Investors

Indiana sells $244m in bonds to help finance I-69

The Indiana Finance Authority has sold $243.9m worth of bonds, the proceeds of which it will use to help pay for the I-69 Section 5 toll road concession.

-

The Indiana Finance Authority (IFA), which along with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is procuring the I-69 Section 5 project as a public-private partnership (PPP; P3), has sold $243.9 million worth of bonds, which it will use to pay for part of the $370 million project.

According to IFA documents, the Series 2014 bonds have maturity dates ranging from March 1, 2017 to September 1, 2046. The majority of the bonds carry a 5.25 percent coupon, with the exception of the bond maturing in 2017, which has a coupon of 4.0 percent, and the one maturing in 2046, which offers a coupon of 5.0 percent.

The bonds will be issued in denominations of $5,000 and multiples thereof, while interest will be paid twice a year on March 1 and September 1 of each year, beginning September 1, 2014.

The project, which IFA and INDOT awarded in February to a consortium led by Isolux Infrastructure Netherlands, involves the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a 21-mile segment of Interstate 69 (I-69), connecting Bloomington in southern Indiana to Martinsville further north.

The I-69 Section 5 project as it is known, involves upgrading State Road 37 to an interstate highway, and includes building four new interchanges, 12 new bridge structures, and carrying out various other improvements to existing interchanges and overpasses as well as building a new operations and maintenance management centre, according to the documents.

Construction is expected to begin later this year and Section 5 is scheduled to open by the end of 2016.

Section 5 is part of the 142-mile I-69 corridor, which was divided into six independent sections. Once complete, I-69 will connect Evansville with Indianapolis, the state capital.

The first three sections – totaling 67 miles – have been in operation since November 2012; while construction on Section 4, a 27-mile stretch between Evansville and Crane, is underway. That section is expected to open in phases beginning in late 2014 through early 2015.