Denver saw strong demand for its $261 million of general obligation bonds in a competitive deal that included new money from a record 2017 authorization and a current refunding.
“We are very pleased with how the bond sale went and with how much interest there was from bidders,” said Brendan Hanlon, chief financial officer for the city and county of Denver. “It was a competitive process, which means the taxpayers of Denver are getting the best deal possible.”
The triple-A-rated bonds were issued in two tranches: a $193 million of new money Series A reaching final maturity in 2033 and $67.9 million of Series B refunding maturing in 2025.
Morgan Stanley won the bid on both deals with a true interest cost of 2.8597% on Series A and 2.0357% on Series B.
Refunding savings came to $8.1 million or 11% of the refunded bonds.
“We saw strong demand and competitive bidding for both the new money and refunding bonds despite a few other large sales in the market today,” said Hanlon. “We were pleased to see bids from 11 different bidders on the new money bonds and 13 different bidders on the refunding bonds.”
Denver voters last November approved a record $937 million GO bond proposal, which the city plans to issue over a seven-year period.
Transportation improvements make up 46% of the bond projects pitched under the program name “Elevate Denver.”
Hanlon said closing on the sale is scheduled for June 27.
“The city’s Elevate Denver bond program team is eager to begin executing the initial infrastructure projects, and this sale will allow them to get to work quickly,” he said.
