Westhoff, Cone & Holmstedt

The Harker School Foundation

Success Stories
The Harker School Foundation

Westhoff, Cone & Holmstedt served as lead managing underwriter for an initial sale of $18,230,000 variable rate COPs for The Harker School Foundation Project and has provided remarketing and investment banking services continually since that time. The Harker School is a private, non-profit California corporation established in 1893 which presently provides K-12 education to students in the City of San Jose and surrounding areas. The Project involved the acquisition of an existing 10 acre public school facility, which was renovated to provide facilities for Harker's program; the existing campus was converted to a High School. Harker's total enrollment at its three campuses currently totals approximately 1,700 students.

The Harker School's COPs are backed by a direct-pay Letter of Credit issued by U.S. Bank, resulting in Fitch ratings of "AA-" (long-term) and "F-1+" (short-term). Interest on the COPs is re-set on a weekly basis, with monthly payments of interest and annual payments of principal to owners of the COPs. The conduit issuer for the COPs was the ABAG Finance Authority for Nonprofit Corporations. ("ABAG" is short for Association of Bay Area Governments, a nonprofit organization concerned with the interdependent relationships between municipalities in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.) Our firm was instrumental in developing the school's pro forma cash flows and obtaining the Letter of Credit commitment from U.S. Bank.

We are currently in the process of completing the issuance of $20,000,000 tax-exempt, variable rate Certificates of Participation backed by a direct-pay letter of credit from U.S. Bank with anticipated Fitch ratings of "AA-/F1+", to be issued through ABAG in August 2007. The Project includes the construction and acquisition of a Science Building, athletic field, and pool, including a pool facility building at an estimated cost of approximately $19,560,000.

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