Daniels: Major Moves toll road investors “overpaid”
by IPR News
June 29, 2011
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says foreign investors overpaid for their lease of the Indiana Toll Road five years ago. The Spanish-Australian investor group Cintra-Macquarie signed a $3.8 billion contract in 2007 to lease the road for 75 years. At a press conference today celebrating the anniversary of Major Moves, Daniels acknowledged that Cintra-Macquarie is running into hard times.
Daniels on Major Moves Investors
According to the state Department of Transportation, Major Moves has helped fund construction of more than a hundred new road projects and more than a hundred restoration and preservation projects. Daniels also says the toll road is a vastly better road because of improvements the investors have made. Meanwhile, according to a May article in The Financial Times, Cintra-Macquarie is in danger of defaulting on loans it used in the toll road deal. Daniels says if Cintra-Macquarie does default, it wouldn’t affect service on the road. The state could terminate the agreement, keep the money, and choose a new operator.
– Indiana Public Broadcasting