industries may comprise in excess of 25% of the value of our total assets. As of March 31, 2014, our largest industry concentration was in Diversified/Conglomerate Manufacturing representing 17.4% of our total investments, at fair value. As a result, a downturn in an industry in which we have invested a significant portion of our total assets could have a materially adverse effect on us.

Our investments are typically long term and will require several years to realize liquidation events.

Since we generally make five to seven year term loans and hold our loans and related warrants or other equity positions until the loans mature, you should not expect realization events, if any, to occur over the near term. In addition, we expect that any warrants or other equity positions that we receive when we make loans may require several years to appreciate in value and we cannot give any assurance that such appreciation will occur.

The disposition of our investments may result in contingent liabilities.

Currently, all of our investments involve private securities. In connection with the disposition of an investment in private securities, we may be required to make representations about the business and financial affairs of the underlying portfolio company typical of those made in connection with the sale of a business. We may also be required to indemnify the purchasers of such investment to the extent that any such representations turn out to be inaccurate or with respect to certain potential liabilities. These arrangements may result in contingent liabilities that ultimately yield funding obligations that must be satisfied through our return of certain distributions previously made to us.

There may be circumstances where our debt investments could be subordinated to claims of other creditors or we could be subject to lender liability claims.

Even though we have structured some of our investments as senior loans, if one of our portfolio companies were to go bankrupt, depending on the facts and circumstances, including the extent to which we actually provided managerial assistance to that portfolio company, a bankruptcy court might re-characterize our debt investments and subordinate all, or a portion, of our claims to that of other creditors. Holders of debt instruments ranking senior to our investments typically would be entitled to receive payment in full before we receive any distributions. After repaying such senior creditors, such portfolio company may not have any remaining assets to use to repay its obligation to us. We may also be subject to lender liability claims for actions taken by us with respect to a borrower’s business or in instances in which we exercised control over the borrower. It is possible that we could become subject to a lender’s liability claim, including as a result of actions taken in rendering significant managerial assistance.

Portfolio company litigation could result in additional costs and the diversion of management time and resources.

In the course of investing in and often providing significant managerial assistance to certain of our portfolio companies, certain persons employed by our Adviser sometimes serve as directors on the boards of such companies. To the extent that litigation arises out of our investments in these companies, even if meritless, we or such employees may be named as defendants in such litigation, which could result in additional costs, including defense costs, and the diversion of management time and resources. We may be unable to accurately estimate our exposure to litigation risk if we record balance sheet reserves for probable loss contingencies. As a result, any reserves we establish to cover any settlements or judgments may not be sufficient to cover our actual financial exposure, which may have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition.

In view of the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of legal actions and regulatory matters, we cannot provide assurance as to the outcome of any pending matter or, if resolved adversely, the costs associated with any such matter, particularly where the claimant seeks very large or indeterminate damages or where the matter presents novel legal theories, involves a large number of parties or is at a preliminary stage. The resolution of any such matters may be time consuming, expensive, and may distract management from the conduct of our business. The resolution of certain pending legal actions or regulatory matters, if unfavorable, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for the quarter in which such actions or matters are resolved or a reserve is established.

We may not realize gains from our equity investments and other yield enhancements.

When we make a subordinated loan, we may receive warrants to purchase stock issued by the borrower or other yield enhancements, such as success fees. Our goal is to ultimately dispose of these equity interests and realize gains upon our disposition of such interests. We expect that, over time, the gains we realize on these warrants and other yield enhancements will offset any losses we experience on loan defaults. However, any warrants we receive may not appreciate in value and, in fact, may decline in value and any other yield enhancements, such as success fees, may not be realized. Accordingly, we may not be able to realize gains from our equity interests or other yield enhancements and any gains we do recognize may not be sufficient to offset losses we experience on our loan portfolio.

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we recorded a net realized gain of $8.2 million related to the $24.8 million gain on the Venyu sale, partially offset by the realized losses of $11.4 million and $1.8 million related to the equity sales of Auto Safety House,

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LLC (“ASH”) and Packerland Whey Products, Inc. (“Packerland”), respectively, and realized losses of $3.4 million related to the restructuring of Noble Logistics, Inc. (“Noble”). During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, we recorded a realized gain of $0.8 million relating to post-closing adjustments on our previous investment exit of A. Stucki, and during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, we recapitalized our investment in Cavert, receiving $8.5 million in proceeds and realizing a gain of $5.5 million. There can be no guarantees that such realized gains can be achieved in future periods and the impact of such sales on our results of operations for the fiscal years 2014, 2013 and 2012 should not be relied upon as being indicative of performance in future periods.

Any unrealized depreciation we experience on our investment portfolio may be an indication of future realized losses, which could reduce our income available for distribution.

As a BDC we are required to carry our investments at market value or, if no market value is ascertainable, at fair value as determined in good faith by or under the direction of our Board of Directors. We will record decreases in the market values or fair values of our investments as unrealized depreciation. Since our inception, we have, at times, incurred a cumulative net unrealized depreciation of our portfolio. Any unrealized depreciation in our investment portfolio could result in realized losses in the future and ultimately in reductions of our income available for distribution to stockholders in future periods.

