To the best of the Trust’s knowledge, no trustee or executive officer of the Trust beneficially owned Shares of the Trust as of November 1, 2023. Except as set forth below, to the best of the Trust’s knowledge, no person controlling the Trust or the Investment Advisor nor any associate or majority-owned subsidiary of such person beneficially owned Shares of the Trust as of November 1, 2023.
None of the Trust, the Investment Advisor or, to the best of the Trust’s knowledge, any of the Trust’s trustees or executive officers or any person controlling the Trust or the Investment Advisor, has effected any transaction in Shares, except for the issuance of Shares in the ordinary course of business (including dividend reinvestment), during the 60 days prior to the date of this Offer to Purchase.
Except as set forth in this Offer to Purchase, none of the Trust, the Investment Advisor or, to the best of the Trust’s knowledge, any of the Trust’s trustees or executive officers or any person controlling the Trust or the Investment Advisor, is a party to any agreement, arrangement, or understanding, whether or not legally enforceable, with any other person with respect to any securities of the Trust, including, but not limited to, any agreement, arrangement, understanding or relationship concerning the transfer or the voting of any such securities, joint ventures, loan or option arrangements, puts or calls, guaranties of loans, guaranties against loss or the giving or withholding of proxies, consents or authorizations. Except as set forth in this Offer to Purchase, there is no present or proposed material agreement, arrangement, understanding or relationship with respect to the Offer between the Trust and any of its executive officers, trustees, controlling persons or subsidiaries.
The Trust has been advised that neither its Board of Trustees nor its officers intend to tender any Shares pursuant to the Offer. Therefore, the Trust does not intend to purchase Shares from any officer or Trustee pursuant to the Offer.
To the knowledge of the Trust, the following entities owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of a class of the Trust’s shares as of November 1, 2023:
| | | | | | | | |
Name | | Address | | Share Class | | % | |
BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. | | 50 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001 | | Class A | | | 14.81 | % |
BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. | | 50 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001 | | Class I | | | 47.89 | % |
BlackRock Advisors, LLC acts as the investment adviser for the Trust. Pursuant to an investment advisory agreement between the Investment Advisor and the Trust (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”), the Trust pays the Investment Advisor an annual fee, accrued monthly and payable monthly in arrears, in an amount equal to 0.55% of the Trust’s month-end NAV. The Investment Advisor has contractually agreed to waive the entirety of its management fee from January 1, 2024 until June 30, 2024. Unless otherwise extended by agreement between the Trust and the Investment Advisor, the management fee payable by the Trust as of July 1, 2024 will return to its contractual annual rate of 0.55%.
A discussion regarding the basis for the approval of the Investment Advisory Agreement by the Board is available in the Trust’s semi-annual report to shareholders for the period ended September 30, 2023.
The Trust also is a party to certain other service agreements. The Trust is a party to a Transfer Agency and Service Agreement with BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US), Inc. The Transfer Agent receives annual compensation from the Trust and is entitled to reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses for the services it provides as transfer agent, registrar, dividend disbursing agent and shareholder servicing agent for the Trust.
The Bank of New York Mellon (the “Custodian”) serves as custodian for the Trust’s portfolio securities pursuant to the Custody Agreement (“Custody Agreement”) entered into with the Trust. Under the Custody Agreement, the Trust is obligated to pay the Custodian reasonable compensation for its services and expenses as agreed upon from time to time between the Trust and the Custodian.
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