Securitising brands and other forms of intellectual property (IP) requires an appreciation of the financial and marketing drivers of value. As dually qualified accountants and marketers with extensive international experience across many sectors, Intangible Business is well placed to achieve just this. To securitise intellectual property, Intangible Business first identifies which elements are critical to ensuring the success of a brand and which are superfluous. Take a fashion brand for example. Is the value in the design capability? The back catalogue of patterns and prints? The name? A particular type of check? The person behind the name? The distribution or retail capability? A strapline? A patent? An image? Or is it a combination of some or all of these? Defining the necessary bundle of intellectual property is the first step before placing it in an appropriate legal structure such as a special purpose vehicle.
Brands are securitised for different reasons. Intangible Business is experienced in securitising brands for special purpose vehicles (SPV) for loan financing, financial and tax management, brand management and for use by corporates and trustees for pension deficit management. Special purpose vehicles for intellectual property (IP) such as brands can be an effective management and financial solution.
Due diligence also needs to be carried out to ensure adequate protection and ownership rights are in place: trademark registrations, patent applications, design rights etc. Intangible Business breaks down the complex structure of intellectual property so that it can be isolated and managed separately.