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Iconix to Pay Down Whole Biz Securitization

Iconix Brand Group is selling another brand in its portfolio order to further reduce its indebtedness.

The company said Friday it is selling the Sharper Image and related intellectual property to ThreeSixty Group, the brand’s largest licensee, for $100 million in cash. Proceeds, plus additional cash, will be used to repay $115 of debt, including a portion of the senior tranche of its securitization facility and a portion of the company’s senior secured term loan.

Iconix owns, licenses and markets a portfolio of consumer brands including: Candie’s, Bongo, Joe Boxer, Ramage, Mossimo, London Fog, Ocean Pacific, Danskin and Cannon. Sharper Image is the second brand that it sold in 2016.

In a press release, chief executive John Haugh said that Sharper Image is a “strong and widely recognized brand,” but that it does not fit with Iconix’s current strategy.

“After careful consideration, we determined that we could better leverage our resources and generate greater returns by focusing on other areas of the business. This transaction generates a significant return on investment, and allows us to make progress on de-levering the balance sheet, which is a top priority.”

He suggested there could be additional sales, saying that “portfolio management will continue to be a key focus.”

This transaction is expected to close on Dec. 30, 2016.

Iconix completed its whole business securitization in 2012, raising $600 million. The notes pay 4.229% and have an expected life of seven years. Underwritten by Barclays, it was one of the first of such deals to be broadly distributed to institutional investors. In June 2013, it issued an additional $275 million. Those notes pay 4.352% and mature in 2020.

Whole business deals differ from traditional securitization, in which cash assets or cash flows such as mortgages or credit card receivables are sold to special purpose vehicles that then issue bonds. By comparison, in a whole business transaction, all, or substantially all, of the parent company’s assets are conveyed to a securitization trust; the parent is typically retained as a manager.

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