Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid (CMD.MC) and construction company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA (FCC.MC) Thursday said they've appointed Juan Bejar as chairman of their highway operation joint-venture Global Via Infraestructuras SA. Bejar has been chairman of Citigroup Inc.'s (C) Citi Infrastructure fund since June 2007, where he led the purchase of a 42.83% stake in Madrid-based highway construction company Itinere Infraestructuras SA. Join discussion...

Global Infrastructure Partners, the owner of London City airport, made a 1.3 billion-pound ($2 billion) to 1.4 billion-pound bid for Gatwick airport that was rejected by BAA Ltd., said two people familiar with the matter. The fully financed offer was turned down May 17 on the grounds that it was too low, said the people, who declined to be identified because the details aren’t public. BAA, which also operates London’s Heathrow and Stansted airports, was seeking at least 1.5 billion pounds, one of the people said. Join discussion...

Citi Infrastructure Investors was eliminated from the auction for BAA Ltd.’s London Gatwick airport, a decision it called “bizarre in the extreme.”Citigroup’s team, which includes Vancouver Airport Services and John Hancock Life Insurance Co., made an uncompetitive offer with no assurances on deliverability, BAA said in a statement today. The bid group, known as Lysander, said separately that it’s still interested in buying Gatwick and has full funding for a purchase that would improve the site’s passenger facilities. Join discussion...

Last month, the $2.5 billion deal to lease Chicago's Midway Airport to a private operator fell through because investors -- Vancouver Airport Services, Citigroup, and John Hancock Insurance Company -- could not secure the necessary financing. Had the deal gone through, Midway would have been the first major U.S. airport to be privately run under a Federal Aviation Administration pilot program that Congress created in 1997. Join discussion...

Infrastructure Investors (CII), a fund of Citigroup (NYSE:C), will set up a vehicle (Pear Acquisition Corporation) to buy Spanish toll-road company Itinere Infraestructuras SA (MCE:ITI) and sell its assets, ADP News reported on 11 March 2009. Join discussion...

Three bidders — including Manchester Airports Group and its partner Canadian pension fund Borealis — remain in the race for the airport. Global Infrastructure Partners, backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric and Lysander Gatwick Investment, a consortium consisting of Citi Infrastructure Investors, Canada’s Vancouver Airport Services and John Hancock Life Insurance of the US, are still believed to be in the race. Join discussion...

Italian motorway operator Atlantia (ATL.MI) continues to look for acquisition opportunities abroad despite turmoil in the markets, CEO Giovanni Castellucci said on Thursday. Join discussion...

Groups led by 3i Infrastructure Plc and a Deutsche Bank AG fund have withdrawn from the auction, three people familiar with the situation said. German builder Hochtief AG was taken off a shortlist last month and executives from Citi Infrastructure Investors and Global Infrastructure Partners say they’ll bid but that a lack of funds is hampering progress. Join discussion...

Bidders believe they can improve the operational efficiency of the airport, but bids are expected to be depressed both by the problems of finding sufficient debt finance and the cost and terms of the debt, as well as by falling passenger traffic. Join discussion...

Part two of a two-part series. In part one of the series, elected and state officials commented on the tolling of Interstate 80. In this, feature, state officials and others talk about the defeated tolling plan and what else might be done Join discussion...