MTA's Triborough Plans $200M Sale

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority will go to market next week, selling $200 million of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority general revenue refunding bonds to fund projects in the 2010-2014 capital program.

Wednesday’s one-day retail period will precede the institutional sale of the Series 2013 bonds. Ramirez & Co. is senior managing underwriter. Duncan-Williams Inc. is special co-senior manager.

The MTA’s board of directors approved the sale at last month’s regular meeting, at which it also approved $1.5 billion in transportation bonds. The TBTA, which operates seven bridges and two tunnels in the New York City region, merged into the MTA in 1968.

Moody’s Investors Service rates the bonds Aa3, while Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings assign AA-minus ratings. Kroll Bond Rating Agency, which began rating Triborough bonds last December, assigns a AA rating.

After the sale, the TBTA, known commonly as MTA Bridges and Tunnels, will have $6.8 billion in general revenue bonds and $1.8 billion in subordinate revenue bonds outstanding. The MTA has about $32 billion of debt outstanding overall.

Securing the general revenue bonds is a senior lien pledge on net revenues, after TBTA expenses.

Standard & Poor’s analyst Adam Torres cited “the authority’s consistently strong historical financial performance and service essentiality, and our expectation that debt-service coverage levels will remain what we consider to be strong.”

All four agencies provided stable outlooks.

The MTA estimates repair and restoration costs from Hurricane Sandy at about $4.8 billion, with funding expected to come from such sources as insurance proceeds and reimbursements from the Federal Transportation Authority and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and bond financing. The MTA’s preliminary expectation for insurance and federal reimbursements are about 80%.

According to Kroll, reinsurers have advanced $89 million from a $100 million initial advance commitment.

On Thursday, the MTA reopened the old South Ferry station on the No. 1 line in lower Manhattan. Sandy destroyed the current station, which opened in 2009 and sits below the water table.

Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP is bond counsel, while Lamont Financial Services Corp. is the financial advisor.

The MTA’s committees and full board are expected to meet April 22 and 24, respectively.

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Transportation industry New York
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