The Greater Texas Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation sold $120.7 million in bonds to finance a new laboratory for biomedical research.
The corporation issued $98.6 million in tax-exempt bonds and $22.1 million in taxable bonds. The tax-exempt bonds mature between 2037 and 2054, yielding between 3.98% and 4.67%. The taxable bonds mature in 2037 and yield 6.41%. The securities received a rating of Baa2 from Moody’s Investors Service.
The corporation will loan the bond proceeds to the nonprofit Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
Moody’s downgraded the institute from Baa1. The downgrade was “driven by the substantial increase in leverage introduced by its 2024 bond series,” Moody’s analysts wrote.
The institute will use the bond proceeds to build a new research laboratory that is expected to open in 2029.
Texas Biomed is one of seven National Primate Research Centers sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. It is the only such center that operates at Biosafety Level Four, the highest safety level, so it is responsible for studying the most dangerous microbes and their impact on primates—a common biological model for human diseases.
The bonds are special, limited obligations of the Greater Texas Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corporation and unsecured general obligations of Texas Biomed.
BofA Securities, Inc served as lead underwriter on the issuance, purchasing the bonds for $125 million. PFM Financial Advisors LLC acted as municipal advisor.