Wall Street sees wave of U.S. public asset sales

[Judi Lynn]

Wall Street sees wave of U.S. public asset sales
Thu Dec 7, 2006 11:10am ET
By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Public works in the United States increasingly are going private, and Wall Street investment bankers are ready to deal.

From New Jersey to California, cash-strapped cities and states are considering sales or leases of highways, airports and other public infrastructure to generate cash and plug budget gaps. At the same time, more than $100 billion in equity capital is looking to invest in for public assets boasting steady returns.

In all, bankers expect assets worth hundreds of billions of dollars to be put into play over the next few years.

"There's been a lot of focus from players around the world on the infrastructure space in the United States," said Mark Florian, head of Goldman Sachs Group's (GS.N: Quote, Profile , Research) municipal finance and infrastructure group. "In terms of the supply of deals, the potential is absolutely immense."
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-12-07T161005Z_01_N07445247_RTRUKOC_0_US-DLCWALLSTREET-PRIVATIZATION.xml&WTmodLoc=PolNewsHome_R3_reutersEdge-1

[rurallib]

1. No doubt water will be on the blocks soon.

Then I think we are officially a third world country.

[alfredo]

13. That's already happened to us in lexington Ky. RWE from Germany

owns our water.

[Lasher]

24. German company bought our water system here in West Virginia too.

I'm glad I have access to a spring and a well on my property just in case I want to fall back on them.

[alfredo]

26. You part of American Water Works? If you are they are for sale.

The top candidates are investment bankers in Australia, the countries of Qatar, and China.

[Lasher]

30. West Virginia American Water Company

American Water was founded in 1886 as the American Water Works & Guarantee Company and reorganized in 1947 as American Water Works Company, Inc. On January 10, 2003 the company was acquired by RWE, was renamed "American Water," and became a part of RWE's water division.

http://www.illinoisamerican.com/awpr1/wvaw/about_american_water/index.html

We used to have American Water Works Company until we were begat by Germany's RWE 4 years ago. Then the company was renamed just plain ol' American Water Company. Is RWE selling this system or are there remaining American Water Works Company operations elsewhere that are on the block?

[alfredo]

33. They've already sold Thames water, and want to get out of

the water business. We wanted to buy our particular water company, but they refused to sell to us. We put it up to a vote, but they pumped three million into defeating the referendum. They played really dirty with us. They used intimidation and sabotage to win. They would have their thugs follow us, video tape us and block access to our meetings.

[Lasher]

34. Wow, that's interesting!

Sounds like you're with a governmental agency, and not a private company, that was trying to buy the water system back. Is that right? Why were they so determined that they would not sell to you?

[alfredo]

38. Political and they wanted to sell the whole thing, not

piece by piece.

[Kellyiswise]

19. When you look at who is buying, the US will really be owned by foreign nations

from the local districts on up to entire cities. We can't support ourselves and the great war machine at the same time. Instead of investing in our own states and cities and helping the people that live in them we spend 40 billion a day for this Iraq war.

[thingfisher]

42. We are also a part of the globalization plan.

How can nations fullfil their obligations to its citizens while selling off its own infrastructure to foreign investors? This is truly the working out of a corporate owned world system. Nation-states are going the way of city-states. We are evolving or devolving into a homgenized planetary population controlled by those who own the very structures of life support.
The investment bankers are licking their chops and coul;d care less about the consequences of it all. They will be fulfilling their purpose and getting rich along the way.

[Marie26]

2. The Carlyle Group will own us all, eventually. nt

[Roland99]

8. They are Stephen King's Sombra Corporation in reality

scary shit.

[dionysus]

16. Where's the Ka-Tet Corp when you need it?

n/t

[Roland99]

18. The rose is still alive. It's hurting and quiet but it's healing powers are coming.

Perhaps as soon as 2008 in the form of Barak Obama. He's at least a step in the right direction.

