Ohio pike pays 5.85% for $370m

Ohio ‘pike pays 5.85% for $370m

The Ohio Turnpike has just garnered $370m in a sale of 30 year revenue bonds at 5.85% interest. The money will finance about two years of the turnpike’s five year upgrade program that involves widening 160 miles of the road from 4 to 6 lanes as well as adding and rebuilding interchanges and toll plazas. The turnpike runs 241 miles east-west across northern Ohio and is a prime transport link between the New England and Mid-Atlantic states and Chicago. It is a major truck route.

The Turnpike’s chief executive G. Alan Plain says he is very pleased at the low interest rates obtained saying they “minimize our financing costs and improve prospects for timely completion of our big capital program.”

The bond sale was handled by a group of 19 underwriters headed by Paine Webber Inc of New York. Six Ohio firms were among the underwriters and a spokesman said he understood a third of the bonds were placed within the state.

Moody’s Investor Services the rating firm classified the ‘pike paper issued with bond insurance at AAA and other services gave it similar near-top ratings. A small portion of the bonds were issued without insurance and were rated A1 by Moody, AA- by Standard and Poors and A+ by Fitch. The pike employed as a financial advisor The Ohio Company of Columbus Ohio. (Contact Steve Lorton, Ohio ‘Pike 216 234 2081)