Economy Has Changed U.S. Sugar Deal
Posted on: Thursday, 9 October 2008, 15:00 CDT
The tumultuous economic environment has put wrinkles in a $1.75 billion environmental purchase in Florida, officials said.
The state's June proposal to purchase 187,000 South Florida acres from U.S. Sugar was viewed as a historic environmental coup with the potential to restore natural habitats from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades.
As credit markets have collapsed, however, the deal is viewed differently, The Miami Herald reported Thursday.
In one measure of the new financial landscape, three of the 11 possible lenders listed in the original proposal have folded since June, the Herald said.
As municipal bonds rates have climbed almost a percentage point since June, the deal could also cost tens of millions of dollars more than originally thought, the Herald reported.
''People are going to question our sanity and, No. 2, our credibility,'' water district governing board member Charles Dauray said during a recent meeting in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Paul Dumars, the South Florida Water Management District's chief financial officer, said he couldn't predict if the deal had become too expensive as loan rates and the purchase price could go up or down, the Herald reported.
Source: United Press International
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