Citi Engages Black-Owned Businesses to Distribute $2.5 Billion in Affordable Housing Bonds
Citigroup Inc.
The proceeds from the bond will finance the construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of high-quality affordable housing for low-and moderate-income populations. In November, Citi and the Citi Foundation announced that the Action for Racial Equity initiative had invested $1 billion in strategic initiatives. Citi benefits from this bond issuance.
In order to syndicate a $2.5 billion bond issuance, Citi exclusively collaborated with five Black-owned businesses, demonstrating the firm's dedication to advancing racial equity in the capital markets and the broader financial services sector.
The proceeds from the bond will finance the construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of high-quality affordable housing for low- and moderate-income populations in the United States, building on Citi's long-standing commitment to increasing affordable housing.
In November, Citi and the Citi Foundation announced that the Action for Racial Equity initiative had invested $1 billion in strategic initiatives, one year into a three-year commitment, to help reduce the racial wealth gap and boost economic mobility in the United States. Including a target to strengthen Citi's own policies and practices, including the expansion of the company's own core business activities with minority-owned broker dealers and depository institutions, Citi is on track to far surpass its initial $1.1 billion commitment.
According to Mark Mason, Chief Financial Officer of Citi,
"Safe and affordable housing is an important platform for financial stability and economic mobility, but it is scarce and too expensive in many urban areas across the country."
For the past 11 years, Citi has been the top developer of affordable housing in the United States, and this bond issuance reflects our dedication to boosting the number of affordable housing units in the neighborhoods where we live and work. I'm proud that Citi continues to use our business capabilities to help achieve equity in the housing market. Dr. King had a significant impact on the passage of the Fair Housing Act.
The January 18 pricing date and January 25 settlement date for the $2.5 billion dual tranche transaction. Along with Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Citi hired five Black-owned financial companies to underwrite and distribute the bonds to investors in this transaction. In addition to CastleOak Securities, L.P., Global Oak Capital Markets, Loop Capital Markets LLC, and Security Capital Brokerage, Inc., these companies also included Blaylock Van, LLC.
Security Capital Brokerage President and CEO Nathan L. Lewis stated,
"Security Capital is proud to have been a part of this transaction. We sincerely appreciate the chance to collaborate with Citi in support of affordable housing and look forward to subsequent collaborations."
Citi benefits from this bond issuance. Citi's Treasurer, Michael Verdeschi, stated that by collaborating with these minority-owned businesses, the company is able to both finance affordable housing initiatives and further develop its best-in-class capital market distribution capabilities.
Since 2015, Citi has collaborated with more than 30 businesses run by women, people of color, and veterans on more than $150 billion in bond issuance.
Source: Citi group news
