SH 130 bankruptcy: the road survived, and its owners changed

Debt supplied 84% of original funding

The federal project profile records the initial construction financing, whose loan balances can move before bankruptcy as interest, fees, amortization, and later borrowing change the amounts outstanding. The original listed financing adds to $1,327.9 million, which rounds to DOT’s $1.328 billion project cost. Debt supplied $1,115.8 million, or 84.0% of that listed funding. Those percentages are calculated here from the source amounts.

The May 19, 2017 company announcement described a committed $260 million senior secured facility led by Goldman Sachs. CRS reported a federal recovery of $15 million cash, $87 million debt, and 34% of reorganized equity. The instruments have different risks, so their face amounts can’t price the whole recovery.

Creditor ownership left public title intact

Texas held the road title. The company held finite concession rights and duties. Lenders and shareholders held company claims. Reorganization changed the third relationship while preserving the first two.

The original TIFIA lien sat behind senior bank debt and ahead of equity. CRS says the springing-lien rule brought it to parity with other creditors in bankruptcy. That rule changed the priority relevant to the court outcome.

Traffic can miss a fixed debt schedule

The March 2016 court filing, pages 4–5, describes failed out-of-court negotiations and potential defaults on the senior facility and swaps. Drivers could choose other routes; the scheduled financing payments stayed. Equity was the cushion beneath more than $1.1 billion of project loans.

Restructuring can reduce payments through lower balances, longer maturities, changed priority, or creditor equity. It can’t manufacture traffic. The federal lender’s exposure also shows how private project financing can carry public financial risk alongside public roadway title.

Cash and debt covered 23.7% of original TIFIA principal

The $15 million cash payment was 3.5% of the original $430 million TIFIA loan. The $87 million debt face amount was another 20.2%. Together they equal $102 million, or 23.7% of original loan principal, before assigning any value to equity. This calculation deliberately uses the original loan as its denominator; it is not the court’s allowed-claim recovery rate.

The remaining 34% stake refers to residual equity. Calculating its value as 34% of the original loan or gross toll revenue would use the wrong base. If the reorganized company’s total equity were worth E, the stake would be worth 0.34 × E before any differences in voting or distribution rights. The documents cited here do not supply a defensible present value for E.

Likewise, subtracting the new $260 million senior facility from the original $685.8 million bank financing does not establish a creditor loss of $425.8 million. That comparison omits allowed claims, new-money uses, creditor equity and timing. It is useful for seeing a financing reset; it is incomplete for measuring a realized loss.

The concession clock began before reorganization

The agreement was executed March 22, 2007. DOT describes a 50-year concession from opening; traffic began in October 2012 and service commenced in November. Bankruptcy didn’t restart that clock.

TxDOT’s amendments include Amendment 21’s bankruptcy stipulation and later renewal-work and technical changes. The company page, checked October 26, 2026, names Strategic Value Partners as majority owner and the federal government as minority owner. Cintra and Zachry have held no stake since 2017. The company’s southern 41 miles remain separate from TxDOT’s northern Segments 1–4.

The remaining cash stream decides the credit

Start with the pledged receipts. Then identify which company owes each debt, the cash needed for operations and renewal, any state revenue share, and the remaining concession term. A creditor can own a claim on a finite stream without owning the public right of way.

I’d underwrite a road from pledged receipts after operations, renewal, debt service, and public revenue sharing, over the concession’s remaining term. SH 130 shows why asphalt can retain its purpose while the financing loses its value.