Economics
Chicago Schools Double Bond Sale as Rates Head Higher
- Board of Education sold $561 million of G.O. refunding bonds
- Demand for yield, rate hike outlook seen as reason for change
This article is for subscribers only.
The Chicago Board of Education doubled the size of its bond sale Thursday to $561 million amid signs of strong demand for the junk-rated district’s high-yielding securities.
The offering, which was initially planned for next week until officials moved it up, is the first this year for the nation’s third-largest school district and was increased from the $260 million initially scheduled. Because of its chronic fiscal strains, the system’s uninsured bonds carried yields that were 1.93 percentage point to 2.24 percentage points more than top-rated securities, with debt backed by Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. offered for as much as 1.35 percentage point over the benchmark, according to a repricing note sent to an investor.