SWS Serves as Book-Running Senior Manager on $229 million City of Austin Airport System Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2025 (AMT) Securing Meaningful Savings for the City of Austin

On November 6, 2025, SWS served as Book-Running Senior Manager on the $229 million City of Austin Airport System Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2025 (AMT). The Proceeds of the bonds will be used to refund the Airport’s Series 2014 (AMT) bonds for debt service savings.

The issuance was originally slated to occur on April 2, 2025 – the same day as the Federal Administration’s “Liberation Day” which enacted a broad package of import tariffs. The news brought widespread market volatility, as investors struggled to digest the impact tariffs would have on inflation and the economy at large. As interest rates increased, the refinancing no longer met the savings requirement under the City’s bond ordinance, so the transaction was postponed. Over the next few months, SWS continued to monitor interest rates until the refinancing met the City’s required savings threshold. By September, rates proved favorable and SWS was reengaged to execute the transaction with a new pricing date of November 13, 2025. After months of delay, the transaction was then accelerated by a week to seize upon favorable market conditions with a final pricing date of November 6, 2025. Overall, this timing flexibility exemplifies SWS’ ability to devote and maintain a deep focus on each one of our mandates. In the weeks leading up to pricing, the municipal bond market remained relatively stable with the short end of the MMD curve realizing increases while the longer end experienced a rally that improved rates for investors. The recent federal government shutdown delayed the release of key economic data scheduled for the day of pricing including Initial Claims and Continued Claims, among others. On the morning of pricing, investors digested the news of a recent non-governmental private sector report noting the largest amount of job cuts since 2003. Treasury yields reacted with declining yields the morning of pricing.

The City’s Airport bonds priced the same week as the City’s planned $418 million Electric Utility Bond issuance, as well as other airport pricings, including Chicago O’Hare International Airport (AMT) and Orlando International Airport. SWS closely monitored investors’ reception to Chicago O’Hare, which priced the day prior.  SWS authored an investor presentation that highlighted the Airport credit strengths and sizeable capital improvement plan, which was viewed by numerous investors. Additionally, SWS fielded credit questions directly from investors. Due to recent yield curve improvements, SWS opted to employ all 5% coupons, rather than the utilizing 5.25% coupons that have dominated the longer end of the AMT yield curve over the past few months.

Ultimately, SWS generated a strong order book that allowed SWS to lower yields by as much as 10 bps on the long end. The refinancing achieved $17.5 million of NPV savings (7.16% of refunded bonds). The Bonds carried an All-in-TIC of 4.179%

Congratulations to the Austin finance team and our SWS underwriting team for another successful market transaction!