Group Backs Out of $12.8 Billion Penn. Turnpike Deal
An investment group has pulled out of a planned $12.8 billion, 75-year lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, citing inaction by state legislators, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
If approved, the arrangement would have been the nation’s largest infrastructure deal, AP said.
The group that was to lease the road included Spanish firm Abertis and Citi Infrastructure, a unit of Citigroup. It produced the high bid for the turnpike in May.
The state’s general assembly has just a few days left in its session and leaders said they would not put the measure to a floor vote, AP said.
On Monday, as part of the ongoing U.S. financial crisis, Citigroup agreed to buy the banking operations of the Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia bank for $2.16 billion, in a deal orchestrated by the federal government, AP reported.
