Moody's Investors Service said it has upgraded Yankee Stadium LLC's rating to Baa1 from Baa2, affecting about $1.2 billion of rated debt outstanding.
Moody's has also assigned a Baa1 to Yankee Stadium LLC's $779 million PILOT revenue refunding bonds, Series 2016. The outlook is stable. The New York City Industrial Development Agency serves as the conduit issuer of the bonds.
The upgrade to Baa1 from Baa2 reflects the improved forecasted financial metrics and overall project resiliency due to the significant debt service savings derived from the planned bond refunding that appreciably reduces annual debt service costs on a sustained basis, Moody's said.
Also, there is an increased liquidity cushion following the refunding given the annual PILOT payments that Yankee Stadium LLC makes every February 1st to the NYC IDA remain the same, but the margin between the PILOTs and the actual amount of debt service paid will increase after the planned refunding, according to the rating agency.
This increases the amount of cash held by the NYC IDA that is subsequently released to Yankee Stadium LLC in September of each year to fund stadium operating and maintenance expenses.
