Double First for Oxford With University's Debut Century Bond
- British institution taps market for 750m pounds over 100 years
- Moody’s triple-A rating helps secure 2.8b pounds of orders
All Souls College in Oxford city centre
Photographer: Oli Scarff/Getty Images EuropeThis article is for subscribers only.
Not many institutions could sell 100-year debt in their first foray in the capital markets. But then, not many have been around since the 11th century.
The University of Oxford on Friday priced 750 million pounds ($1 billion) of bonds due in 2117 to yield just over 2.5 percent, in what may be the first 100-year obligation to be sold by a debut issuer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While the sale is not the only bond to have originated in Oxford -- some of the university’s colleges have sold debt in the past -- it is the first from the institution as a whole.