State Street partners four black-owned firms for $1.5bn debt issuance

State Street has partnered with four black-owned investment firms to issue $1.5 billion of senior unsecured debt, as part of its ongoing inclusion, diversity and equity (IDE) commitments.

The offering, which closed yesterday (February 7), was structured with Siebert Williams Shank & Co and Loop Capital Markets acting as bookrunners, and CastleOak Securities and Blaylock Van acting as co-managers.

The four black-owned investment firms have underwritten almost half of the debt securities in the issuance, while the full underwriting syndicate also included Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse Securities as bookrunners, and Citigroup Global Markets acting as co-manager.

State Street said the offering was its third issuance in less than a year structured under its IDE strategy.

Eric Aboaf, chief financial officer at State Street Corporation, said: “The partnership with these highly regarded black-owned businesses allows us to amplify our impact as an organization by improving diverse representation within our industry.”

State Street has committed to partnering with black and Latinx-owned investment firms, and firms owned by other underrepresented groups, as part of its debt offerings.

Chris Williams, chairman of Siebert Williams Shank & Co, added: “Mandating diverse firms as joint bookrunners with full participation in the investor book building and allocation process highlights State Street’s meaningful commitment to diversity and enables Siebert to add value for our issuers, support our institutional clients, and challenge our professionals.”

CastleOak Securities, Loop Capital Markets and Blaylock Van were among five black-owned financial firms hired by Citi last week (February 2) to underwrite and disseminate $2.5 billion in loans to investors.

A growing number of financial institutions have recently been scaling investment in social mobility programmes, including JP Morgan Chase which announced on January 25 a $75 million commitment over five years to close the racial wealth gap in Greater Washington.

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