Another nail in the coffin of the listed infrastructure sector. A A$6.8bn offer from two Canadian pension funds for Transurban, Australia’s largest toll-road operator, was knocked back on Thursday. But this is a civilised proposal, from shareholders speaking for about 28 per cent of the shares. A double-digit percentage increase on the initial A$5.25-a-share offer – the same scenario that played out in Canada Pension’s recent acquisition of radio masts managed by Macquarie – is well within reach for funds with a combined $190bn of assets.

Put simply, equity markets no longer see the point of these lumbering income vehicles, which multiplied leading up to the credit crunch. If this year’s distributions can no longer be juiced by borrowed money and are merely in line with free cash flows minus maintenance capital expenditure, why bother? After Thursday’s 19 per cent jump, the stock was yielding 4.2 per cent – a percentage point less than a 10-year Australian government bond. Take a longer view, however, and the sums improve. On Austock estimates of cash spat out over the life of its eight concessions, Transurban has been trading on a long-term yield of more than 12 per cent. That’s a return over 10-year bonds double the historical norm for a set of income streams that tend to rise at least in line with inflation. No wonder the Canadians are keen.