The editors of The Bond Buyer -- the daily newspaper of public finance published by SourceMedia -- last night awarded their 2006 Deal of the Year award to the New York City Industrial Development Agency's $1.59 billion of bonds backed by payments in lieu of taxes and other revenues to finance the construction of new baseball stadiums for the New York Mets and Yankees.
Processing Content
"From an extremely competitive field, this deal best met the criteria for selection in terms of its technical prowess and structure," said Nicholas Chesla, editor in chief of The Bond Buyer, who presented the Deal of the Year award to Derek B. Park, chairman of the IDA's board, at a black-tie gala last night.
All municipal bond transactions sold between Oct 1, 2005, and Sept 30, 2006, were eligible for this year's awards. The newspaper's editors and bureau chiefs selected the deals being honored from 116 nominations.
The Deal of the Year awards were launched in 2002 to honor public sector issuers of the most innovative offerings in the market each year. Two finalists were selected from each region of the country covered by the newspaper -- a large issuer and a small issuer, determined by gross revenues in an issuer's most recent financial year. All 10 finalists were in the running for the overall Deal of the Year award.
The newspaper also presented its first ever award for the most innovative nontraditional public finance transaction -- covering deals that finance traditional public finance projects, but do not use municipal securities, including privatizations, public-private partnerships, or leasing. This new award reflects the major growth in this sector, and the increasing interest by governments in realizing the monetary value of their infrastructure assets.
The overall winner in this new category for 2006 is the $3.85 billion Indiana Toll Road concession sale.
The other regional winners were:
NORTHEAST: The Rensselaer, N.Y., School District's sale of $71 million certificates of participation, Series 2006, for the School Campus Project.
SOUTHWEST: The Texas Transportation Commission's sale of $600 million of state highway fund first-tier revenue bonds, Series 2006.
Clayton, N.M.'s sale of $75 million of jail project revenue bonds, Series 2006.
MIDWEST: The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's sale of $1 billion of toll highway senior priority revenue bonds.
The Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission's sale of $279 million of power project revenue bonds for the Plum Point Project, Series 2006, backed by small municipal utilities in the Missouri cities of Carthage, Poplar Bluff, Malden, and Kennett, and the Arkansas cities of Piggott, Osceola, and North Little Rock.
SOUTHEAST: The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District's sale of $294 million of bonds for repairs and improvements to the New Orleans Superdome Stadium -- $85 million of insured tax-exempt revenue and refunding bonds, Series A; $85 million of insured tax-exempt revenue and refunding bonds, Series 2006B; $69 million of insured taxable/tax-exempt convertible revenue and refunding bonds, Series 2006C; and $56 million of uninsured taxable revenue and refunding bonds, Series 2006D.
The Fairfax County, Va., Economic Development Authority's sale of $26 million of adjustable mode industrial development revenue bonds, Series 2006, for the Lorton Arts Foundation Inc. project.
FAR WEST
The Bay Area Toll Authority's sale of $1.1 billion of San Francisco Bay Area toll bridge revenue bonds, Series 2006F; $1 billion of toll bridge revenue bonds comprising $730 million of variable-rate demand bonds, Series 2006A1, A2, B1, B2, C, and D1; and $270 million of auction-rate bonds, Series 2006 A3, D2, D3, E1, and E2. Part of the program also involves forward swap commitments.
Aleutians East Borough, Alaska's sale of $18 million of project revenue bonds, Series 2006, for the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association headquarters and cultural facility project. (c) 2006 The Bond Buyer and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.bondbuyer.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
