Doughty Hanson is a longstanding Lovells client and since RHM was acquired by Doughty Hanson last year, Lovells has in-evitably started working for RHM.

Whole business securitisation was developed in the UK several years ago, but this is the first time it has been applied to a multi-faceted business. The deal, which involved issuing £650m of secured notes, was backed by income from a number of RHM businesses and secured on property and intellectual property (IP) rights.

The transaction was a securitisation of five of RHM’s eight divisions. This meant the commercial relationships between the securitised and non-securitised parts had to be investigated and documented. Because the bonds were secured not only on RHM’s properties but also on its brands, a complete reorganisation of RHM’s IP assets was needed.