[Sapere aude]

27. I heard the Carlyle Group will be up for sale for 100 Billion in the next two years.

[Sapere aude]

28. Well we can sell our whole damn country to foreigners but don't let a poor illegal immigrant take

minimum wage jobs away from us. Let the foreigners have our outsourced jobs too. You know I'd be picking head lettuce too if they would pay me 50K a year to do it. Oh well back to my playstation III. Bam! pow! got that space alien right in the balls! It's all about priorities you know.

[aquart]

3. The bastards are selling our country out from under us.

Hang them. They are looters. Hang them.

[donkeyotay]

9. It's the latest wrinkle in the S&L Crime Wave

Corporations fuck up, taxpayers bail them out. Corporations take over government, we pay for it. Corporations need to steal some assets, we pay. But now that our nation is bankrupt, they move in to steal the final asset, our infrastructure. Will Congress bail us out and retrieve any of our assets? I think not. NO, they know who they work for, and it ain't us.

We were better off when we had public utilities. Privatization has not been more efficient, merely more lucrative. But privatized corruption is more effective than bureaucracy.

[AnneD]

10. If they want to see this country go socialist....

just keep pulling this shit. We'll nationalize.

[aquart]

14. Actually, that's always been my sister's plan:

Her attitude is sell every damn thing and then nationalize it all.

Occasionally, she seems bitter and vengeful, too.

[twilight_sailing]

4. When you start selling your furniture,

you're broke.

[bemildred]

5. The next financial bubble no doubt. nt

[modrepub]

6. PA Turnpike up for sale

Rendell: Make an offer for Pa. Turnpike

Private operators can bid on the road until Dec. 22.

By Larry King
Inquirer Staff Writer

Available for sale or lease: Historic, 359-mile toll road. Guaranteed income. Heavily worn; needs TLC. Work force of thousands included. See Gov. Rendell for details.

Yes, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is up for grabs.


http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/16181261.htm

[Kolesar]

22. Candidate Ken Blackwell wanted to repeat Indiana's mistake in Ohio

good thing Ted Strickland won the governor's race. Blackwell was a looney.

[Lasher]

23. That sucks. I thought toll roads were supposed to be paid off after a time.

And after the toll road bonds are paid off, you don't have to pay tolls any more. Wasn't that supposed to be the deal with toll roads and bridges?

[pushycat]

7. the public should own all the infrastructure and life-support sys

in our country. No reason to put us all at risk with foreign ownership of our natural resources such as our water. The thought of the Grand Canyon being under control of a faceless unit somewhere in Asia really bugs me.

We need the jobs as well as need to keep control of our physical environment. (I know globalization has already nixed all this)

[AnneD]

11. If they didn't give

tax cuts to their friends and start foolish wars, they could afford the upkeep on all of this. They need to promote the general welfare.

[Telly Savalas]

12. But their friends need those tax cuts so they'll have spare cash

to buy our infrastructure from us.

[newscott]

15. Does this mean there will soon be 400 telephone poles on my street?

[Javaman]

17. Yeah this is a great idea!!

especially the roads! Joe blow corp charges with their own little toll booths every 5 miles and then you could also have job blow bargain basement owning a pothole cratered underfunded road 5 miles later.

But don't you worry, there will be plenty of eye catching eyesore billboards to go around!!

Weee!!! ins't privatization wonderful!!

I tell ya, the mafia must be laughing their asses off, they were doing this shit with the trucking, concrete, brick and garbage industry for years, but back then it was called racketeering. LOLOLOLOL

I choose to laugh because I go through to many tissues when I cry.

[lpbk2713]

20. The *fiscally conservative* movement has sold the farm.

The sheepies put them in power and, as expected, this it what they got in return.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. It's the George Bush Fire sale!

Shame on those sons of bitches.

[Gregorian]

25. Why don't we chop off Florida and ship it to the highest bidder?

OMG!

I saw this yesterday, and it was so hard for me to believe that it didn't fully affect my conscious mind until now.

Happy landing everyone! I sure hope the ride was worth it.

At least all of these years of frustration are starting to make sense to me. I was beginning to think I just was a pessimistic worrywort. Nope. Just a very good hunch. Damn! I wanted to be wrong.


