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

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."

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