NEW YORK– LAWFUEL – Law News, Law Jobs Network –The financing for new ballparks for the NY Mets and the NY Yankees was named “Deal of the Year” by The Bond Buyer, the daily newspaper of public finance. Joel Moser, a senior partner in Fulbright’s New York office, led this financing for the NY Mets and supervised a team of Fulbright public finance, asset finance, securities and tax lawyers from around the country on this year-long project.
“From an extremely competitive field, this deal best met the criteria for selection in terms of its technical prowess and structure,” said Nicholas Chesla, editor of The Bond Buyer. The publication considered 116 nominations for transactions, which closed between October 2005 and September 2006.
More than $1.5 billion in bonds were issued for the ballpark projects. Construction of the new Mets stadium is well underway on a site adjacent to the current Shea Stadium. It is set to open in time for the 2009 season and will be called “Citi Field.”
Fulbright’s work included the development of a financing that combined precedent setting payment in lieu of tax-based, tax-exempt securities, among other sources of capital, with long-term public private partnership lease and concession agreements.
The New York Observer described Joel Moser as the genius behind this complex and groundbreaking transaction. The Mets’ future open-air stadium will seat 45,000.
The venture is expected to create more than 6,000 temporary jobs and approximately 1,000 permanent jobs once Citi Field opens in 2009.
Discussion of the project had been ongoing for awhile, Chesla said. The parties involved, which include the New York City Industrial Development Agency and the City of New York, worked together to “chart their way through all the issues, both legislative and political, to get these deals done,” he said.
Moser led a team of 18 attorneys who assisted with the deal. Moser has often been a trailblazer of innovative finance solutions. He leads Fulbright’s international team specializing in public-private partnership transactions with U.S. state and local governments.
“It is really not possible to feel better about closing a transaction than we did at the Mets’ closing, but we are all delighted that the transaction received this recognition by the public finance industry,” Moser said. “It was a privilege working with David Cohen, a world-class attorney, skilled negotiator and first-rate business executive. Building a ballpark with him is a dream come true for us. We look forward to Opening Day in 2009.”
Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
Founded in 1919, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. is a leading full-service international law firm, with more than 1,000 lawyers in 16 locations in Houston, New York, Washington, D.C., Austin, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Antonio, St. Louis, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Munich and Riyadh. Fulbright provides a full range of legal services to both domestic and foreign clients worldwide.
The 2006 BTI survey of FORTUNE 1000 general counsel chose Fulbright as a “Power Elite Law Firm,” Corporate Board Member magazine named Fulbright among the top 20 corporate law firms in the U.S. in their survey of board members of public companies, and International Law Office, based on survey responses received from international corporate counsel, awarded Fulbright the “2005 Client Choice Award” as the top law firm for client service in the United States. For more information, please visit www.fulbright.com.
