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Our Finance Group helps clients navigate the business and legal complexities of novel and multidimensional debt financing transactions. We fully understand the challenges faced by borrowers, investors and lenders throughout a company’s lifecycle, from evolving techniques in acquisition finance to the tensions inherent in distressed situations. We are the firm of choice for the most innovative and complex financing matters, including bespoke structured financings and whole-business securitizations of novel assets and restructurings of multibillion-dollar companies.

Paul, Weiss Represents Guggenheim Securities in Whole-Business Securitization

Paul, Weiss represented Guggenheim Securities as initial purchaser in connection with DineEquity, Inc.'s $1.3 billion whole-business securitization of its Applebee's and IHOP restaurant chains (closed September 30, 2014). Applebee's Funding, LLC and IHOP Funding, LLC issued securitization notes (due September 2044 and rated BBB by Standard & Poor's Rating Services), which, among other things, enabled the company to refinance its existing debt.  Notable legal issues of interest included (i) navigating license and franchising arrangements with various franchisors, (ii) obtaining landlord consents, (iii) excluding assets from all foreign and company-owned Applebee's-branded and IHOP-branded restaurants from the securitization and (iv) drafting disclosure related to the foregoing.

The securitization attorney was Jordan Yarett; the intellectual property attorney was Claudine Meredith-Goujon; the ERISA attorney was Robert Fleder; the tax attorney was Richard Bronstein; the bankruptcy attorney was Douglas Davis; and the real estate attorney was Peter Fisch.

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