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Press Release

Norman Manley International Airport Securitisation

MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE
PRESS RELEASE

­­­­­­­­Kingston, Jamaica: Monday, October 7, 2024

The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) is pleased to announce that it has secured US$480 million in the Government of Jamaica’s first structured securitisation transaction in international capital markets. The transaction involved the securitisation of the portion of the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) revenue that is due to the GOJ.

Securitisation of the NMIA revenue was achieved through the issue of a US$480 million, 12-year bond in the international capital markets by Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Ltd (the “Issuer”). Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Ltd. (also referred to as KingAir) is a special purpose vehicle held in trust in the Cayman Islands, whose actions are limited to the terms of its debt, and which dissolves after it repays its debt.

The GOJ granted Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Ltd.  its rights to 52.33% of the revenue generated by the Norman Manley International Airport (the “KingAir RevShare”) in exchange for the US$480 million that was raised through the bond issue.

The bond issuance was highly successful, with applications totalling US$2.3 billion, representing an oversubscription of over five times of the US$440 million initially sought. The offer was upsized to US$480 million in response to this robust demand. The Notes will bear a fixed coupon of 6.75% for 12 years and are rated BB and Ba1 by Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings and Moody’s Rating Agency respectively, one notch above each Agency’s sovereign rating for Jamaica. Additionally, the Notes are the sole obligation of the Issuer, Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Limited, and there is no recourse to the Government of Jamaica. In other words, the Notes do not represent debt obligations of the Government of Jamaica or any of its agencies.

Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Ltd will also annually distribute to the Government of Jamaica any surplus it achieves above established benchmarks.  Once the bond is repaid, the full amount of the KingAir RevShare will return to the Government of Jamaica.

 The Government of Jamaica is pleased with the appetite demonstrated by the investor community in investing in Jamaican assets. The GOJ looks forward to now being able to accelerate critical investments in domestic infrastructure, while at the same time reducing the national debt burden, even in the context of the adverse travel advisory and hurricane induced growth shock and the anticipated flat growth this year, for the benefit of all Jamaicans.

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For further information contact: 
Ministry of Finance and the Public Service
30 National Heroes Circle
Kingston 4