Risks Related to Our Regulation and Structure

If we are unable to meet the 50% threshold of the asset diversification test applicable to RICs under the Code as measured at each quarter end, we would lose our RIC status unless we are able to cure such failure within 30 days of the quarter end.

In order to maintain RIC status under the Code, in addition to other requirements, as of the close of each quarter of our taxable year, we must meet the asset diversification test, which requires that at least 50% of the value of our assets consist of cash, cash items, U.S. government securities, the securities of other RICs and other securities to the extent such other securities of any one issuer do not represent more than 5% of our total assets or more than 10% of the voting securities of such issuer. As a result of changes in the makeup of our assets during 2009, we have not continuously exceeded the 50% threshold. At each quarterly measurement date from June 30, 2009 to December 31, 2013, we satisfied the 50% threshold through the purchase of short-term qualified securities, which was funded primarily through a short-term loan agreement. The March 31, 2014 quarter end is the first quarter since June 30, 2009 in which we satisfied the 50% threshold without purchasing short-term qualified securities. Until the composition of our assets is continuously above the required 50% threshold, we may have to deploy similar purchases of qualified securities using short-term loans that would allow us to satisfy the asset diversification test, thereby allowing us to make new or additional investments. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to enter into such a transaction on reasonable terms, if at all. In circumstances where the failure to meet the 50% threshold as of a subsequent quarterly measurement date is the result of fluctuations in the value of assets, we are still deemed under the rules to have satisfied the asset diversification test and, therefore, maintain our RIC status, as long as we have not made any new investments, including additional investments in our portfolio companies (such as advances under outstanding lines of credit), since the time that we fell below the 50% threshold. Because, in most circumstances, we are contractually required to advance funds on outstanding lines of credit upon the request of our portfolio companies, we may have a limited ability to avoid adding to existing investments in a manner that would cause us to fail the asset diversification test at a subsequent quarterly measurement date.

If we are not in compliance with the 50% threshold at a quarterly measurement date, we would have thirty days to “cure” our failure to meet the 50% threshold at such quarterly measurement date to avoid our loss of RIC status. Potential cures for failure of the asset diversification test include raising additional equity or debt capital as we have done in the past, or changing the composition of our assets, which could include full or partial divestitures of investments, such that we would once again meet or exceed the 50% threshold at such quarterly measurement date. Our ability to implement any of these cures would be subject to market conditions and a number of risks and uncertainties that would be, in part, beyond our control. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee you that we would be successful in curing any failure of the asset diversification test, which would subject us to corporate level tax. For additional information about the consequences of failing to satisfy the RIC qualification requirements, see “—We will be subject to corporate-level tax if we are unable to satisfy Code requirements for RIC qualification.”

We will be subject to corporate-level tax if we are unable to satisfy Code requirements for RIC qualification.

To maintain our qualification as a RIC, we must meet income source, asset diversification and annual distribution requirements. The annual distribution requirement is satisfied if we distribute at least 90% of our ordinary income and short-term capital gains to our stockholders on an annual basis. Because we use leverage, we are subject to certain asset coverage ratio requirements under the 1940 Act and could, under certain circumstances, be restricted from making distributions necessary to qualify as a RIC. Warrants we receive with respect to debt investments will create “original issue discount,” which we must recognize as ordinary income, increasing the amounts we are required to distribute to maintain RIC status. Because such warrants will not produce distributable cash for us at the same time as we are required to make distributions in respect of the related original issue discount, we will need to use cash from other sources to satisfy such distribution requirements. The asset diversification requirements must be met at the end of each calendar quarter. If we fail to meet these tests, we may need to quickly dispose of certain investments to prevent the loss of RIC status. Since

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most of our investments will be illiquid, such dispositions, if even possible, may not be made at prices advantageous to us and, in fact, may result in substantial losses. If we fail to qualify as a RIC for any reason and become fully subject to corporate income tax, the resulting corporate taxes could substantially reduce our net assets, the amount of income available for distribution, and the actual amount distributed. Such a failure would have a material adverse effect on us and our shares. For additional information regarding asset coverage ratio and RIC requirements, see “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—RIC Status.”

From time to time, some of our debt investments may include success fees that would generate payments to us if the business is ultimately sold. Because the satisfaction of these success fees, and the ultimate payment of these fees, is uncertain, we do not recognize them as income until we have received payment. We sought and received approval for a change in accounting method from the IRS related to our tax treatment for success fees. As a result, we, in effect, will continue to account for the recognition of income from the success fees upon receipt, or when the amounts become fixed. Success fee amounts are characterized as ordinary income for tax purposes and, as a result, we are required to distribute such amounts to our stockholders in order to maintain RIC status.

Changes in laws or regulations governing our operations, or changes in the interpretation thereof, and any failure by us to comply with laws or regulations governing our operations may adversely affect our business.

