Macquarie Bank couldn’t get its Patrick
plans up and its London Stock Exchange tilt failed, but it next big bid is
moving closer to completion – a controlling interest in the Chunnel.

Macquarie and partner Goldman Sachs appear to be in the driving seat of a
restructuring of Eurotunnel that will refinance its debt, take out the main
existing creditors and give the pair control.

It has been a developing story over the
past week with the latest instalment being a 7% surge by Eurotunnel
units on a report that Macquarie/Goldies has asked French construction company
Vinci to take a stake in their consortium. Eurotunnel is up 15% since
Tuesday night.

The Financial Times has speculated Macquarie/Goldies are underwriting the conversion of nearly
four billion quids’ worth of co-financier debt into debt-equity hybrids as part
of the restructuring of the Chunnel’s 6.18 billion pound debt – let’s call it
A$15.16 billion.

You can buy a lot of infrastructure for $15
billion, let alone a hole between England
and France.