Columbus, Ohio, prices $441.855 million sewage system bonds; Kalamazoo schools plan bond offering

By Cristal Cody and Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Jan. 18 - In light action ahead of the three-day break for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, terms emerged on a pricing by the city of Columbus in Ohio for $441.855 million in series 2008A and 2008B sewage system revenue bonds.

The 2008A bonds (Aa2/AA/AA) were priced in a serial structure from 2023 through 2032, according to a term sheet released Friday, with yields from 3.87% to 4.55%

The 2023 coupon came in at 5% and the 2032 coupon came at 4.5%. The 2030 maturity carries the bulk of the principal with $67 million and those bonds have a 4.25% coupon to yield 4.48%.

The city also priced $51.855 million in adjustable-rate sewage system revenue bonds.

J.P. Morgan Securities was the bookrunner with Wachovia, RBC Dain Rauscher, Huntington Investment Co. and Rice Financial Products Co. as the co-managers.

Proceeds from the issue will be used to expand the city's municipal sewage system and to refund the city's $51.6 million sewerage system revenue refunding bonds, series 1994.

Kalamazoo schools plans $119.555 million GOs

Several major issues are expected to price during the short holiday week.

Portage Public Schools in Kalamazoo County, Mich., plans to price $119.555 million unlimited tax general obligation bonds on Wednesday.

"Unless there's a major market development, Wednesday is our target date," said Tom Noverr, assistant superintendent for operations for Portage Public Schools.

Proceeds will be used to renovate two high schools and two elementary schools, he said.

The series 2008 school building and site bonds have serial maturities from 2009 to 2031.

"We have submitted it to the voters, and we had a debt level of 2.2 mils, and this is going to take it to 4.54 mils," Noverr said. "Our working goal is to minimize interest expense for our taxpayers as much as we possibly can."

Wachovia Securities is the lead underwriter, and the financial advisor is H.J. Umbaugh & Associates in Lansing, Mich.

Harvard to price $387.21 million bonds Wednesday

Moody's also assigned an Aaa rating Friday to Harvard University's upcoming $387.21 million taxable bonds.

The series 2008A bonds are expected to price Wednesday.

The bonds will be issued as fixed-rate bullet securities, with approximately $145 million maturing in five years and $243 million maturing in 30 years, Moody's reported.

Morgan Stanley is the underwriter.

Moody's also affirmed Harvard's Aaa, Aaa/VMIG1, and P-1 ratings on $3.6 billion previously issued bonds and commercial paper programs.

The university plans to use the proceeds to finance capital projects previously financed with outstanding commercial paper.

Harvard Management Co.'s CEO resigned in December. The university has named Robert Kaplan as interim chief executive, while a global search is completed, according to Moody's.

Rensselaer Polytechnic receives rating for bonds

Moody's Investors Service assigned a rating Friday of Aaa/VMIG 1 to Troy Industrial Development Authority's $90 million civic facility revenue bonds, set to price Wednesday.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is issuing the series 2008A and 2008B bonds through the New York-based authority.

The series 2008A $50 million and 2008B $40 million bonds pay interest monthly and bear interest in a weekly rate mode. The bonds may be converted to a daily, commercial paper, auction, flexible or fixed rate mode, according to Moody's.

Morgan Stanley & Co. is the underwriter on series 2008A, and Banc of America Securities LLC is the manager for series 2008B.

JEA Water & Sewer to price Feb. 6

Moody's Investors Service assigned an Aa3/VMIG 1 rating Friday to $150 million variable rate water and sewer revenue bonds issued by JEA Water & Sewer Enterprise.

The 2008 series A-1 and A-2 bonds, of $75 million each, are expected to price Feb. 6.

JEA, the Florida-based electric and water utility that serves Jacksonville, Fla., and surrounding counties, plans to use the proceeds to finance extensions and improvements to the water and sewer system.

The bonds initially will bear interest at a weekly rate and pay interest monthly beginning March 3, according to Moody's. The bonds are convertible, in whole by series, to a daily rate mode, fixed rate mode, term rate mode, flexible rate mode or auction rate mode.

Additional information was not available before press time.

Pima County to price $195 million bonds

Also among upcoming offerings, the Industrial Development Authority of Pima County in Arizona plans to bring $195 million in lease revenue bonds, according to a preliminary official statement released Friday.

The series 2008 bonds were rated Aa2 by Moody's Investors Service Friday. Calls to Pima County were not immediately returned on Friday and the pricing date was not immediately available from sources familiar with the deal.

The bonds will be sold in a serial structure from 2010 through 2039, according to the preliminary official statement, with $360,000 of the principal included in the 2010 maturity and $13.1 million in principal included in the final maturity.

The proceeds from the bonds will be used to acquire a 1,038-bed, 139,000 square feet detention facility to be located in Clark County, Nevada.

Lehman Brothers is the bookrunner.

Washington Suburban Sanitary District bonds

Looking at other upcoming bonds, the Washington Suburban Sanitary District in Maryland is gearing up to price $100 million in bonds, including $70 million in general obligation bonds series 2003 A-7 and $30 million in GO multi-modal BANs, series 2003 A-8.

Fitch Ratings assigned the AAA/F1+ rating to the bonds and said in a statement that the bonds would price Jan. 23. The pricing date could not be confirmed by press time with the issuer.

The BANs will be issued through a short-term note ordinance executed in 2003.

Fitch said in its statement that the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which oversees the district, is embarking upon the first phase of a 30-year infrastructure plan and Fitch believes the district's unused GO taxing ability, affordable rates relative to local income levels and above-average debt amortization provides significant financial flexibility needed to complete the program.

American Municipal's bonds

Other bonds set to price this week include $350 million in series 2008A commercial paper bond anticipation notes from American Municipal Power, Inc. in Ohio.

The negotiated issue, which is being sold through dealer J.P. Morgan Securities, is expected to price Tuesday.

Clark County in Nevada is also expected to price two bonds - $100 million in sales and excise tax commercial paper notes series 2008A for streets and highway projects with Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. as the bookrunner and $100 million in sales and excise tax commercial paper notes series 2008B, also for streets and highway projects, with UBS Securities LLC as the bookrunner. Both bonds are set to price Wednesday.

Also set for pricing on Wednesday are $1.1 billion in general obligation mobility fund bonds (Aa1) from the Texas Transportation Commission. The bonds have a serial structure from 2009 through 2033 with a $351.795 million term bond due 2037. Proceeds will be used for the expansion and construction of state highways.

UBS Investment Bank is the bookrunner.

Coming up on Thursday is a $237 million offering of pass-through toll transportation revenue bonds from the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority.

The bonds, which are being sold through Citigroup, have a serial structure from 2012 through 2022. Proceeds will be used to construct a 7.4-mile road called State Spur 601.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.