Transaction Details

Ector County Independent School District

Municipal

Lead Bookrunner

Ector County Independent School District (the “District” or “ECISD”) serves more than 33,000 Pre-K through 12th grade students across 42 campuses plus additional campuses for Career & Technical Education. As one of the largest districts in West Texas, ECISD emphasizes academic excellence, innovation, and a wide range of extracurricular opportunities, while partnering closely with the community to prepare students for success in college, career, and life.

On August 14, Baird served as senior managing underwriter for the District’s $120,400,000 Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds, Series 2025 (the “Bonds”). Proceeds from the Bonds will be used (i) for construction, renovation, acquisition and equipment of school buildings in the District, the purchase of the necessary sites for school buildings, and then purchase of new school buses; (ii) to fund capitalized interest on the Bonds; and (iii) to pay costs of issuance.

The financing was structured to run through 2044, with 5% coupons through 2040 and 5.25% coupons in 2041–2044. During the order period, the longer-dated bonds (2039 and beyond) drew the strongest investor demand, with 2–4x subscribed. Due to this strong interest, the yields were repriced 1 to 3 basis points lower and we were able to lower the District’s borrowing costs slightly in those years.

In the middle range (2036–2038), demand was more balanced, about 1x subscription, except for 2036 which had twice as many orders. Prices in this part of the deal stayed steady.

On the shorter end, inside 10 years, investor interest developed later in the order period. For the maturities 2029 and shorter, demand built to 1–2x subscribed. Some maturities in the early 2030s required a little extra time and coordination to place, but we ultimately attracted follow-through interest.