Not too long ago, we were talking about big private equity firms--led by KKR and the Blackstone Group--piling into infrastructure plays. Macquarie, Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS) also seemed bent on expanding their efforts. Toll roads, lotteries, ferries, anything with a fee seemed ripe for some sort of privatization. KKR launched its infrastructure fund in 2008, but Business Week notes the private equity giant has yet to announce any big investors or do a deal. Other firms have fared similarly.

There are a host of reasons. Several deals have run into trouble as the cringing debt loads proved difficult to deal with in a highly politicized environment. We may see more deals nixed; Chicago has canceled plans to lease Midway Airport when Citigroup failed to raise financing. There has been some success, however. Like the Carlyle Group's (Carlyle Group news) $178 million deal via a public-private partnership to manage 23 service areas along Connecticut 's highways for 35 years, the magazine notes. 

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