ProgressOhio, Rep. Dennis Murray, and Michael Skindell's lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of JobsOhio has caught the eye of bond investors:
The market is holding its collective breath waiting for the outcome of legal complications surrounding an Ohio Supreme Court appeal that could threaten the planned use of proceeds from a $1.5 billion JobsOhio Beverage System financing that was delayed last week. [...]
In the backdrop, the Ohio court's decision on Wednesday to hear the appeal, filed by a liberal nonprofit group called ProgressOhio and two Democratic legislators, came after months of contemplating and just a few hours before the finance team for the senior-lien liquor-profit backed financing was set to price the first part of the deal. [...]
Investors say the unsettled lawsuit challenging the privatization is a chief concern and lack of a back-up pledge in case of an unfavorable court ruling. Moody's Investors Service rates the bonds A2 and Standard & Poor's rates them AA.
No court has yet ruled on the merits of ProgressOhio's complaint (which even a Kasich cabinet member has acknowledged). The Ohio Supreme Court announced last week that they will hear whether the complainants have the right to sue, so the case can move forward.
