JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY
ISSUED HISTORIC
$149 MILLION
BOND OFFERING
In May of 2018, Jacksonville University executed the largest
bond offering in its history, placing $149 million bonds with
34 of the world's largest investment companies. The offering
came with $1.82 billion orders to buy, equaling nearly 12
times the amount up for sale.
The extraordinary offering was accomplished through two
years of development and planning led by President Tim
Cost and Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer,
Randy Freebourn. Investors toured campus and were
presented the compelling narrative by senior leadership.
“The on-campus meetings were pivotal moments where we
were able to get the attention of major investment firms,” said
Freebourn. “Everybody who came to campus bought part of
the bonds. One person who said he wasn’t going to buy any,
actually put in an offer to buy the whole thing.”
Their strategy included foregoing a somewhat common
practice of using a bond rating, a grade given by a rating
agency that indicates the credit quality of a bond, which
was a careful decision made by Cost and Freebourn.
“When you’re rated, everybody knows what that rating is
so they’re going to give you interest rates based on that
rating,” said Freebourn. “When you go unrated they go
based upon the story they hear. President Cost’s ability to
articulate his vision, followed up by each one of us [Senior
VPs], was priceless. We all spoke the same message and
they truly bought into his vision.”
The bond funds are being used to extinguish existing bank
debt, further support deferred maintenance, and properly
fund the highest-priority, highest-impact capital projects
over the next three years. A few significant investment
areas include:
• A three-story, 104,000 sq. ft. College of Healthcare
Sciences Building
• The Frisch Welcome Center
• Renovation of the second half of Williams Hall
• A three-phase renovation of Botts Hall
"We made a conscious decision to tell our story directly to
our ultimate partners," said President Cost. "We believed
that those who would make the decision about whether to
invest in us were also the best judges of our prospects. We’re
grateful, and we are assured in the confidence that has been
placed in us as a University."
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