New York, Dec 2 (Project Finance International) - The Cintra CCIT.MC -led NTE Mobility Partners consortium has opted to issue private activity bonds (PAB) in lieu of bank loans to raise US$400m in senior debt for the US$2.1bn North Tarrant Expressway project. The financing will test the waters for some US$9.8bn in PAB authorisations that have been awarded by the US Department of Transportation.

Over the course of the past year, Cintra-led NTE Mobility Partners has revised its financing plans several times to reflect the shifting realities in the US credit markets. The latest plan, which is to be executed in the coming weeks, replaces an already scaled down commercial bank financing with a US$400m Private Activity Bond issue.

The deal will be only the second transportation project to use PABs after Transurban (TCL.AX) and Fluor's (FLR.N) Capital Beltway project struggled to issue US$586m of the bonds just as the monoline industry collapsed at the end of 2007.

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Posted by claire at December 2, 2009 7:39 PM