New Jersey Turnpike to price $1.6 billion portion of refunding.

A $1.6 billion chunk of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority's previously announced $2.5 billion refunding will be priced the week of Nov. 18, officials involved with the deal said Friday.

The bonds represent a partial refunding of the authority's record-breaking $2 billion bond sale in 1985, which was intended to finance a massive widening program that has since been abandoned in favor of more modest projects.

Merrill Lynch & Co. is the senior manager on this portion of the refunding, which will include serial and term bonds out to 2018, officials at the firm said.

Richard P. Poirier, a general partner with Lazard Freres & Co., the authority's financial adviser, said the team is considering using an interest rate swap on the deal, but no decision will be made until market conditions can be assessed at the time of the pricing.

Mr. Poirier said if a swap is used, it would probably resemble the recent swaps executed for Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport and the Southern California Public Power Authority. Both deals were unique for their extremely long maturities, which help eliminate risks associated with swap maturities that do not match the underlying issue.

The authority's bonds have a single-A rating from all three major municipal rating agencies. Delivery is expected on Dec. 12.

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