The flagship campus of North Carolina State University issued $50.4 million in bonds to finance the acquisition of an existing dorm.
The bonds mature between 2024 and 2053, yielding between 3.16% and 4.25%. They received a rating of Aa1 from Moody’s Investors Service and AA from S&P Global Ratings.
The rating incorporates the university’s “excellent brand and strategic positioning,” Moody’s analysts wrote. “Financial discipline supports prospects for continued sound operating performance,” they added.
The bond proceeds will fund the acquisition of the University Towers, a suite-style, 916-bed residence hall at NC State’s campus in Raleigh. NC State had previously been leasing the residence hall. The school will also use the bond proceeds to renovate the dorm.
NC State is a public land-grant university that forms one point of the so-called Research Triangle with Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. NC State is the largest of the three schools, enrolling more than 37,000 students, according to the official statement accompanying the sale of the bonds.
The bonds are limited obligations of the university’s governing body and unsecured obligations of the university, payable by its revenue. The university generated $1.1 billion in operating revenue last fiscal year, according to the bond documents.
Morgan Stanley & Co LLC served as underwriter on the issuance. First Tryon Advisors, LLC acted as municipal advisor.