New Hampshire and Pennsylvania state agencies sold $160 million in bonds on behalf of a senior living facility in Pennsylvania to finance the facility’s acquisition of a retirement home and fund other projects.
The agencies sold the bonds in three series on behalf of the Presbyterian Homes Obligated Group (PHOG). The Series 2023A bonds, consisting of $28 million and sold by New Hampshire’s National Finance Authority, mature on July 1, 2048, yielding 5.5%. The Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority sold the other two series of bonds. The Series 2023B-1 bonds, consisting of $36.5 million, mature on July 1, 2049, yielding 5.45%. The Series 2023B-2 bonds, consisting of $95 million, mature between 2035 and 2046, yielding between 4.8% and 5.38%. The securities received a rating of BBB+ from Fitch Ratings.
The rating “reflects the expected stability in PHOG’s financial profile through Fitch’s forward-looking scenario, and within the context of PHOG’s business profile,” according to Fitch.
The bonds will finance PHOG’s $80 million purchase of the Pine Run Retirement Community, a senior living center in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, which is located in Bucks County. It follows financial disarray at the Pine Run’s previous owner, the Doylestown Health system.
Doylestown Health’s financial troubles echo similar post-pandemic economic woes of local healthcare systems across the country. Median operating margins of rural hospitals analyzed by the Kaiser Family Foundation fell 7.7% between July 2019 and June 2022.
PHOG is a nonprofit which runs 17 senior living facilities in Pennsylvania. The bonds are limited obligations of the issuers, backed by PHOG revenue.
Piper Sandler & Co served as lead underwriter on the issuance.