The only thing we have going for us right now is China's society and culture. They are very good at reproducing. But they do not engage in creative discussion. We have time to get the alternative energy research moving. But I'm not holding my breath. If Diebold is trashed, And the Bush loving American public suddenly grow brain cells, we may be able to pull out of this nosedive.

[Zorra]

29. This is extremely dangerous to our sovereignty. We need to stop

this trend, reverse it, and pass laws so that it can never happen again.

It's time to return to the fiscal responsibility of the Clinton era and nationalize our natural resources and infrastrucure.

[KansDem]

31. When will we put the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence up for sale?

Might as well, we're not using them.

Or, we could sell advertising space on their borders! Imagine, everyone who goes to DC to view these "quaint" documents will see ads for McDonalds, WalMart, Disney, Exxon, FOX, and more...!!!

[donkeyotay]

32. We have already. The concept of representative government and rights

has already been auctioned off. First corporations bought our individual rights, and then our representatives were auctioned off when they said money was speech. That made bribery legal, because Washington isn't selling speech, they're selling legislation. Ya gotta be rich to buy some, but you don't even have to be an American. Stupid Contract On America sold the country right out from underneath us.

[Morgana LaFey]

35. All part of the plan, I'm afraid

The "drowning in a bathtub plan," that is. The globalization plan, too. The Fourth Reich plan as well.

If the government tilts too far to taking care of corporations over its citizens, that's fascism. And when government IS the corporations -- well, that can only be fascism as well.

Government is supposed to provide "for the common good." When that "responsibility" shifts to corporations -- whose sole i]raison d'etre is PROFIT, we're in big trouble.

[Greyhound]

36. Can you say indentured servitude? If we don't stop the wholesale

looting of our nation very soon, all will be lost. This is simply insane. :crazy::banghead:

[0rganism]

37. remember this when the righties talk about the awesome GDP

a lot of their GDP "growth" is coming straight out of what used to be parts of a commonwealth -- that's OUR property being sold at bargain basement prices, and we turn a blind eye while multinationals make off like bandits with our legacy.

we've sold our birthright for a bowl of pottage.

[depakid]

39. Faulty accounting

Selling off capital assets (or depleting natural capital) and calling it "profit" is one of the fundamental flaws underlying neoclassical economics.

People will live to regret having allowed the far right and the multi-national corporations to have gotten away with this card trick for so long.

[formercia]

40. Time to loot the country

The boys did this before the end of WWII in Germany.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-12-07T161005Z_01_N07445247_RTRUKOC_0_US-DLCWALLSTREET-PRIVATIZATION.xml&WTmodLoc=PolNewsHome_R3_reutersEdge-1


Thu Dec 7, 2006 11:10am ET24

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Public works in the United States increasingly are going private, and Wall Street investment bankers are ready to deal.

From New Jersey to California, cash-strapped cities and states are considering sales or leases of highways, airports and other public infrastructure to generate cash and plug budget gaps. At the same time, more than $100 billion in equity capital is looking to invest in for public assets boasting steady returns.

--snip--

"There's been a lot of focus from players around the world on the infrastructure space in the United States," said Mark Florian, head of Goldman Sachs Group's (GS.N: Quote, Profile , Research) municipal finance and infrastructure group. "In terms of the supply of deals, the potential is absolutely immense."

-snip--

In recent weeks Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, UBS Investment Bank CEO Huw Jenkins and Morgan Stanley finance chief David Sidwell all singled out infrastructure banking as a key growth areas for their banks.

And while investors have operated highways and airports in Europe and Asia for years, privatization is new to the United States, where Midwestern states are leading the charge.

--snip--

[mhatrw]

41. Kick. n/t

[Emillereid]

43. What's next? Sell the children?

I can't believe this shit - everyday under Bushit, we wake up to a new outrage. I can't keep up with it all.

I swear if Stephen Hawkings can figure which planet to go to - I'm packed and ready!