"Xanterra has invested more than $200 million into the park, building lodging, roads, trails and employee housing. Any competitor who wants to bid on the Grand Canyon concessionaire contract would have to reimburse Xanterra $198 million. That makes for an intimidating hurdle for potential bidders. The limited competition in concessionaire bidding also hindered the Park Service's ability to raise its off-the-top cut on Xanterra's gross receipts when negotiating a new contract at the park. The agency, by federal law, must give concessionaires "a reasonable opportunity for net profit in relation to capital invested." To make the concessionaire contract for the Grand Canyon's South Rim operations more inviting for bidders, the cash-strapped Park Service in August said it was scraping together $100 million to reduce Xanterra's equity, paying a portion of the so-called lease-holder surrender interest. It was the largest buy-down in the agency's history. The idea was that the agency could then increase the fees it charges any new concessionaire. Xanterra, in the lawsuit filed in Denver's U.S. District Court on Tuesday, said the buy-down represented the "NPS, in effect, (acting) to subsidize Xanterra's potential competitors."" - Eric - Final Countdown