Public Finance

Bond Counsel

Partners

Bettendorf, Henry A.

Bond, Christopher S.

Kotthoff, Sara E.

Lause, Michael F.

Lawton, Richard L.

Mitchell, Steven B.

Rush, Deborah K.

Thomas, Rhonda C.

Thorp, Lisa K.

Wild, Steven R.

Associates

Tilghman, Alexandra R.

Wilson, Brandi M.

Clients

• Brentwood School District
• Chicago Transit Authority
• City of Chicago
• City of St. Louis Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority
• City of Washington, MO
• Francis Howell School District
• Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority of the City of St. Louis
• Mills Group
• Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority (MOHEFA)
• Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA)
• Missouri State Employees Retirement System (MERS)
• Pattonville School District
• Saint Louis Zoo
• St. Louis County
• St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority
• Southeast Missouri State University
• University City School District
• University of Missouri

Investment Bankers and Financial Institutions

• Bank of America
• Citibank, N.A.
• Edward Jones
• Fifth Third Bank
• George K. Baum & Company
• Great Southern Bank
• Piper Jaffray Inc.
• PNC Bank
• Stern Brothers & Company
• Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Inc.
• U.S. Bank
• Wells Fargo Advisors
• William Blair & Company

Bond Counsel

For more than 15 years, we have served as bond counsel to The University of Missouri, aiding in the formation of a pooled system of the University’s auxiliary facilities, included parking, student housing, dining, and a recreational facility. This system facility structure has resulted in enhanced credit structure, as opposed to stand-alone financings. We also assisted the university when it consolidated the financing of its hospital and clinic system into the system facilities, acting as lead counsel in drafting the bond and other documents and providing opinions as to the legality, enforceability and tax-exempt status of the financing.

 We served as bond counsel in the financing of the I-470 and 350 Transportation Development District transaction, a project located northwest of Kansas City and consisting of an approximately 722,000 square foot “power” retail center known as SummitWoods Crossing. The firm drafted various financing documents related to the issuance of the bonds, reviewed inter-governmental agreements pertaining to the District’s imposition of a 1% sales tax and provided opinions as to the legality, enforceability and tax-exempt status of the bonds. Tax increment financing was also utilized in connection with this project.

Thompson Coburn lawyers served as bond counsel to Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in matters involving the structuring, issuance and sale of $409,555,000 in alternate revenue bonds to build new schools and fund other capital projects.

The firm recently represented The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), the nation’s second largest transit system, when it closed a Lease-Purchase Agreement with Traxis Financial Group, Inc. to provide financing for the construction and purchase of 150 buses for CTA’s transit system. This bus lease-purchase was the first of its kind for the CTA and provided cost effective funding at tax-exempt interest rates. The firm served as special counsel to the CTA in structuring and documenting the financing, and was lead counsel in drafting the lease and other financing documents. Our attorneys also offered opinions as to the legality, enforceability and tax-exempt status of the financing, as well as to the perfection of security interests in the buses and other collateral that secured the transaction.

Crossings Community Improvement District relied on Thompson Coburn as bond and disclosure counsel when the District provided financing for infrastructure and site improvements in connection with the Wildwood Town Center redevelopment project in Wildwood, Missouri. The District encompasses an area of 19.5 acres within an approximately 820-acre site. The total estimated budget for completion of the Town Center—which consists of a combination of retail, residential, restaurant and office space, as well as a hotel/conference center—was $70 to $75 million. This financing was the first in Missouri in which a transportation development district utilized all three available sources of revenue (sales tax, real property tax and special assessments) to finance the costs of public improvements within the district. As bond counsel, the firm drafted various financing documents, reviewed and negotiated amendments to the original development agreement for the project, and provided opinions as to the legality, enforceability and tax-exempt status of the bonds. As disclosure counsel, the firm conducted due diligence, drafted the offering document and provided a legal opinion regarding the offering document and the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

The Francis Howell R-III School District in St. Charles County, Missouri, engaged Thompson Coburn to serve as bond and disclosure counsel in financings that totaled more than $50 million in general obligation refunding bonds of the District. As bond counsel, the firm performed diligence on the District’s debt structure, collaborated with the underwriters for each series of bonds regarding various state law and federal tax issues that arose during the refinancing, drafted all of the legal documents and rendered a bond counsel opinion regarding the legality, enforceability and tax-exempt status of the bonds. As disclosure counsel to the District, our attorneys performed due diligence with respect to the District, drafted the offering documents for the transaction and rendered an opinion regarding the offering document and the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

As bond counsel for The City of Columbia, Missouri, since 1980 Thompson Coburn has worked with this growing community to structure inventive bond financings that fund its mounting capital needs. The approximately $48 million of Special Obligation Bonds that the City issued have a unique structure in that they are secured solely by the non-binding commitment of the City Council to annually appropriate funds to pay debt service. These bonds are generally paid from earmarked capital improvement sales taxes approved by the voters for specific projects. In addition, the City has funded capital projects for a municipally owned Water and Electric System through the issuance of approximately $160 million of voter-approved Water and Utility System Revenue Bonds that are payable from water and electric utility revenues.