Firms Tapped for 911 Deal

Minnesota has selected Jefferies & Co. to serve as the senior manager on its summer sale of $50 million of revenue bonds in what is likely the final state financing needed to fund a statewide digital-radio communications system for public safety personnel.

The underwriting team also includes Barclays, Cronin & Co., Siebert Brandford Shank & Co., and Wells Fargo Securities. The team was selected based on information submitted during a request for proposals process, said state debt manager Kristen Hanson.

Ehlers is financial adviser and Kennedy & Graven is bond counsel.

The bonds are secured by a gross pledge of the 911 fees paid by telephone and cellphone users. The state anticipates selling bonds with a 15-year term under existing legislative authority.

Lawmakers authorized $62.5 million of borrowing in 2005 for the early phases of the project and approved another $186 million in 2007 for the final phases.

Minnesota first imposed the 911 fee in 1988. The ratings range from a high of AA-plus from Standard & Poor’s to a low of A1 from Moody’s Investors Service. Fitch Ratings assigns a AA-minus.

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