BRADENTON, Fla. The Osceola County School Board, which prices $82.2 million of certificates of participation for institutional investors today, is one of four Florida school districts selling nearly $400 million in COPs over the next several weeks.
The Florida State Board of Education today is taking competitive bids for $170.5 million of capital outlay refunding bonds.
The sales follow Mondays offering by the Orange County School Board of $94 million of COPs. That deal was accelerated by several days because of the anticipated large amount of supply from Florida this week, a spokesman involved with the transaction said.
The Orange County deal was pared down from a two-day pricing to only two hours of retail sales, followed by institutional sales that began at 12:30 p.m. on Monday. Proceeds are being used to build four new schools.
UBS Financial Services headed up the negotiated sale of Orange Countys COPs, which were insured by Ambac Assurance Corp. SunTrust Capital Markets Inc. was the financial adviser.
Broward County priced $142 million of airport system revenue bonds on Monday and several smaller offerings from issuers in Florida are expected to sell this week.
The overall market supply seems to be up because issuers are nervous in Florida not knowing if the presidential election will be decided on Tuesday or two months from Tuesday, a market observer said.
Many people across the country still remember the voting fiasco in Florida four years ago when the infamous chads particles of paper hanging from holes punched in ballots caused recounts and delayed election results.
A.G. Edwards and Sons Inc. is heading up todays negotiated sale of Osceolas Series 2004 A, B and C certificates, along with Gardnyr Michael Capital Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. insures the COPs.
Proceeds of the Series 2004A COPs, in the amount of $63.5 million, will be used for site acquisition and construction of a new elementary and new high school. The Series 2004B COPs, for $6 million, will be used to advance refund Series 1995A COPs and achieve an estimated $475,000 net present value savings. The $12.7 million Series 2004C certificates will forward refund on March 3 the remaining Series 1995A COPs for an estimated $718,000 net present value savings.
Ratings of A, A2, and A-minus were assigned to the COPs by Fitch Ratings, Moodys Investors Service, and Standard & Poors, respectively.
Osceola Countys economy has expanded, along with its population, given its role as a bedroom community for adjacent Orlando and the central Florida theme park industry. The population in 2000 was 60% above what it was in 1990. The current population is 210,438.
In the next few weeks, two more school districts in fast-growing Florida counties will come to market.
The Brevard County School Board is planning to price $118 million of COPs, with the proceeds being used to build a new high school and to build an addition at an existing elementary school, and to advance refund Series 1996B COPs. Brevard, on Floridas east coast, is home to NASAs flight operations.
The Hillsborough County School Board also is planning a $90 million COP deal soon with proceeds to fund the construction of four new schools. Hillsborough is on the west coast of Florida. Student enrollment has averaged 3.1% growth annually over the past four years. Tampa is the county seat.
