Purpose & Structure

The proceeds from the sale of the Bonds are expected to be used by Northwestern University for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to financing of certain capital projects.

The bonds were structured as a taxable 10-year bullet maturity which is priced based on the 10-Year Treasury.

Financing Highlights

This transaction represented SWS’ first joint-senior managed mandate for Northwestern University.

The financing team conducted extensive investor marketing to navigate fluctuating headline news on federal university funding coupled with extreme market volatility.

Market Backdrop

In the weeks leading up to pricing, the market was disrupted by conflicting headlines regarding the Trump administration’s plans to significantly reduce National Institute of Health funding and included additional proposed policy shifts—such as cutting indirect cost recoveries, dismantling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, and tightening federal contracting rules—further heightened uncertainty among investors and institutions.

The Trump Administration’s new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China also went into effect the week before pricing.

As a reaction to these and many other controversial headline news items coming from the new Trump Administration, the treasury markets faced significant market volatility leading up to pricing.

Marketing Efforts

The investor presentation received 17 unique views from institutional investors. Six institutional investors requested one-on-one calls to discuss the potential impact of federal funding changes on Northwestern University.

Pricing Results

Given the market volatility, the banking team opted to present an interest rate range rather than a specific scale.

On March 10, 2025, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note decreased to 4.22%, down from 4.32% on March 7. The following day, March 11, the yield rose to 4.28%.

Investor demand was strong from Bond Funds (35%), Insurance Companies (24%), Money Managers (14%) and SMAs (10%).

The University ultimately increased the transaction by $200 million on the day of pricing. They had pre-marketed the $300 million transaction at the agreed to level and garnered enough interest from investors to warrant upsizing the transaction to $500 million