05
December
2012
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York

Ohio State's parking lease deal hailed as "Deal of the Year"

Columbus, Ohio – The Bond Buyer has named The Ohio State University’s 50-year concession of its parking operations as "top nontraditional financing" deal of the year. The award was made during the publication's 11th annual Deal of the Year Awards in New York City.

In accepting the award, Ohio State Chief Financial Officer Geoff Chatas noted that the successful leasing of the institution's parking operations has provided the university with the flexibility to fund and sustain the academic core, which is vitally important in financing the university's vision to become the world's preeminent public comprehensive university, solving problems of worldwide significance.

"For example, we have identified three Discovery Themes — Health and Wellness, Energy and Environment, and Food Production and Security — that draw upon uniquely broad and deep expertise throughout the university," said Chatas.

"This initiative will result in the hiring of 500 new tenured or tenure-track faculty by 2022. Through this enriched faculty effort, Ohio State will truly be able to lead the way in finding solutions to the technological, social, and environmental stresses of today’s global world.

"This is our hope for the future, and funds generated through the leasing of the university's parking operations help to realize our vision."

Chatas also thanked the publication for recognizing the university’s efforts to be "non-traditional."

"As our President Gordon Gee says, "No parking spot has ever cured cancer … but the money we can get from this can."

The Bond Buyer selected Ohio State as the winner of its award for a nontraditional public finance transaction, a category that was open to deals that utilized financing techniques other than traditional municipal securities. The award, which was presented for the first time in 2006, reflects the growth of this innovative sector.

Deals nominated for the award this year ranged from transactions to finance hospitals, housing, toll roads and airports to public private partnerships and bonds sold for alternative energy projects. The 2012 awards, which considered deals that closed between Oct. 1, 2011 and Sept. 30, 2012, drew some 90 nominations for transactions ranging in size from a few million to billions of dollars.

The Ohio State University
Founded in 1870, The Ohio State University is a world-class public research university and the leading comprehensive teaching and research institution in the state of Ohio. With more than 63,000 students (including 56,000 in Columbus), the Wexner Medical Center, 14 colleges, 80 centers, and 175 majors, the university offers its students tremendous breadth and depth of opportunity in the liberal arts, the sciences, and the professions.