Chicago Dominates With $1B Deal for O'Hare Airport

Chicago will come to market with a $1.04 billion offering of revenue bonds this week on behalf of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, leading roughly $6.7 billion in expected new issuance, according to Ipreo LLC and The Bond Buyer.

The estimated volume is nearly double the $3.4 billion that came to market last week, according to Thomson Reuters.

The airport offering, which is slated to price Wednesday by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, consists of six different series, the largest of which is comprised of $557.2 million of general airport third-lien taxable Build America Bonds.

According to the preliminary official statement, the structure also includes general airport third-lien revenue bonds in the amounts of $175.8 million, $112.7 million, and $92.9 million, along with $55.4 million of third-lien revenue refunding bonds and $45.9 million of revenue refunding bonds, both subject to the alternative minimum tax.

The third-lien bonds are rated A1 by Moody's Investors Service, A-minus by Standard & Poor's, and A by Fitch Ratings, according to the POS. The debt is part of a larger $8 billion runway expansion project at the airport.

In the week's second largest deal, the Nashville and Davidson County Metropolitan Government Convention Center Authority is gearing up to price $633.3 million for a new convention and music facility.

The deal consists of $604.9 million of taxable Build America Bonds, split into two series: $413.8 million of subordinate-lien tourism tax revenue bonds, and $191.1 million of senior-lien revenue bonds.

A $16.8 million series of tax-exempt subordinate-lien tourism tax revenue bonds and a $11.7 million series of tax-exempt senior-lien revenue bonds round out the deal.

Moody's rates the Series 2010A senior-lien bonds A2 and rates the Series 2010B subordinate-lien bonds Aa3. Both series are rated A by Standard & Poor's and A-plus by Fitch.

In another sizable offering, Allen County, Ohio, will issue $450 million of hospital facilities revenue bonds on behalf of Catholic Health Partners.

The two-pronged tax-exempt deal is being managed and priced by JPMorgan Thursday, following a retail order period Wednesday.

There will be a $110 million Series 2010A and a $340 million Series 2010B. Both are structured as serial and terms bonds, but the exact maturities were still being hammered out at press time on Friday.

The Allen County bonds are rated A1 by Moody's and AA-minus by Standard & Poor's and Fitch.

In New York, the Troy Capital Resources Corp. is planning to issue $366.3 million of revenue refunding bonds tomorrow on behalf of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The structure of the deal, which is being senior-managed by Morgan Stanley, was not available by press time.

Meanwhile, RPI itself will issue $200 million of taxable bonds structured as a 10-year bullet maturity in a deal to be priced Wednesday by JPMorgan. Bonds from both deals for the institute are rated A3 by Moody's and A by Standard & Poor's.

In California, a $450 million offering of lease revenue bonds from the California State Public Works Board is slated for pricing this week.

The three-pronged offering is expected to be priced by RBC Capital Markets LLC on Wednesday following a retail order period tomorrow.

Series 2010B consists of $180.7 million of tax-exempt bonds on behalf of the California State University Trustees, while Series 2010C is structured as $219 million of revenue bonds on behalf of the University of California Regents. Series 2010D is structured as $50.2 million of traditional taxable bonds on behalf of the University of California Regents for the Helios Energy Research Facility.

The Series B bonds are rated A1 by Moody's and BBB-plus by both Standard & Poor's and Fitch. The Series C and D bonds are rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA-minus by Standard & Poor's and Fitch.

The Pennsylvania Economic Development Finance Authority will sell $275 million of revenue bonds in a Bank of America Merrill Lynch-led deal. A pricing date was not available by press time.

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Facilities Authority will issue $186 million of revenue bonds on behalf of Temple University.

The two-pronged deal will be senior-managed by Barclays Capital, and is scheduled to price Wednesday.

The deal consists of $140.7 million of taxable BABs and $45.7 million of tax-exempt debt.

Switching gears to the utility sector, Grant County, Wash., Public Utility District No. 2 is on tap to issue $344.5 million of revenue and refunding bonds in a multi-structured deal. It will be priced by Citi on Thursday following a retail order period on Wednesday.

The bonds are structured as $50.4 million of tax-exempt bonds maturing from 2011 to 2023, of which $10.9 million will be subject to the AMT.

There will also be $294.1 million of taxable BABs maturing in 2020, 2025, 2030 and 2040.

Rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA-minus by Standard & Poor's, and AA by Fitch, the proceeds will benefit the Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project.

Last week, the municipal market was less robust due to the arrival of the Passover and Easter holidays.

The largest transaction was a $436.9 million taxable offering from the Irvine Ranch, Calif., Water District that was rated triple-A by two of the three major rating agencies.

The bonds were priced by Bank of America Merrill Lynch with a high yield of 2.61% in 2014.

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