So, what is the connection between Cintra, the Bin Laden family, and the Saudis, anyway?
Macquarie Bank – Doing business as Macquarie Infrastructure Group and dozens of subsidiaries. This Australian banking giant is the No. 1 power player, having produced some big numbers in the past couple of years. As the U.S. DOT began encouraging and supporting privatized infrastructure, Macquarie gobbled a couple of key projects. The company landed the Chicago Skyway lease with a $1.83 billion bid in 2005 and the Indiana Toll Road lease with a $3.85 billion bid in 2006. Macquarie partnered with another high roller – Cintra out of Spain – to swing the Indiana deal. Macquarie also has 100 percent interest in the South Bay Expressway in San Diego and the Dulles Greenway in Virginia near Washington, DC, and 30 percent control of the 407 Express Toll Route in Ontario, Canada. The Australian giant has expressed interest in possible private leases of both the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Expressway in New Jersey, as well as the Pennsylvania and Ohio turnpikes. Macquarie is also bidding to build and operate four private toll roads near Dallas, and a private toll road near Montreal, Canada. And in a strategic move, Macquarie’s media division recently purchased 40 newspapers in Texas and Oklahoma for $80 million. That’s almost as good as buying up all of the utilities in the old Parker Brothers game. See: http://www.landlinemag.com/Archives/2007/Mar2007/news/pass_go_collect_billions.html