New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday will remarket $347.7 million of dedicated tax fund variable-rate refunding bonds originally sold in 2008.
The MTA, the largest transit system in the United States, will remarket the Series 2008 A bonds in two subsections, Series 2008A-1 and 2008A-2.
The Series 2008 bonds are special obligations, not general obligations, payable from state taxes deposited into the dedicated tax-funds pool for continued capital investment.
The reoffering will terminate an insurance policy for the bonds issued by Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. — formerly Financial Security Assurance Inc. — and substitute a standby bond purchase agreement issued by Dexia with credit facilities issued by Morgan Stanley and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
“The bonds will stay in variable-rate mode,” an MTA official said. “It’s just a liquidity substitution.”
The bonds will mature through 2031.
Standard & Poor’s rates the bonds A-plus/A-1, while Fitch Ratings rates them AA-plus/F1 with a negative outlook. The ratings reflect the underlying credit facility of the bonds, not the dedicated tax fund, the MTA official added.
“Fitch has determined a low degree of correlation between Morgan Stanley Bank for the series 2008A-1 and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ for the Series 2008A-2, and the obligor which results in a long-term rating of AA-plus with a negative outlook for the bonds, which reflects the outlook on the underlying rating,” the agency said.
Lamont Financial Services Corp. of Fairfield, N.J., is the MTA’s financial adviser. Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP is its remarketing bond counsel. Nixon Peabody LLP was bond counsel for the initial issuance.
Winston & Strawn LLP is counsel to the remarketing agents. Goldman, Sachs & Co. is remarketing agent for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi bonds. Morgan Stanley will remarket its share of the bonds.
The MTA’s finance committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, and the full board will meet on Wednesday.
