From the WSJ:
Turnpike Deal Gets Bumpy
Abertis-Citi Encounter High Costs and Potholes
For Infrastructure Investors
America is definitely becoming a mecca for deal-hungry infrastructure funds. Whether investors in this burgeoning asset class making the pilgrimage to these shores will find redemption, however, is far from certain.
A consortium led by Spanish transportation and highway operator Abertis has offered $12.8 billion to operate the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 75 years, edging out local heavyweight Goldman Sachs Group in the process. Moreover, the final price was 20% more than Abertis, along with a Citigroup fund and a minor Spanish partner, had offered in the first round of bidding. From the looks of it, Abertis and Citi have stretched themselves to the limit....MORE
From Portfolio.com:
The Cheap Pennsylvania Turnpike
What kind of effect has the credit crunch had on the formerly-frothy market for infrastructure investments? As money becomes scarcer, the price tags attached to future-cashflow investments like toll roads would normally go down. But there was always another possibility: that infrastructure, which is one of a very small number of fixed-income investments which doesn't involve credit risk, would survive the credit crunch unscathed and even maybe get a new flight-from-credit bid....MORE