The University of Melbourne made its inaugural foray into the US private placement market, with a multi-tranche issue of bonds worth an approximate AUD$275 million. Part of the reasoning behind the offshore issue is to diversify the university’s funding in terms of sources, currencies and duration. The result was a four tranche issue which extended the average debt maturity by 10 years for a 0.3% increase in the average cost of debt.
Demand was strong, with the equivalent of AUD$2.4 billion worth of bids made, which led to a tightening in pricing and an increase in the issue size. The university is rated AA+ by Standard & Poor’s. YieldReport will provide further details when they come to hand.