2016 Deal of the Year: Southeast Region

Who won this year's Deal of the Year award for the Southeast Region? The winner will be honored on Thursday, December 1 at 583 Park Avenue in Manhattan, and later that night will compete with winners in the seven other categories for the right to be named The Bond Buyer's 2016 Deal of the Year.

VOICE OVER: As one of the nation's leading comprehensive academic and research institutions, Vanderbilt University Medical Center need to quickly adapt to the ever changing health care landscape. The medical center had always been an operating unit of natural Tennessee based Vanderbilt University with both governed by a single board. Separating the two legally and financially will take years of planning and numerous transition teams to create a new non profit academic center with its own governance while remaining strategically tied to the university. The massive undertaking culminated in March, with the pricing of a complex $1.13 billion deal.

Consisting of $777 million in tax exempt and taxable revenue bonds, $100 million of taxable floating rate notes, $50 million of offloads, and $150 million of bank debt. The financing was structured to a chief level debt service through 2046, with principle car debt in the first five years to provide cash flow relief. Proceeds were used to purchase the Medical Center's assets from the University. The deal drew broad interest from financial institutions providing attractive terms to launch the new VUMC with direct capital market access to compete effectively in today's healthcare environment.