The financial close of the $899-million Pennsylvania Rapid Bridge Replacement Project on March 18 is a game changer for the P3 market.
1. It’s the first big U.S. P3 deal to close since Florida’s I-4 Ultimate six months ago.
2. Rapid Bridges is the largest road project in Pennsylvania history. Yet the concession agreement survived untouched in the transition from conservative Republican Gov. Tom Corbett to liberal Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf.
3. Developer Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners and its financial advisor, Plenary Group, arranged the largest Private Activity Bond financing of a P3 deal in U.S. history: $721.5 million in appropriation-risk debt, rated BBB, which drew 40 different investors. No TIFIA loan was sought by PennDOT. $59 million of equity was contributed by Plenary Group (80%) and Walsh Investors (20%).
4. It’s the first bundling of publicly owned assets under a single, fixed-price construction program management contract. The agreement also shares permitting risk on 558 discrete projects between PennDOT and the Plenary-Walsh project company.