We and our portfolio companies are subject to regulation by laws at the local, state and federal levels. These laws and regulations, as well as their interpretation, may be changed from time to time. Accordingly, any change in these laws or regulations, or their interpretation, or any failure by us or our portfolio companies to comply with these laws or regulations may adversely affect our business. For additional information regarding the regulations to which we are subject, see “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—RIC Status” and “Regulation as a Business Development Company.”

Provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law and of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could restrict a change in control and have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock.

We are subject to provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law that, in general, prohibit any business combination with a beneficial owner of 15% or more of our common stock for three years unless the holder’s acquisition of our stock was either approved in advance by our Board of Directors or ratified by the Board of Directors and stockholders owning two-thirds of our outstanding stock not owned by the acquiring holder. Although we believe these provisions collectively provide for an opportunity to receive higher bids by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors, they would apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders.

We have also adopted other measures that may make it difficult for a third party to obtain control of us, including provisions of our certificate of incorporation classifying our Board of Directors in three classes serving staggered three-year terms, and provisions of our certificate of incorporation authorizing our Board of Directors to induce the issuance of additional shares of our stock. These provisions, as well as other provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, may delay, defer, or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.

Risks Related to an Investment in Our Securities

We may experience fluctuations in our quarterly and annual operating results.

We may experience fluctuations in our quarterly and annual operating results due to a number of factors, including, among others, variations in our investment income, the interest rates payable on the debt securities we acquire, the default rates on such securities, the level of our expenses, variations in and the timing of the recognition of realized and unrealized gains or losses, the level of our expenses, the degree to which we encounter competition in our markets, and general economic conditions, including the impacts of inflation. The majority of our portfolio companies are in industries that are directly impacted by inflation, such as manufacturing and consumer goods and services. Our portfolio companies may not be able to pass on to customers increases in their costs of production which could greatly affect their operating results, impacting their ability to repay our loans. In addition, any projected future decreases in our portfolio companies’ operating results due to inflation could adversely impact the fair value of those investments. Any decreases in the fair value of our investments could result in future realized and unrealized losses and therefore reduce our net assets resulting from operations. As a result of these factors, results for any period should not be relied upon as being indicative of performance in future periods.

There is a risk that you may not receive distributions or that distributions may not grow over time.

Our current intention is to distribute at least 90% of our ordinary income and short-term capital gains to our stockholders on a quarterly basis by paying monthly distributions. We expect to retain some or all net realized long-term capital gains by first offsetting them with realized capital losses, and, secondly, through a “deemed distribution” to supplement our equity capital and support the growth of our portfolio, although our Board of Directors may determine in certain cases to distribute these gains to our common stockholders. In addition, our Credit Facility restricts the amount of distributions we are permitted to make. We cannot assure you that we will achieve investment results or maintain a tax status that will allow or require any specified level of cash distributions.

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Investing in our securities may involve an above average degree of risk.

The investments we make in accordance with our investment objective may result in a higher amount of risk than alternative investment options and a higher risk of volatility or loss of principal. Our investments in portfolio companies may be highly speculative, and therefore, an investment in our shares may not be suitable for someone with lower risk tolerance.

Distributions to our stockholders have included and may in the future include a return of capital.

Our Board of Directors declares monthly distributions based on estimates of taxable income for each fiscal year, which may differ, and in the past have differed, from actual results. Because our distributions are based on estimates of taxable income that may differ from actual results, future distributions payable to our stockholders may also include a return of capital. Moreover, to the extent that we distribute amounts that exceed our accumulated earnings and profits, these distributions constitute a return of capital. A return of capital represents a return of a stockholder’s original investment in shares of our stock and should not be confused with a distribution from earnings and profits. Although return of capital distributions may not be taxable, such distributions may increase an investor’s tax liability for capital gains upon the sale of our shares by reducing the investor’s tax basis for such shares. Such returns of capital reduce our asset base and also adversely impact our ability to raise debt capital as a result of the leverage restrictions under the 1940 Act, which could have a material adverse impact on our ability to make new investments.

The market price of our shares may fluctuate significantly.

The trading price of our common stock and our preferred stock may fluctuate substantially. The extreme volatility and disruption that have affected the capital and credit markets over the past few years, we have experienced greater than usual stock price volatility.

The market price and marketability of our shares may from time to time be significantly affected by numerous factors, including many over which we have no control and that may not be directly related to us. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

Fluctuations in the trading prices of our shares may adversely affect the liquidity of the trading market for our shares and, if we seek to raise capital through future equity financings, our ability to raise such equity capital.

The issuance of subscription rights to our existing stockholders may dilute the ownership and voting powers of existing stockholders in our common stock, dilute the NAV of their shares and have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

In April 2008, we completed an offering of transferable rights to subscribe for additional shares of our common stock, or subscription rights. We raised equity in this manner primarily due to the capital raising constraints applicable to us under the 1940 Act when our common stock is trading below its NAV per share, as it was at the time of the rights offering. In the event that we again issue subscription rights to our existing stockholders, there is a significant possibility that the rights offering will dilute the ownership

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interest and voting power of stockholders who do not fully exercise their subscription rights. Stockholders who do not fully exercise their subscription rights should expect that they will, upon completion of the rights offering, own a smaller proportional interest in the Company than would otherwise be the case if they fully exercised their subscription rights. In addition, because the subscription price of the rights offering is likely to be less than our most recently determined NAV per share, our common stockholders are likely to experience an immediate dilution of the per share NAV of their shares as a result of the offer. As a result of these factors, any future rights offerings of our common stock, or our announcement of our intention to conduct a rights offering, could have a material adverse impact on the trading price of our common stock.

Shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount from NAV.

Shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount from NAV. Since our inception, our common stock has at times traded above NAV, and at times traded below NAV. During the past year, our common stock has consistently, and at times significantly, traded below NAV. Subsequent to March 31, 2014, our common stock has traded at discounts of up to 7.9% of our NAV per share, which was $8.34 as of March 31, 2014. This characteristic of shares of closed-end investment companies is separate and distinct from the risk that our NAV per share will decline. As with any stock, the price of our shares will fluctuate with market conditions and other factors. If shares are sold, the price received may be more or less than the original investment. Whether investors will realize gains or losses upon the sale of our shares will not depend directly upon our NAV, but will depend upon the market price of the shares at the time of sale. Since the market price of our shares will be affected by such factors as the relative demand for and supply of the shares in the market, general market and economic conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict whether the shares will trade at, below or above our NAV. Under the 1940 Act, we are generally not able to issue additional shares of our common stock at a price below NAV per share to purchasers other than our existing stockholders through a rights offering without first obtaining the approval of our common stockholders and our independent directors. Additionally, at times when our common stock is trading below its NAV per share, our dividend yield may exceed the weighted average returns that we would expect to realize on new investments that would be made with the proceeds from the sale of such stock, making it unlikely that we would determine to issue additional shares in such circumstances. Thus, for as long as our common stock trades below NAV we will be subject to significant constraints on our ability to raise capital through the issuance of common stock. Additionally, an extended period of time in which we are unable to raise capital may restrict our ability to grow and adversely impact our ability to increase or maintain our distributions.

Stockholders may incur dilution if we sell shares of our common stock in one or more offerings at prices below the then current NAV per share of our common stock.

At our most recent annual meeting, our stockholders approved a proposal designed to allow us to access the capital markets in a way that absent stockholder approval, we are generally unable to due to restrictions applicable to BDCs under the 1940 Act. Specifically, our stockholders approved a proposal that authorizes us to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock in one or more offerings for a period of one year, subject to certain conditions (including, but not limited to, that the number of common shares issued and sold pursuant to such authority does not exceed 25% of our then outstanding common stock immediately prior to each such sale).

We exercised this right with Board of Director approval in October 2012, when we completed a public offering of 4.4 million shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $7.50 per share, which was below our then current NAV of $8.65 per share. Gross proceeds totaled $33 million and net proceeds, after deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses borne by us, were $31 million. The net dilutive effect of the issuance of common stock, net of expenses, below NAV was $0.31 per share of common stock.

At the upcoming annual stockholders meeting scheduled for August 7, 2014, we expect that our stockholders will again be asked to vote in favor of renewing this proposal for another year. During the past year, our common stock has traded consistently, and at times significantly, below NAV. Any decision to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock would be subject to the determination by our Board of Directors that such issuance is in our and our stockholders’ best interests.

If we were to sell shares of our common stock below NAV per share, such sales would result in an immediate dilution to the NAV per share. This dilution would occur as a result of the sale of shares at a price below the then current NAV per share of our common stock and a proportionately greater decrease in a stockholder’s interest in our earnings and assets and voting interest in us than the increase in our assets resulting from such issuance. The greater the difference between the sale price and the NAV per share at the time of the offering, the more significant the dilutive impact would be. Because the number of shares of common stock that could be so issued and the timing of any issuance is not currently known, the actual dilutive effect, if any, cannot be currently predicted. However, if, for example, we sold an additional 10% of our common stock at a 5% discount from NAV, a stockholder who did not participate in that offering for its proportionate interest would suffer NAV dilution of up to 0.5% or $5 per $1,000 of NAV.

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If we fail to pay dividends on our Term Preferred Stock for two years, the holders of our Term Preferred Stock will be entitled to elect a majority of our directors.

The terms of our Term Preferred Stock provide for annual dividends in the amount of $1.7813 per outstanding share of Term Preferred Stock. In accordance with the terms of our Term Preferred Stock, if dividends thereon are unpaid in an amount equal to at least two years of dividends, the holders of Term Preferred Stock will be entitled to elect a majority of our Board of Directors.

Other Risks

We could face losses and potential liability if intrusion, viruses or similar disruptions to our technology jeopardize our confidential information, whether through breach of our network security or otherwise.

Maintaining our network security is of critical importance because our systems store highly confidential financial models and portfolio company information. Although we have implemented, and will continue to implement, security measures, our technology platform is and will continue to be vulnerable to intrusion, computer viruses or similar disruptive problems caused by transmission from unauthorized users. The misappropriation of proprietary information could expose us to a risk of loss or litigation.

