Deal of the Year 2018 — Southwest: City and County of Denver (Denver International Airport)

Just 23 years after opening, Denver International Airport developed the largest bond deal in its history, $2.5 billion, to position itself for growing traffic and competition accompanied by increased security.

Once derided as a “field of dreams” far from downtown Denver, the airport has become one of the nation’s major airline hubs and a powerful economic engine for the region.

Issued to finance the bulk of a $3.5 billion capital program, the bonds represented the largest AMT bond transaction ever issued and the largest airport revenue bond in municipal bond history.

Structuring and marketing a transaction of this size required breaking the down the transaction into manageable chunks. To that end, the issuer sold a combination of coupons, as well as both callable and non-callable structures. Each of over 100 individual projects funded with these bond proceeds had its own tax status, its own capitalized interest period, and its own amortization period.

Coming just months after Congressional tax reform and ongoing price discovery in the municipal market, it was unclear if a deal this size would struggle. Despite the concern, the transaction found a receptive market with 145 unique investors and $5.7 billion in orders.