The private loans falling due soonest pay the most, and more of them pay in kind

A private loan usually runs five to seven years. Each one in a business development company's book carries its maturity date, and 55% of loans state it in a form we can read. Grouped by the year they fall due, they show a clear gradient.¹

The near years are small. $3.1bn falls due in the rest of 2026 and $9.5bn in 2027, against $35.6bn in 2031. Most of the book was written in 2024 and 2025 and will not fall due until the next decade. But the loans that do fall due soon are more expensive, and more of them pay part of their interest in kind.

Loans falling due in 2026 have a median spread of 600 basis points, and 26.8% of the money in them pays some interest in kind. For 2027 the figures are 565 and 19.0%; for 2028, 525 and 15.6%. From 2030 they settle at 500 or below, with PIK around a tenth.

There are two reasons, and the record cannot separate them. Older loans were written when spreads were wider, so a 2026 maturity is often a 2019 or 2020 loan. And a loan that has run into difficulty is often amended: its maturity extended, its spread raised and part of its interest switched to payment in kind. Both leave the same mark in the book.

For a company whose loan falls due in the next eighteen months, the arithmetic of refinancing starts now. New lenders will read the current loan's terms from the same filings. A PIK switch or an extension tells them the last lender needed to make room. A refinancing is easier begun a year before maturity, with a lender who already knows the business. Our case study of Alpine Fire's refinancing is one.

Cite as: “The private loans falling due soonest pay the most, and more of them pay in kind”, Norvian Review, 6 November 2026.