Hogan Lovells advises on pants deal
Hogan Lovells has advised social enterprise Pants to Poverty on the creation of a bond to raise finance to fund its working capital - with interest payable in the form of fair-trade organic pants and a donation to charity.
The ‘pants bond’, which cost £2,500 each, was created by a pro bono team from Hogan Lovells, and will be used to raise funds to fuel Pants To Poverty’s future growth. It expects to raise £250,000.
The 10-year bond has an annual coupon rate paid at 8.65 per cent and the interest will be paid in quarterly instalments of 12 items of fair-trade and organic underwear and £14 donated to the Pi Foundaton, a charity set up by Pants to Poverty to develop sustainable business models in the fashion industry.
Hogan Lovells partner Andrew Carey was responsible for the innovative structuring of the bond. He said: “This is truly a unique financial instrument, which allows for part of the interest to be payable in kind - literally by the delivery of pants.
“This is a nice way of rewarding contributors with a fun and original form of return and one which ensures they get to sample the latest products of the company. We hope this will help encourage further growth in the social enterprise sector.”
Pants to Poverty was established in 2005 as part of the Make Poverty History campaign to devise an ethical new business model for the fashion trade. Next year it aims to launch high-end department stores in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway.
Readers' comments (1)
Anonymous | 3-Dec-2010 4:23 pm
Isn't basic rate income tax deducted from interest on corporate bonds? Does this mean 20% of the pants are sent to HMRC, or does the bond holder send the pants with their annual tax return?
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