Terrorist attacks, acts of war, or national disasters may affect any market for our common stock, impact the businesses in which we invest, and harm our business, operating results, and financial conditions.

Terrorist acts, acts of war, or national disasters have created, and continue to create, economic and political uncertainties and have contributed to global economic instability. Future terrorist activities, military or security operations, or national disasters could further weaken the domestic/global economies and create additional uncertainties, which may negatively impact the businesses in which we invest directly or indirectly and, in turn, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Losses from terrorist attacks and national disasters are generally uninsurable.

Pending legislation may allow us to incur additional leverage.

As a BDC, we are generally not permitted to incur indebtedness (which includes senior securities representing indebtedness and senior securities that are stock) unless immediately after such borrowing we have asset coverage (as defined in Section 18(h) of the 1940 Act) of at least 200% (i.e. the amount of borrowings may not exceed 50% of the value of our assets). Various pieces of legislation that have been introduced during the current session of the U.S. House of Representatives, if passed, would modify this section of the 1940 Act and increase the amount of such indebtedness that BDCs may incur by modifying the percentage from 200% to 150% and making the asset coverage requirement inapplicable for senior securities that are stock, such as term preferred stock. Our Term Preferred Stock is a senior security that is stock and so for this 200% asset coverage threshold is included as total indebtedness. However, if this proposed legislation is passed, the 1940 Act may not limit our ability to issue preferred stock in the future. As a result, we may be able to incur additional indebtedness in the future and therefore your risk of an investment in us may increase.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

All statements contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus or any accompanying prospectus supplement, other than historical facts, may constitute “forward-looking statements.” These statements may relate to, among other things, future events or our future performance or financial condition of us and our portfolio companies. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “might,” “believe,” “will,” “provide,” “anticipate,” “future,” “could,” “growth,” “plan,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “if,” “seek,” “possible,” “potential,” “likely” or the negative of such terms or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: (1) further adverse changes in the economy and the capital markets; (2) risks associated with negotiation and consummation of pending and future transactions; (3) the loss of one or more of our executive officers, in particular David Gladstone, Terry Lee Brubaker or David Dullum; (4) changes in our business strategy; (5) availability, terms and deployment of capital; (6) changes in our industry, interest rates, or exchange rates; (7) the degree and nature of our competition; and (8) those factors described in the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statement, which speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this prospectus. The forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus or any accompanying prospectus supplement are excluded from the safe harbor protection provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Section 27A of the Securities Act.

USE OF PROCEEDS

Unless otherwise specified in any prospectus supplement accompanying this prospectus, we intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the Securities first to pay down existing short-term debt, then to make investments in small and mid-sized businesses in accordance with our investment objectives, with any remaining proceeds to be used for other general corporate purposes. Indebtedness under our Credit Facility currently accrues interest at the rate of approximately 4% and the revolving period ends on April 30, 2016. We anticipate that substantially all of the net proceeds of any offering of Securities will be utilized in the manner described above within three months of the completion of such offering. Pending such utilization, we intend to invest the net proceeds of any offering of Securities primarily in cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities, and other high-quality debt investments that mature in one year or less from the date of investment, consistent with the requirements for continued qualification as a RIC for federal income tax purposes.

PRICE RANGE OF COMMON STOCK AND DISTRIBUTIONS

We currently intend to distribute in the form of cash dividends, a minimum of 90% of our ordinary income and net short-term capital gains, if any, on a quarterly basis to our stockholders in the form of monthly dividends. We intend to retain long-term capital gains and treat them as deemed distributions for tax purposes. We report the estimated tax characteristics of each distribution when declared while the actual tax characteristics of distributions are reported annually to each stockholder on IRS Form 1099-DIV. There is no assurance that we will achieve investment results or maintain a tax status that will permit any specified level of cash distributions or year-to-year increases in cash distributions. At the option of a holder of record of common stock, all cash distributions with respect to shares of our common stock can be reinvested automatically under our dividend reinvestment plan in additional whole and fractional shares. A stockholder whose shares of our common stock are held in the name of a broker or other nominee should contact the broker or nominee regarding participation in our dividend reinvestment plan on the stockholder’s behalf. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Structure—We will be subject to corporate-level tax if we are unable to satisfy Code requirements for RIC qualification;” “Dividend Reinvestment Plan;” and “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.”

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “GAIN.” The following table reflects, by quarter, the high and low sales prices per share of our common stock on the NASDAQ, the sales prices as a percentage of NAV and quarterly distributions declared per share for each fiscal quarter during the last two fiscal years and the current fiscal year through June 2, 2014.

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Common shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to their NAV. The possibility that our shares may trade at such discount to our NAV is separate and distinct from the risk that our NAV per share may decline. We cannot predict whether our shares will trade above, at or below NAV, although during the past three years, our common stock has consistently traded, and at times significantly, below NAV.

As of May 23, 2014, there were approximately 25 record owners of our common stock.

The following are our outstanding classes of securities as of March 31, 2014.

