Traditionally, securitization involves the company creatingoff-balance-sheet special-purpose vehicles that pay bondholdersfrom the rent from specific properties. In this case, LandSec isnot using SPVs and will pay interest from a pool of propertiesworth about euro 8.8 billion ($10.9 billion) or three-quarters ofits entire estates.

"With securitization you put a solid line around the assets,"says chief executive Francis Salway. "What we have here is a loosedotted line around the very large pooling of assets." Investors inthe new bonds would be protected by restrictive covenants if thecompany's loan-to-value ratio rose above 65%.

LandSec, Britain's largest property company with assets of euro11. 8 billion ($14.5 billion), is currently geared at 40% and whilethis is not particularly high by property-company standards, thecompany is carrying debt with relatively high interest rates. Butsuch deals come with a price. LandSec will take an exceptional euro971 million ($1.2 billion) in its full-year results because of thedeal but thereafter will save euro 35 million ($43.5 million) ayear on interest repayments.