2 minute read | November.26.2024
The Los Angeles Unified School District has secured $2.9 billion in tax-exempt bonds in a deal The Bond Buyer recognized in its Deal of the Year awards.
Orrick represented the school district as disclosure counsel in a deal Bond Buyer named a winner in the Far West category of its Deal of the Year awards.
The second largest public school district in the nation, the Los Angeles Unified School District enrolls more than 400,000 students in transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. The district covers 710 square miles and includes the City of Los Angeles as well as all or parts of 25 smaller municipalities plus several unincorporated sections of Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles Unified School District received funding through Build America Bonds (BABs) authorized by the American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The BAB program allowed tax-exempt bond issuers to sell taxable bonds instead and receive an interest subsidy from the federal government. A few years later, though, Congress reduced those subsidy payments.
The Los Angeles Unified School District refunded its BABs into tax-exempt bonds in 2024.
The "groundbreaking $2.9 billion transaction was a key element in helping secure market access for future issuers looking to achieve savings and remove the risk of further reductions to their federal BABs subsidies," according to The Bond Buyer Deal of the Year nominating statement.
Donald Field led the Orrick team that advised the Los Angeles Unified School District. The team also included Chas Cardall, Kevin Hale and Haley Ritter.