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RATIOS OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES

For the years ended March 31, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010 the ratios of three income metrics to fixed charges of the Company, computed as set forth below, were as follows:

For purposes of computing the ratios, fixed charges include interest expense on borrowings, dividend expense on mandatorily redeemable preferred stock and amortization of deferred financing fees. You should read these ratios of earnings to fixed charges in connection with our consolidated financial statements, including the notes to those statements, included in this prospectus.

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CONSOLIDATED SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

The following consolidated selected financial data as of and for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010, and are derived from our consolidated financial statements that have been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm. The other data included at the bottom of the table is unaudited. The data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA

The following tables set forth certain quarterly financial information for each of the eight quarters in the two years ended March 31, 2014. The information was derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements. Results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of results for the past fiscal year or for any future quarter.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

(dollar amounts in thousands, except per share data and as otherwise indicated)

The following analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere herein.

OVERVIEW

General

We are an externally-managed, closed-end, non-diversified management investment company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company (“BDC”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). In addition, for United States (“U.S.”) federal income tax purposes, we have elected to be treated as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). As a BDC and a RIC, we are also subject to certain constraints, including limitations imposed by the 1940 Act and the Code.

We were incorporated under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware on February 18, 2005. We were established for the purpose of investing in debt and equity securities of established private businesses in the U.S. Debt investments primarily come in the form of three types of loans: senior term loans, senior subordinated loans and junior subordinated debt. Equity investments primarily take the form of preferred or common equity (or warrants or options to acquire the foregoing), often in connection with buyouts and other recapitalizations. To a much lesser extent, we also invest in senior and subordinated syndicated loans. Our investment objectives are (a) to achieve and grow current income by investing in debt securities of established businesses that we believe will provide stable earnings and cash flow to pay expenses, make principal and interest payments on our outstanding indebtedness and make distributions to stockholders that grow over time and (b) to provide our stockholders with long-term capital appreciation in the value of our assets by investing in equity securities of established businesses that we believe can grow over time to permit us to sell our equity investments for capital gains. We expect that our investment mix over time will consist of approximately 80% in debt securities and 20% in equity securities. As of March 31, 2014, our investment mix was 73% in debt securities and 27% in equity securities, at cost.

We focus on investing in small and medium-sized private U.S. businesses that meet certain criteria, including some but not all of the following: the potential for growth in cash flow, adequate assets for loan collateral, experienced management teams with a significant ownership interest in the borrower, profitable operations based on the borrower’s cash flow, reasonable capitalization of the borrower (usually by leveraged buyout funds or venture capital funds) and the potential to realize appreciation and gain liquidity in our equity position, if any. We anticipate that liquidity in our equity position will be achieved through a merger or acquisition of the borrower, a public offering of the borrower’s stock or by exercising our right to require the borrower to repurchase our warrants, though there can be no assurance that we will always have these rights. We lend to borrowers that need funds to finance growth, restructure their balance sheets or effect a change of control. We invest by ourselves or jointly with other funds and/or management of the portfolio company, depending on the opportunity. If we are participating in an investment with one or more co-investors, our investment is likely to be smaller than if we were investing alone.

Our common stock and 7.125% Series A Cumulative Term Preferred Stock (our “Term Preferred Stock”) are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the symbols “GAIN” and “GAINP,” respectively.

We are externally managed by our investment advisor, Gladstone Management Corporation (our “Adviser”), an SEC registered investment adviser and an affiliate of ours, pursuant to an investment advisory and management agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”). The Adviser manages our investment activities. Our Board of Directors, which is composed of a majority of independent directors, supervises such investment activities. We have also entered into an administration agreement (the “Administration Agreement”) with Gladstone Administration, LLC (our “Administrator”), an affiliate of ours and the Adviser, whereby we pay separately for administrative services.

Business Environment

The strength of the global economy, and the U.S. economy in particular, continues to be uncertain and volatile, and we remain cautious about a long-term economic recovery. The effects of the previous recession and the disruptions in the capital markets have

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impacted our liquidity options and increased our cost of debt and equity capital. In addition, the recent federal government shutdown combined with the uncertainty surrounding the ability of the federal government to address its fiscal condition in both the near and long term have increased domestic and global economic instability. Many of our portfolio companies, as well as those that we evaluate for possible investments, are adversely impacted by these political and economic conditions. If these conditions persist, it may adversely affect their ability to repay our loans or engage in a liquidity event, such as a sale, recapitalization or initial public offering.

New Investment and Realized Gains/Losses from Exits

While conditions remain challenging, we are seeing an increase in the number of new investment opportunities consistent with our investing strategy of providing a combination of debt and equity in support of management and sponsor-led buyouts of small and medium-sized companies in the U.S. These opportunities along with the capital raising efforts discussed below have allowed us to invest $310.1 million in 19 new proprietary debt and equity deals since October 2010. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we invested a total of $125.6 million in nine new deals.

These new investments, as well as the majority of our debt securities in our portfolio, have a success fee component, which enhances the yield on our debt investments. Unlike paid-in-kind (“PIK”) income, we generally do not recognize success fees as income until they are received in cash. As a result, as of March 31, 2014, we had an off-balance sheet success fee receivable of $17.2 million, or $0.65 per common share. Due to their contingent nature, there are no guarantees that we will be able to collect any or all of these success fees or know the timing of such collections.

