City of Winston-Salem

Background

The City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina (the City) is a key economic center in the Piedmont Triad region, supported by a diverse base of healthcare, higher education, manufacturing and financial services. The City’s regional water and sewer system serves a broad and growing customer base and is backed by strong financial performance and conservative management.

In April 2026, the City issued $68,270,000 Water and Sewer System Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2026 to refinance outstanding debt and generate savings while maintaining its strong Aa1/AAA credit profile.

Opportunity

The City sought to achieve meaningful savings while navigating a volatile market environment. In the days leading up to pricing, rising municipal yields created an opportunity to enhance refunding economics, but uncertainty tied to broader market and geopolitical developments introduced execution risk.

Baird served as sole managing underwriter partnering with the City and its municipal advisor to closely monitor market conditions and identify the optimal window to access the market.

Implementation

After placing the transaction on day-to-day status, Baird moved quickly to market as conditions improved. Pre-marketing efforts generated early investor awareness ahead of the order period.

Demand built steadily throughout the pricing process, with particularly strong interest in longer maturities driving a significantly oversubscribed book. Baird leveraged this demand to tighten yields across the curve while actively managing order flow in a dynamic market.

Results & Impact

The transaction exceeded the City’s savings target, generating approximately 5.21% net present value savings over $4.8 million in savings in aggregate and achieving strong investor participation, with the order book approximately 5.5x oversubscribed.

Baird’s proactive timing and active book management enabled the City to capture favorable market conditions despite volatility, delivering an efficient and successful execution.