Loop Capital Markets Serves as Bookrunning Senior Manager for University of Connecticut’s $97.140 Million Special Obligation Student Fee Revenue Bonds, 2023 Series A

On October 23-24, 2023, the University of Connecticut (“UCONN” or the “University”) sold the $97.14 million Special Obligation Student Fee Revenue Bonds, 2023 Series A (the “Bonds”) with Loop Capital Markets serving as Bookrunning Senior Manager. The Bonds were rated Aa3/A+ by Moody’s and S&P, respectively. The Bonds were issued to finance a portion of the cost of the design, construction, equipping and/or furnishing of a new student  residence hall and dining facility located on the Storrs campus as part of UConn 2000 Infrastructure Improvement Program, a $4.6 billion, three phase, 32-year capital budget program.

Working in conjunction with the University’s finance team, Loop crafted an expansive digital and print advertisement campaign that ran for 9 days – targeting both digital and print ads, including new digital such as radio, using Spotify and geofence. Loop also developed the University’s first-ever investor presentation for its Student Fee Revenue Bond credit, which was viewed by 40 investors. The Firm’s strong distribution capabilities led to a successful retail order period with $200.7 million of retail orders, including $32.3 million of individual retail and $168.4 million of professional retail orders. Of the total retail orders, $38.19 million were allotted, which represented nearly 40% of the total transaction size. The Institutional Order Period generated an additional $413.1 million in total orders, bringing the total orders to $613.7 million or 6.3x. Due to strong investor appetite, the Firm was able to tighten spreads by up to 10 bps throughout the curve since entering the retail order period. The transaction was priced during significant volatility in the fixed income markets given inflationary pressure and geopolitical concerns as the benchmark MMD and BVAL yields increased as much as 26-29 bps in only six trading sessions. The transaction also marked the first time the University utilized both MMD and BVAL as benchmark for pricing and the first time since five years that the University issued bonds for new money needs under this credit.