The improved investing environment in the second quarter presented us with an opportunity to realize gains and other income from our investment in Venyu Solutions, Inc. (“Venyu”) as a result of its sale in August 2013. As a result of the sale, we received net cash proceeds of $32.2 million, resulting in a realized gain of $24.8 million and dividend income of $1.4 million. In addition, we received full repayment of our debt investments of $19 million and $1.8 million in success fee income. This represents our fourth management-supported buyout liquidity event since June 2010, and in the aggregate, these four liquidity events have generated $54.5 million in realized gains and $13.1 million in other income, for a total increase to our net assets of $67.6 million. We believe each of these transactions was an equity-oriented investment success and support our investment strategy of striving to achieve returns through current income on the debt portion of our investments and capital gains from the equity portion. These successes, in part, enabled us to increase the monthly distribution 50% since March 2011, allowed us to declare a $0.03 per common share one-time special distribution in fiscal year 2012, and to declare a $0.05 per common share one-time special distribution in November 2013.

With the four liquidity events that have generated $54.5 million in realized gains since June 2010, we have primarily overcome our cumulative realized losses since inception that were primarily incurred during the recession and in connection with the sale of performing loans at a realized loss to pay off a former lender. We took the opportunity during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, to strategically sell our investments in two of our portfolio companies, ASH Holding Corp. (“ASH”) and Packerland Whey Products, Inc. (“Packerland”) to existing members of their management teams and other existing owners, respectively, which resulted in realized losses of $11.4 million and $1.8 million, respectively, as well as the write off of our equity investments in Noble Logistics, Inc. (“Noble”), which resulted in a realized loss of $3.4 million. These sales and write off, while at a realized loss, were accretive to our net asset value in aggregate by $5.7 million, reduced our distribution requirements related to our realized gains and reduced our non-accruals outstanding.

Capital Raising Efforts

Despite the challenges that have existed in the economy for the past several years, we have been able to meet our capital needs through enhancements to our revolving line of credit (our “Credit Facility”) and by accessing the capital markets in the form of public offerings of preferred and common stock. For example, in March 2012, we issued 1.6 million shares of our Term Preferred Stock for gross proceeds of $40 million, and, in October 2012, we issued 4.4 million shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $33 million. In October 2012, we extended the revolving period end date on our Credit Facility an additional year to 2015, and subsequently, in April and May 2013, we further extended the revolving period end date another six months into 2016 and increased the commitment amount from $60 million to $105 million.

Although we were able to access the capital markets during 2012, we believe market conditions continue to affect the trading price of our common stock and thus our ability to finance new investments through the issuance of equity. On May 12, 2014, the closing market price of our common stock was $7.92, which represented a 5.0% discount to our March 31, 2014 net asset value (“NAV”) per share of $8.34. When our stock trades below NAV, our ability to issue equity is constrained by provisions of the 1940 Act, which generally prohibits the issuance and sale of our common stock at an issuance price below the then current NAV per share without stockholder approval, other than through sales to our then-existing stockholders pursuant to a rights offering.

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At our 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on August 8, 2013, our stockholders approved a proposal authorizing us to issue and sell shares of our common stock at a price below our then current NAV per share, subject to certain limitations, including that the number of shares issued and sold pursuant to such authority does not exceed 25% of our then outstanding common stock immediately prior to each such sale, provided that our Board of Directors makes certain determinations prior to any such sale. This August 2013 stockholder authorization is in effect for one year from the date of stockholder approval. Prior to the August 2013 stockholder authorization, we sought and obtained stockholder approval concerning a similar proposal at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders held in August 2012, and with our Board of Directors’ subsequent approval, we issued shares of our common stock in October and November 2012 at a price per share below the then current NAV per share. The resulting proceeds, in part, have allowed us to grow the portfolio by making new investments, generate additional income through these new investments, provide us additional equity capital to help ensure continued compliance with regulatory tests and increase our debt capital while still complying with our applicable debt-to-equity ratios. At our 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, scheduled to take place in August 2014, we expect to ask our stockholders to vote in favor of this proposal again so that it may be in effect for another year.

Regulatory Compliance

Our ability to seek external debt financing, to the extent that it is available under current market conditions, is further subject to the asset coverage limitations of the 1940 Act, which require us to have an asset coverage ratio (as defined in Section 18(h) of the 1940 Act), of at least 200% on our senior securities representing indebtedness and our senior securities that are stock, which we refer to collectively as “Senior Securities.” As of March 31, 2014, our asset coverage ratio was 298%. Our status as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), in addition to other requirements, also requires us, at the close of each quarter of the taxable year, to meet an asset diversification test, which requires that at least 50% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, U.S. government securities or certain other qualified securities (the (50% threshold”). In the past, we have obtained this ratio by entering into a short-term loan at quarter end to purchase qualifying assets, though a short term loan was not necessary at the end of the quarter ended March 31, 2014. Until the composition of our assets is above the required 50% threshold on a consistent basis by a significant margin, we may have to continue to obtain short-term loans on a quarterly basis. When deployed, this strategy, while allowing us to satisfy the 50% threshold for our RIC status, limits our ability to use increased debt capital to make new investments, due to our asset coverage ratio limitations under the 1940 Act.

