The City of Chicago is not pursuing anymore a 40-year lease of Chicago's Midway International Airport. Sarah Hamilton, a spokeswoman for Chicago Mayor, Mr. Emanuel, announced yesterday:

"The mayor has decided not to move forward with the Midway leasing agreement. We set a high bar that required a new level of taxpayer protection, including increased revenue sharing. The companies did not meet that bar and could not make an offer that would meet what taxpayers deserve."

Emanuel expected a revenue-sharing provision allowing the city to retain ownership of Midway and receive some money that would be earmarked for capital projects. Initial proceeds from a deal would have been used to pay off the airport's outstanding bonds.

The two infrastructure investment consortia that entered talks with the city about a possible lease of Chicago's second-largest airport were the following:

• Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and Ferrovial.
• Industry Funds Management and Manchester Airport Group

Sources comment that IFM/Manchester consortium dropped out of bidding, citing valuation issues for the decision. This left the Macquarie/Ferrovial group as the sole remaining bidder. According to the Wall Street Journal, Macquarie/Ferrovial were preparing to submit a fully financed bid.

The invitation for prequalification was published on January 18th, 2013. Six teams had been pre-qualified for a potential lease of the airport.

The 40-year contract for the smaller airport in the third-biggest U.S. city could be valued at $2 billion.