JFK Airport's New Terminal One issues $2.55 billion in bonds to refinance overhaul loans

MADRID (Reuters) - The New Terminal One (NTO), a consortium of labor, operating and financial partners at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, is preparing to issue $2.55 billion in bonds in June to continue refinancing bank loans raised in 2022, two sources familiar with the deal said.

It is the second time JFK's NTO will issue bonds in less than a year. The consortium first sold $2 billion in bonds in December to refinance about $6.5 billion in bank loans, following a period of municipal bond market volatility and illiquidity.

The NTO consortium expects to announce the financial results of the new bond deal as soon as this week, the sources added.

The loans were secured two years ago in a $9 billion private-public transaction and financed by over 40 institutions led by financial sponsors Carlyle, Ferrovial SA, JLC Infrastructure and Ullico to cover the cost of the first phase of the airport terminal overhaul.

The companies joined the consortium to build a new international terminal on the sites now occupied by JFK's terminals one, two and three at one of the world's busiest airports.

Investor demand is strong in the debt market for the latest JFK New Terminal One bonds, one of the sources said on Wednesday. NTO initially offered $1.5 billion of Series 2024 Special Facilities Revenue Bonds, but increased the issuance after orders were received for $6 billion-worth, the source added.

Construction of the first phase of what will be JFK's largest international terminal is on schedule for a 2026 opening, one of the sources said last week.

Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial is the lead investor with a 49% stake in the new terminal consortium as part of its strategy to focus on the U.S. market. Ferrovial began trading on the Nasdaq in May.

(Reporting by Corina Pons; with additional reporting of Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Josie Kao)