Japan Airlines Co. touched down for the first time in U.S. tax-exempt market two weeks ago, with the sale of $155 million of revenue bonds through the New York City Industrial Development Agency.
Chemical Securities Inc. piloted the offering into the market as senior manager and bookrunner. The deal was structured as a daily variable-rate mode demand obligation bond with the fixed-rate conversion option.
The issue, subject to the alternative minimum tax and due Nov. 1, 2015, was rated AA-minus/A1-plus by Standard & Poor's Corp., which based its rating on that of the airline's corporate debt. Moody's Investors Service does not rate the airline's debt.
The deal was initially priced as 2.85s, but last Thursday the daily rate was set to yield 3.70%, as short-term rates surged with the deluge of New York short-term tax-exempt paper in the market. The state recently sold $3.9 billion of state tax and revenue anticipation notes.
Proceeds from the industrial-development revenue bond offering will finance converting building #14 into a cargo facility for Japan Airlines at New York's JFK Airport. The airline, which operates the largest Boeing 747 fleet in the world, will be responsible for debt service on the bonds.
Chemical Securities, the section 20 securities subsidiary of Chemical Banking Corp., will serve as remarketing agent.
Karol D. Ostberg, a vice president in Chemical's public finance department, said the bank worked on structuring the issue for two years. The bank has sold a number of deals through the city's development authority before, Ms. Ostberg acknowledged, but this deal was the first tax-exempt airline bond issue the bank has sold through the agency.
The bank navigated the deal through a myriad of financing proposals and complicated leasing arrangements, Mr. Ostberg said. Those arrangements involved the city, which owns the land under the airport; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is leasing the facility to the airline; and Japan Airlines Management Corp., the airline's U.S. subsidiary, which will be operating the facility.
Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York two weeks ago signed two bills authorizing the state's dormitory authority to sell $57 million of tax-exempt bonds to finance the construction of athletic facilities on two campuses.
The dormitory authority has tentatively scheduled the sale of at least $22 million of bonds in a competitive auction on July 25 to finance the design and construction of a stadium for track and field, said Thomas A. Devane, the authority's deputy executive of planning and financial analysis.
The facility will be built on the campus of the State University of New York at Buffalo and will be used for the 1993 World University Games, Mr. Devane said.
The annual capital cost to the state for the new stadium, secured with annual appropriations, is estimated at $2.4 million. After the games, the stadium will be available to the university, Mr. Devane said.
Another $25 million in bonds will be sold by the authority to finance the construction of a field house and enclosed swimming pool on a parking lot across the street from the Erie Community College, Mr. Devane said. The facilities will also be used for the 1993 World University Games, he said.
The state will foot half of the debt service for this financing with annual appropriations. Erie County, as the local government sponsor of the project, will cover the other half. The dormitory authority is still working on setting a sales date for the offering, Mr. Devane added.
