Jefferies’ Pitch on Big Texas Muni Deal: No Gun, Oil Policies That Raise GOP Ire

  • Proposal to win $3.4 billion deal touted securitization record
  • Bank now No. 2 Texas muni underwriter in wake of new GOP laws

An oil pump jack in Midland, Texas.

Photographer: Sergio Flores/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. may not seem the obvious choice to handle what is poised to be the biggest municipal-bond deal ever in Texas.

It’s not one of the largest Wall Street banks, nor is it a top-five player in the nationwide muni market. What’s more, the nearly $13 million fee that Jefferies proposed for handling the $3.4 billion offering wasn’t even the lowest. Several larger banks, including Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG, asked for a smaller payment.