Transaction Details

IDEA Public Schools

---

Sizeable Charter School Issue Sees Diverse Investor Participation

IDEA Public Schools has grown tremendously from a small school serving 150 students in 2000 to a national network of tuition-free, K-12 public charter schools serving 80,000+ college bound students in 143 schools across Texas and its affiliates. IDEA was built on the foundation that all children can and will succeed if given the chance. They are committed to their mission, “College for ALL children,” ensuring more students from low-income backgrounds, students who would be the first generation in their families to attend college, and students who come from groups historically underrepresented in higher education have access to realizing their dreams by first completing a college degree on the path to becoming future leaders. For the last 16 years, IDEA has sent nearly 100% of its graduates to college and remains on track to uphold that legacy. 

IDEA Public Schools needed to finance the construction of five school facilities and the acquisition of one related site, the acquisition of existing school facilities from their former operator, site improvements to existing campuses, and safety and security improvements to existing school facilities. Additionally, they needed to refinance their Series 2012 and Series 2013 Bonds.

Baird’s National Charter School Finance team served as sole managing underwriter on the $204,610,000 AAA Texas PSF Guarantee/A- rated 30-year fixed rate financing for IDEA Public Schools. On the day of pricing, the marketing of the issue was met with significant interest, resulting in an “oversubscription” by as much as 20x. Baird’s underwriting desk was able to conduct a successful reprice of over 0.25% (25 basis points) in lower rates. Though some investors “dropped” their initial orders, a sufficient amount agreed to the lower yields to guarantee the success of the reprice.