NEW YORK - JPMorgan will serve as senior manager on about $600 million of tax-exempt New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority bonds set to price by April 15.
The investment firm beat out 19 other banks competing for book-runner on the transaction, according to New Jersey Treasury Department spokesman Andrew Pratt. Officials are still working on the deal’s syndicate.
In its request for proposals for underwriting services, the department indicated the state would need the anticipated TTFA bond proceeds by mid-April. The transaction will help finance road, bridge, and mass-transit infrastructure needs throughout the state.
“This bond sale will keep us going until the spring for sure,” Pratt said.
McCarter & English LLP is bond counsel on the deal.
This will be the final new-money TTFA issuance for New Jersey as the fund’s bonding capacity will end with the upcoming issue. In the future, the fund’s entire $895 million allocation will need to pay down debt-service costs on the trust’s outstanding bonds.
Gov. Chris Christie in January proposed an $8 billion, five-year plan to replenish the TTFA. That financing strategy includes $4.4 billion of borrowing backed by transportation revenues that currently flow into the general fund. The Republican governor did not propose any tax increases to help finance future TTFA bonds.
Another $1.8 billion will come from pay-as-you-go funding. The proposal also includes $1.8 billion of proposed funding from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
