The holding company NexCen Brands kicked off a major retail franchise buying spree when it acquired Athlete's Foot last November. After landing a $150 million revolving credit warehouse facility to help finance the purchase, NexCen brands and Baker & MacKenzie, its attorney, may have also developed a valuable tool to track requirements for identifying ownership of the trademarks pledged as collateral for the financing.
Under the terms of the facility, the initial draw will give NexCen $26.5 million to leverage its acquisition of Athlete's Foot. The credit facility will primarily provide additional capital to NexCen Brands so it can make more intellectual-property-related purchases. BTMU Capital Corp., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, arranged the credit facility. NexCen can use the warehouse facility to purchase other retail brands, and it can refinance the warehouse from time to time through securitization, according to Richard Rudder, a partner at the New York City-based Baker & MacKenzie. Company officials, however, could not confirm definite plans for any securitization deals at press time.
