We hereby consent to the inclusion of our opinion letter, dated September 21, 2021, to the Barings BDC Board of Directors as Annex D to the Proxy Statement/Prospectus included in the Registration
Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as of the date hereof and the references to our firm and our opinion in such Proxy Statement/Prospectus under the headings “Summary of the Merger—Opinion
of the Financial Advisor to Barings BDC,” “The Merger—Background of the Merger”, “The Merger—Reasons for the Merger—Barings BDC,” “The Merger—Opinion of the Financial Advisor to Barings BDC” and “The Merger— Financial Forecasts and Estimates.”
The foregoing consent applies only to the Registration Statement being filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as of the date hereof and not to any other amendments or supplements thereto, and
our opinion is not to be used, circulated, quoted or otherwise referred to for any other purpose, nor is it to be filed with, included in or referred to in whole or in part in any other registration statement (including any subsequent amendments to
the above-mentioned Registration Statement), proxy statement or any other document, except in accordance with our prior written consent.
In giving our consent, we do not admit that we come within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations of
the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder, nor do we admit that we are experts with respect to any part of such Registration Statement within the meaning of the term “experts” as used in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules
and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder.