Perkins Coie Closes on $200M U.S. Treasury Guaranteed Bond Issue
Following on the heels of its closing of a $125 million U.S. Treasury guaranteed bond in August, Perkins Coie has announced that it has closed on another $200 million of the same type of bond issue on Sept. 25, 2014 for Minneapolis-based Community Reinvestment Fund and four Certified Development Financial Institutions.
By Joshua Ayers, Senior Editor
Chicago—Following on the heels of its closing of a $125 million U.S. Treasury guaranteed bond in August, Perkins Coie has announced that it has closed on another $200 million of the same type of bond issue on Sept. 25, 2014 for Minneapolis-based Community Reinvestment Fund Inc. (CRF) and four Certified Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs).  The bond issue is designed to provide low cost capital to the four CDFIs, which can then invest in an assortment of community development projects such as charter schools, healthcare facilities and non-profit lending.
The bond issues marked the second round of CDFI Fund Bond Guarantee Program, which has issued $525 million in bonds so far, with Perkins Coie serving as bond counsel for $325 million of that total. The four CDFI’s that qualified for this round of bond issues were Arlington, Va.-based Capital Impact Partners (CIP), Chicago-based IFF (formerly known as Illinois Facilities Fund), San Francisco-based Low Income Investment Fund and Philadelphia-based The Reinvestment Fund.
Low Income Investment Fund received this round’s highest bond loan of $65 million and it plans to finance senior living, and long-term care facilities in addition to commercial real estate projects, healthcare facilities, charter schools, affordable housing units and daycare centers, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Both CIP and The Reinvestment fund received $55 million bonds, with CIP looking to invest nationally, while The Reinvestment Fund will focus primarily on the Mid-Atlantic region. IFF rounded out the $200 million with a $25 million bond loan that will primarily help finance affordable housing and charter schools in the Midwest, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The CDFI Bond Guarantee Program was created via the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The program terminated on Sept. 30, 2014, but The Obama Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget has proposed an extension of the program. That extension is subject to reauthorization by Congress.
Participants in the program must deploy the loans within five years, but this year’s borrowers are anticipated to commit the capital to new projects by the end of the 2016 calendar year.
Chicago partner Bruce Bonjour led the Perkins Coie team, which also included Chicago partner Ed Wicks, Washington, D.C., Senior Counsel Darvin Davitian, Chicago Senior Counsel Marc Oberdorff and Chicago associate Melissa Oka.
