NEW YORK – Dec. 4, 2024 – Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP served as Bond Counsel to Brightline Trains Florida on its $3.2 billion private activity bond issuance, earning The Bond Buyer’s 2024 Deal of the Year. The deal, noted by The Bond Buyer as a “transformative moment in U.S. infrastructure financing,” was awarded Deal of the Year at an awards ceremony held Dec. 3 in New York.
Brightline’s recapitalization was the largest private activity bond issuance for a U.S. transportation project, and has paved the way for similar, large-scale financings in the transit sector. The innovative, multitiered financing model used in the deal enabled Brightline to broaden its investor base across the investment grade and high-yield capital markets. In addition to the $3.2 billion of tax-exempt bonds, the transaction included over $1.3 billion of high-yield taxable notes, $775 million in preferred equity, and over $100 million in taxable credit facilities, refinancing an aggregate of over $5 billion in debt. This bespoke structure represents a departure from traditional financings for transit and transportation projects and sets a new standard for the funding and development of infrastructure projects in the United States.
Brightline’s rail service, connecting Miami to Orlando, Florida, is the first privately owned and operated intercity passenger rail system built in the United States in a century. The project runs a total of 235 miles with up to 36 one-way trains daily that are capable of speeds up to 125 miles per hour.
The Bond Buyer Deal of the Year awards recognize outstanding achievements in municipal finance transactions throughout the year. In considering entries for Deal of the Year, judges from The Bond Buyer looked for criteria including creativity, delivering complex transactions under challenging conditions, the ability to serve as a model for other financings, and the public purpose for which a deal's proceeds were used.
The Brightline deal also was recipient of The Bond Buyer’s Innovative Financing Deal of the Year, announced last month.
The Greenberg Traurig team advising Brightline was led by Public Finance & Infrastructure Shareholder Ben McGuire in Boston, and included Public Finance & Infrastructure and Tax Shareholder Vanessa Albert Lowry in Philadelphia and Public Finance & Infrastructure Associate Jason Gonzalez in Miami, with support from Environmental Shareholder Kerri L. Barsh in Miami, Public Finance & Infrastructure Shareholder Albert A. del Castillo in Miami, and Tax Shareholder Marvin A. Kirsner in Fort Lauderdale.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Public Finance & Infrastructure Practice: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has a national public finance practice that consistently ranks among the top bond, disclosure, and underwriter’s counsel firms according to The Bond Buyer’s nationwide and statewide rankings. Greenberg Traurig LLP’s Public Finance & Infrastructure Practice has been serving the needs of state and local issuers, underwriters, credit providers, bondholders, and conduit borrowers throughout the United States for more than forty years in virtually every area of public finance. The firm currently has more than 35 attorneys in the Public Finance & Infrastructure Practice advising on transactions throughout the United States.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2750 attorneys in 48 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2024 BTI “Leading Edge Law Firm” for delivering on client expectations for the future and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: www.gtlaw.com.