Port Mann Bridge financing thrown into question
The Sun has the story this morning (January 15) but adds (to what has already been posted) only this observation on Macquarie’s troubles
The consortium chosen to enter final negotiations was selected in August. Called Connect BC Development Group, it includes Australian-based Macquarie Group, an international toll road operator and investor.
But Macquarie, which operates more than 30 roads worldwide, has been hit hard by the financial meltdown.
The value of the company’s toll-road portfolio fell by a third in the last four months of 2008. In a statement issued by Macquarie, it blamed “the recessionary environment” and “higher assumed financing costs.”
And the NDP’s finance critic Bruce Ralston questioning the need for a P3 – but not, note, the need for the bridge and highway expansion.
