Mayer Brown served as underwriters’ counsel to Jefferies LLC, as representative of a syndicate of underwriters, with respect to the sale of $250 million aggregate principal amount of State of Illinois General Obligation Bonds, Taxable Series of May 2024A and $1.55 billion aggregate principal amount of State of Illinois General Obligation Bonds, Series of May 2024B.

The proceeds of the bonds will be used by the State of Illinois for the funding of certain pension acceleration payments and the financing of various capital improvement projects throughout the State. Mayer Brown advised the underwriters regarding due diligence and disclosure matters pertaining to the bonds and the negotiation of the bond purchase agreement with the State. This transaction represents a continuation of Mayer Brown’s long-standing relationship with both the State of Illinois and the various underwriters doing business with the State.

Since 2017, this is the sixth transaction on which Mayer Brown has served as underwriters’ counsel related to general obligation bonds of the State, and in total, these transactions represent an aggregate principal amount of nearly $12 billion.

The team included partner David Narefsky, counsel Jeromy Cannon, and associate Nick Kohler in the firm’s Chicago office.