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As we wrote last week: In March 2008, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the city received packets from ten firms interested in leasing the meters for 75 years. The packets outlined the companies’ financial standing and proposals for managing the system. City officials initially said they’d screen the packets and determine who could continue the bidding process in June. (Click here and scroll down to page 20 to see a PDF of the city’s proposed timeline for the deal.)
But the city didn’t end up asking for dollar-figure bids until November, and when it did only two of the interested firms responded. A week later they sent in a second set of bids—their “best and final” ones—and the city announced that Morgan Stanley was the winner at about $1.2 billion.
In the second round Morgan Stanley outbid the Macquarie group $1,156,500,000 to $1,019,022,803.
