Second GBA assigned to issuer for the second offering of Senior Secured Notes as part of its $6 billion financing plan
New York, September 01, 2017 -- Moody's Investors Service has today assigned a Green Bond Assessment (GBA)
of GB1 to the second offering in the up to $6 billion total borrowing
plan of Senior Secured Notes to be issued by Mexico City Airport Trust
NAFIN F/80460 (Mexico City Airport Trust, Baa1 negative).
Corresponding coupons and maturities will be determined at closing.
This is the second GBA assigned to the trust following the original assignment
of a GB1 assessment to $2 billion of Senior Secured Notes issued
in September 2016.
"The bond proceeds will be used to finance environmentally beneficial
projects, including a new passenger terminal building, ground
transportation center and air traffic control center," Analyst
Matthew Kuchtyak said. "In addition, there are good
organizational and governance structures around the deployment of the
proceeds, including ongoing disclosure until the proceeds are fully
invested."
ASSESSMENT RATIONALE
The trust's planned issuance of Senior Secured Notes now,
as well as the issuance of notes in September 2016, will partially
fund the design, construction, development and operation of
the new Mexico City International Airport (NAICM). The Senior Secured
Notes are issued by the Mexico City Airport Trust, a special purpose
trust created for the sole purpose of securitizing the receivables collected
from passenger charges realized by the existing Benito Juárez International
Airport, located in Mexico City, as well as NAICM, which
will be located in Texcoco, State of Mexico.
The GB1 (excellent) assessment is supported by the commitment to allocate
net proceeds to finance and refinance eligible beneficial environmental
projects that have been identified and qualified pursuant to a green bond
framework formally adopted by Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México,
S.A. de C.V., (GACM), the sponsor
of the new airport. A green bond committee with broad representation
and expertise evaluates eligible environmental project proposals within
the broader context of sustainability goals and objectives for the airport
project. GACM has committed to disclose the nature of investments,
their dollar amounts and impacts on a quarterly basis, continuing
until the airport has fully allocated the net proceeds.
GACM expects the new airport to commence operations in October 2020.
It is one of the largest airport construction projects underway in the
world and considered one of the most important infrastructure projects
undertaken in Mexico in recent decades. Under the sponsorship of
GACM, a state-owned company controlled by the Mexican Ministry
of Communications and Transportation, the first phase of the new
airport is scheduled to be completed in 2020 with capacity to support
over 50 million passengers. Upon the completion of its second phase
of construction, the airport is expected to have a capacity of 125
million passengers.
NAICM has adopted a green bond framework that covers the issuance of green
bonds by the Mexico City Airport Trust. The framework is explicitly
referenced in the offering memorandum, and a copy of the framework
is posted in its entirety on NAICM's website. NAICM has also established
a green bond committee with responsibility for governing the NAICM green
bond framework. The green bond committee includes sustainability
experts and senior managers from the GACM environmental and sustainability,
infrastructure, planning and treasury teams, as well as from
Parsons Corporation, the NAICM project manager. The committee
reviews and approves all potential green projects to determine their eligibility
under the NAICM green bond framework and the Green Bond Principles (GBP).
All of the net proceeds will be allocated for investment pursuant to the
green bond framework. An estimated $5.9 billion in
potentially eligible environmental projects have been identified (total
airport project estimated to cost about $13.3 billion) and
will be financed in line with the green bond framework and GBP across
six eligible environmental categories: sustainable buildings,
renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and wastewater
management, pollution prevention and control, and conservation
and biodiversity.
The net proceeds will be transferred from the Mexico City Airport Trust
to GACM for investment pursuant to the above framework. Until the
net proceeds are fully allocated to eligible projects on or before 2020,
GACM Treasury will maintain internal records tracking the allocation of
net proceeds. While there is oversight of GACM performed by at
least two regulatory bodies, including the Ministry of Public Administration
and the Superior Audit Office, there is no independent audit of
GACM's tracking function for the green bond proceeds.
GACM obtained a second-party opinion from consultancy Sustainalytics
to confirm the validity of the NAICM green bond framework. The
Sustainalytics report was subsequently published on the NAICM website.
GACM is also planning to engage Sustainalytics to review the allocation
of net proceeds and provide a report on its conformity with the NAICM
green bond framework. The review will be conducted annually until
the net proceeds are fully allocated to eligible green projects.
The first report, expected to be published before the end of 2017,
will also be published on the NAICM website.
To provide transparency around the complex airport program, its
scale and the potentially longer lead times associated with the allocation
of the proceeds, GACM has committed to providing quarterly updates
continuing until the net proceeds are fully allocated and as necessary
thereafter in case of new developments. Where feasible, the
NAICM green bond reports will include qualitative and, if reasonably
practicable, quantitative environmental performance indicators on
the eligible green projects.
To date, GACM has published three quarterly green bond reports updating
the market on various elements of the new airport project, in line
with its original commitment. The three reports are dated December
2016, March 2017 and June 2017, and were published on the
NAICM website.
METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in this rating/analysis was Green Bonds
Assessment (GBA) published in March 2016. Please see the Rating
Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Ratings Definitions
page on www.moodys.com for further information on the meaning
of each rating category and the definition of default and recovery.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Ratings Definitions
page on www.moodys.com for further information on the time
horizon in which a credit rating action may be expected after a review
or outlook action took place.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer page on www.moodys.com
for the last action and the history of the rating. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
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Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is the most
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Matthew Kuchtyak
Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Jim Hempstead
MD - Utilities
Corporate Finance Group
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Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
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