The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. board has authorized the issuance next week of up to $130 million of housing development bonds.
The authorization includes $85.1 million of tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds to refund outstanding variable-rate debt and bonds with higher fixed-interest-rates, said AHFC spokeswoman Sherrie Simmonds.
The remaining $42.1 million will be sold in the form of a taxable variable-rate issue that will refund fixed-rate taxable bonds and provide new money for the corporation's mortgage lending programs.
The deals are scheduled to price Tuesday, according to Joe Dubler, the agency's chief financial officer.
The issues would lower the current cost of debt and provide a balance-sheet hedge for short-term investments, AHFC chief executive Dan Fauske said in a statement.
"With the current fixed rate of over 5%, and the refunding bonds expected to yield below 5%, this transaction will produce significant savings over the life of the bonds," he said.
Merrill Lynch & Co. will be the senior manager, under a rotation schedule developed in 2001. Wohlforth, Vassar, Johnson & Brecht is bond counsel. Arimax is the financial adviser.
