Ohio Completes Tobacco Bond Sale

Source from:  Tuesday October 23, COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) 10/24/2007

The state on Tuesday completed a $5 billion sale of future payments from a landmark 1998 settlement with tobacco companies, promising to put the money toward school construction and tax breaks for seniors. The Buckeye Tobacco Settlement Financing Authority, which supervised the tobacco settlement sale to investors, placed the price for the bonds at $5.53 billion. The net proceeds are worth $5.05 billion after payment of underwriting fees, lawyer fees and other costs, the authority said. A total of 38 firms, led by Bear Stearns and Citigroup, took part in the sale, moving $466 million in bonds on Friday and Monday, and the rest on Tuesday, the authority said. Eight of the co-managers in the sale were Ohio-based firms. A total of 115 large institutional investors bought the rest of the bonds Tuesday. Gov. Ted Strickland's office said the figures were subject to change before the closing scheduled for Monday. The Ohio sale is the largest of 19 states that have taken the lump sum, rather than wait for installment payments from the tobacco settlement. California, New York and Michigan are among those that have cashed in all or part of their settlements. Enditem