Malibu COPs to Market

Malibu priced $19.5 million of certificates of participation yesterday to finance the 18-year-old city government's purchase and renovation of a commercial office building to serve as its city hall.

Stone & Youngberg LLC was underwriter.

Ahead of the deal, Standard & Poor's affirmed Malibu's AAA issuer credit rating and assigned its AA-plus rating to the certificates of participation.

The city currently rents its city hall.

"In all my years on the council, the purchase of this building was the one thing nearly everyone in town agreed was the right thing to do," Mayor Andy Stern said in a statement.

In its new city hall, the government plans to retain for public and private use an existing, state-of-the-art, 500-person auditorium, and a recording studio that has been used by such musicians such as Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Sting, and Barbra Streisand.

The city issued $18.66 million of tax-exempt COPs and $815,000 of taxable COPs

The tax-exempt bonds are bank qualified.

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth was special counsel.

Tax-exempt bonds priced to yield between 1.85% for 2013 maturities and 5.17% for 2039 term bonds. The taxable series priced to yield between 3.9% for 2013 maturities and 6.4% for 2024 term bonds.

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