NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM)* announced that it has insured all $608.3 million of tax-exempt Green Transmission Project Revenue Bonds (Green Bonds) issued by the Power Authority of the State of New York (NYPA) on April 21. The Green Bonds represent the first issuance of bonds under a newly-created transmission revenue credit intended to finance new transmission projects and improvements to existing transmission projects of NYPA that have or are expected to have regulated rates of return.
The proceeds of the Green Bonds will be used to finance the capital costs of two transmission projects known as the “Central East Energy Connect Transmission Project” and the “Smart Path Reliability Transmission Project”. The bonds will be payable solely from revenues derived from the funded projects (and not NYPA’s general credit) and, secondarily, by AGM’s unconditional guaranty of timely principal and interest payments.
“The capital generated from this green transmission revenue bonds sale is a significant investment in the foundation of a clean energy economy in New York State,” NYPA Interim President and CEO Justin Driscoll said. “NYPA is working to achieve Governor Kathy Hochul’s bold clean energy vision for the state, addressing the administration’s 2022 State of the State green bonds commitment and accelerating New York’s goal to ensure that 70% of the state’s electricity comes from renewable energy by 2030, and 100% by 2040.”
James Binette, Managing Director, Public Finance, Eastern Region of AGM said: “We are pleased that Assured Guaranty can bring its financial strength and three decades of experience working with municipal issuers to assist in launching this NYPA Green Bond issue, as well as other bond transactions that finance projects designed to produce or distribute energy more cleanly, cheaply and in a renewable way. Our guaranty can help attract investors to large transactions or novel structures and lower the cost of bringing bonds to market in general. We look forward to future endeavors with NYPA, the State of New York and other issuers developing renewable energy projects and future Green Bond issuances.”
Goldman Sachs and Co. LLC managed the sale.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
All of the securities having been sold, this announcement is for information purposes only. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.
The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"), or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered, sold or transferred, directly or indirectly, in the United States absent registration under the Securities Act or an available exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States.
*AGM is a subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGL and, together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty). Through its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty provides credit enhancement products to the U.S. and international public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets, and also provides asset management services. AGL is a publicly traded (NYSE: AGO) Bermuda-based holding company. More information on AGL and its subsidiaries can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect Assured Guaranty’s current views with respect to future events and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those resulting from Assured Guaranty’s inability to execute its strategies; the demand for Assured Guaranty’s financial guarantees; actions that the rating agencies may take with respect to Assured Guaranty’s financial strength ratings; adverse developments in Assured Guaranty’s guaranteed portfolio; other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time; management’s response to these factors, and; other risk factors identified in AGL’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made as of April 25, 2022. Assured Guaranty undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