Investment Highlights

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we disbursed $125.6 million in new debt and equity investments and extended $6.6 million of investments to existing portfolio companies. From our initial public offering in June 2005 through March 31, 2014, we have made 217 investments in 107 companies for a total of $925.6 million, before giving effect to principal repayments on investments and divestitures.

Investment Activity

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, the following significant transactions occurred:

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Recent Developments

Credit Facility Extension and Expansion

On April 30, 2013, we, through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Business Investment, entered into a fifth amended and restated credit agreement with Key Equipment Finance Inc., as administrative agent, lead arranger and a lender (the “Administrative Agent”), Branch Banking and Trust Company as a lender and managing agent, and the Adviser, as servicer, to increase the commitment amount of the Credit Facility from $60 million to $70 million and to extend the revolving period to April 30, 2016 and, if not renewed or extended by April 30, 2016, all principal and interest will be due and payable on or before April 30, 2017 (one year after the revolving period end date). In addition, there is one remaining one-year extension option to be agreed upon by all parties, which may be exercised on or before April 30, 2015. Subject to certain terms and conditions, the Credit Facility may be expanded up to a total of $200 million through the addition of other lenders. Advances under the Credit Facility generally bear interest at 30-day LIBOR, plus 3.75% per annum, and the Credit Facility includes an unused fee of 0.50% on undrawn amounts. We incurred fees of $0.3 million in connection with this amendment.

On June 12, 2013, we further increased the borrowing capacity under the Credit Agreement from $70 million to $105 million by entering into Joinder Agreements pursuant to the Credit Agreement by and among Business Investment, the Administrative Agent, the Adviser and each of Alostar Bank of Commerce and Everbank Commercial Finance, Inc.

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Short-Term Loan

As of March 31, 2014, our asset composition satisfied the 50% threshold. However, excluding March 31, 2014, for each quarter end since June 30, 2009 (the “measurement dates”), we satisfied the 50% threshold to maintain our status as a RIC, in part, through the purchase of short-term qualified securities, which were funded primarily through a short-term loan agreement. Subsequent to each of the measurement dates, the short-term qualified securities matured, and we repaid the short-term loan, at which time we again fell below the 50% threshold. For example, for the December 31, 2013 measurement date, we purchased $10 million of short-term United States Treasury Bills (“T-Bills”) through Jefferies & Company, Inc. (“Jefferies”) on December 27, 2013. The T-Bills were purchased on margin using $1.5 million in cash and the proceeds from an $8.5 million short-term loan from Jefferies with an effective annual interest rate of 1.35%. On January 2, 2014, when the T-Bills matured, we repaid the $8.5 million loan from Jefferies and received the $1.5 million margin payment sent to Jefferies to complete the transaction.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Comparison of the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014, to the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2013

NM = Not Meaningful

Investment Income

Total investment income increased by 18.8% for the year ended March 31, 2014, as compared to the prior year. This increase was primarily due an overall increase in interest income in the year ended March 31, 2014, as a result of an increase in the size of our loan portfolio and holding higher-yielding debt investments.

Interest income from our investments in debt securities increased 22.8% for the year ended March 31, 2014, as compared to the prior year. The level of interest income from investments is directly related to the principal balance of our interest-bearing investment portfolio outstanding during the period multiplied by the weighted average yield. The weighted average principal balance of our interest-bearing investment portfolio during the year ended March 31, 2014, was $241.5 million, compared to $198.1 million for the prior year. This increase was primarily due to $125.6 million in new investments originated after March 31, 2013, including Jackrabbit, Funko, Star Seed, Schylling, ADC, Behrens, Meridian, Head Country and Edge, partially offset by the exit of Venyu and the repayment of debt investments of Cavert and Channel. As of March 31, 2014, our loans to Tread Corp. (“Tread”) were on non-accrual. ASH, which was on non-accrual as of September 30, 2013, was sold to certain members of its existing management team in October 2013. As a result of the sale, we retained a $5 million accruing revolving credit facility in ASH, which is no longer on non-accrual. The non-accrual aggregate weighted average principal balance was $19.9 million during the year ended March 31, 2014. As of March 31, 2013, loans to two portfolio companies, ASH and Tread, were on non-accrual, with an aggregate weighted average $20.5 million during the year ended March 31, 2013. Tread was put on non-accrual and Country Club Enterprises, LLC (“CCE”) was taken off non-accrual during the three months ended December 31, 2012. The weighted average yield on our interest-bearing investments, excluding cash and cash equivalents and excluding receipts recorded as other income, for the year ended March 31, 2014, was 12.6%, compared to 12.5% for the prior year.

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The following table lists the investment income for our five largest portfolio company investments at fair value during the respective fiscal years: