ZGCO Ziegler Companies Inc (CE)

Ziegler (PINKSHEETS: ZGCO), a specialty investment banking firm with over a 100 years of experience, is pleased to announce the successful closing of the Renaissance Charter School (Renaissance) transaction, the second financing for this borrower and the second largest charter school bond issuance to date. Ziegler also underwrote the first financing, which was for $68 million in 2010.

Ziegler is a recognized leader in the educational sector and continues that tradition today with a dedicated team to the charter school market nationally. Renaissance is a Florida 501(c)(3) that holds charters for nine operating charter schools that enrolled over 4,680 students in 2010, and that will hold the charters for two new schools scheduled to open fall 2011 with an initial enrollment of approximately 1,580 students. All of the schools are (or will be) managed by Charter Schools USA, a for-profit Education Management Organization based in Fort Lauderdale who is one of the largest, fastest growing and highest academic performing charter operators in the United States.

The current financing will fund acquisition and construction costs for four charter school facilities, three in southeast Florida and one in Jacksonville, Florida. Two of the facilities will increase capacity at existing schools, while two are start-up schools. All of the schools involved in the financing were oversubscribed for fall 2011, resulting in all of the schools holding enrollment lotteries to award seats.

Ziegler structured the $89 million fixed-rate issuance that received a "BB+" rating from Fitch with interest rates that were below similar rated charter school transactions pricing in the market. Michael Braun, Senior Vice President in Ziegler's Religion & Education practice, noted, "We were pleased to assist Renaissance and Charter Schools USA in this financing. Due to the efforts of the entire team, we were able to execute on a transaction with very competitive interest rates. These savings will help put more dollars back into the classroom which will benefit the 6,000+ students who will attend classes in these facilities."

For further information on this issuer, please see the Electronic Municipal Market Access system's Document Archive.

For more information about Ziegler and please visit us at www.Ziegler.com.

About Ziegler: The Ziegler Companies, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: ZGCO) together with its affiliates (Ziegler) is a specialty investment bank with unique expertise in complex credit structures and advisory services. Nationally, Ziegler is ranked as one of the leading investment banking firms in its specialty sectors of healthcare, senior living, religion and education finance, as well as corporate finance and FHA/HUD. Headquartered in Chicago, IL with regional and branch offices throughout the U.S., Ziegler creates tailored financial solutions including bond financing, advisory, private placement, seed capital, M&A, risk and asset management. Ziegler serves institutional and individual investors through its wealth management and capital markets distribution channels.

Certain comments in this news release represent forward-looking statements made pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This client's experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients, nor is it indicative of future performance or success. The forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, in particular, the overall financial health of the securities industry, the strength of the healthcare sector of the U.S. economy and the municipal securities marketplace, the ability of the Company to underwrite and distribute securities, the market value of mutual fund portfolios and separate account portfolios advised by the Company, the volume of sales by its retail brokers, the outcome of pending litigation, and the ability to attract and retain qualified employees.

Leslie Lynch 312 596 1630 Email Contact