The $603 million public-private partnership between the Northwest Parkway Public Highway Authority and the private joint venture Brisa/CCR of Portugal closed last week, with RBC Capital Markets serving as financial adviser and sole P3 adviser, the firm said. The project’s entire bonded debt of $503 million was retired only four years after the toll road opened with no loss to bondholders, RBC noted. Another $100 million was placed in escrow. The deal is the first in the United States for a toll road agency that has no taxing authority or other governmental support.“This landmark transaction retires the toll road’s full bonded debt, provides funding for a possible future expansion of the road, and turns operations over to a globally respected team,” said John Hastings, head of RBC Capital Markets’ U.S. infrastructure and project finance group.Northwest Parkway is a nine-mile toll road through the northern suburbs of Denver and is an extension of an unfinished belt route around the Denver metro area. Since the toll road opened in November 2003, traffic and revenue have been below projections. Following an unsuccessful effort to restructure its tax-exempt debt in 2005, the authority elected to consider a privatization alternative as a way to retire its debt.The deal gives Brisa a 99-year concession.
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Inflows returned to muni mutual funds as investors added $200.3 million for the week ending Wednesday after $1.474 billion of outflows, according to LSEG Lipper.
April 25 -
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly nixed another tax cut bill passed by the Republican-led legislature this year, while pushing a less-costly plan.
April 25 -
It's a big week for the Fortress-backed train company, which refinanced more than $4 billion of debt and broke ground on its West Coast high-speed line.
April 25 -
Photos from The Bond Buyer's Texas Public Finance conference.
April 25 -
The Mayo Clinic is undertaking a $5 billion expansion that may bring new debt as it reconstructs its core Rochester, Minnesota campus.
April 25 -
"Just like the ATM became an additional transaction channel in the banking industry, I believe distributed ledger technology will provide municipal issuers with a similarly valued tool to sell their bonds," said Rick Coscia, Quincy's Strategic Asset Manager.
April 25