SAN FRANCISCO — The California State Treasurer’s Office yesterday released more details about its general obligation bond sale next week, saying the deal will be sized at $4.5 billion and contain a mix of tax-exempt bonds and taxable Build America Bonds.
“The amount of BABs is unknown at this time, and may not be known until the sale takes place,” spokesman Tom Dresslar said in an e-mail.
Final pricing is scheduled Oct. 8, after a two-day retail order period.
Citi and Banc of America Securities Merrill Lynch are joint book-runners for the tax-exempt GOs, and Goldman, Sachs & Co. and JPMorgan are book-runners for the taxable side.
The treasurer’s office has also scheduled an $800 million California Public Works Board deal for the week of Oct. 19, and a California economic recovery bond deal, as yet unsized, the week of Oct. 26.
The state originally sold ERBs in 2004 and 2008 to clean up deficits from a budget crisis; they are backed by a dedicated quarter-cent sales tax, as well as the state’s GO pledge.
Plummeting taxable sales forced California to dip into the bonds’ reserve funds to make principal payments, and the new issue will restructure the outstanding bonds to account for lower sales tax receipts.
There were $8.2 billion of the ERBs outstanding as of Sept. 1, according to the treasurer’s office.
