Skip to main content

New South Wales is seeking financial packers for WestConnex in Sydney

Investment bank Goldman Sachs will soon be sending out expressions of interest for backers to finance Australia’s biggest road deal, the three-stage WestConnex project to be rollout by the New South Wales government. According to a report by The Australian newspaper, initially around US$1.17 billion will be needed for the first phase of the Sydney toll road project. The first phase will likely cost between nearly $2.35 billion and $3.9 billion. Total cost of all three phases over 10 years could be as
June 19, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
Investment bank 3347 Goldman Sachs will soon be sending out expressions of interest for backers to finance Australia’s biggest road deal, the three-stage WestConnex project to be rollout by the New South Wales government.

According to a report by The Australian newspaper, initially around US$1.17 billion will be needed for the first phase of the Sydney toll road project. The first phase will likely cost between nearly $2.35 billion and $3.9 billion.

Total cost of all three phases over 10 years could be as much as $11.6 billion and the 33kmk of new roads will connect the south-west and western parts of Sydney with the airport, city and port.

Among the Australian lenders expected to be interested in the public-private partnership are Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB.

The Australian reported that details will soon emerge surrounding traffic forecasts on the first phase, along with the award of construction contracts.

Exactly what shape the PPP contract will take remains to be seen. It is a sensitive issue, The Australian said, since the collapse of the two PPP toll projects in Sydney. Both Lane Cove Tunnel, a 3.6km twin-tunnel, and Cross City Tunnel, a 2.1km twin-tunnel, went into receivership when traffic forecasts proved inaccurate.

The Australian report said one PPP option is for a shadow toll, where construction company receives a payment per driver from the government.

Earlier this month 3260 World Highways reported that a joint venture featuring 4755 John Holland, 1026 Samsung C&T and 2685 Leighton Contractors had secured a deal to build and design Sydney’s M4 East motorway.

The M4 East is expected to be completed in 2019 when it will form part of a project to build the WestConnex road tunnel.

Last December, Duncan Gay, roads minister of New South Wales, announced changes to the third phase of the WestConnex motorway. Tunnel will be 8km, around 1km longer than initially planned.

However, the changes likely won’t add to the overall price tag for the project, according to the NSW government. The third stage would cover the route between Haberfield and St. Peters and be constructed between 2018 and 2023. The tunnel will be linked to two other large motorway tunnels that include an M4 extension to Harbefield and M5 East tunnel to St. Peters.

Works to build WestConnex will start next year with the $3.3 billion widening and extension of the M4 to four lanes each way from Parramatta to Haberfield, including a tunnel beneath-Parramatta Road.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Seven bids submitted for Croatia’s Peljeski bridge access roads
    June 18, 2018
    Croatia’s construction company Integral Inzinjering has submitted the lowest bid of €43 million for construction of access roads for the Peljeski bridge project. Croatian daily newspaper Vecernji List reported that seven bidsd were submitted for the 12.4km project. Highest bid of €88 million has come from China Road and Bridge Corporation, which has the contract to build the bridge. Austria's Strabag offered €65 million. Other bidders were France's Colas, Croatia's GP Krk in cooperation with the Bosni
  • Czech Republic re-tenders D4 Pribram and Pisek section as P3 deal
    January 6, 2017
    The Czech Transport Ministry has re-tendered for legal, technical and financial consultancy services regarding the first public-private partnership for a road project. The contract is for construction of a 32km section of the D4 motorway between Pribram and Pisek in South Bohemia. A previous tender for the €3.8 million project was cancelled by the Czech Anti-monopoly Office (UOHS) that suggested it contained flaws. Deadline for bids for the new tender is February 15 with construction of the remaini
  • Kenya soon to start on its eight-year road works programme
    November 11, 2014
    The Kenyan government will pay nearly US$557 million (€446 million) annually to contractors for building 10,000km of roads over eight years. A special annuity fund was also set up to fund road construction that will be under a new private finance initiative programme. The work, to be done in phases, will start by the end of this year. The first phase is for 3,000km, of which 1,940km will be managed by Kenya Rural Roads Authority and 365km by Kenya Urban Roads Authority. Kenya Highways Authority wil
  • Florida highway rebuild project
    May 2, 2018
    Rebuilding a congested stretch of highway in Florida will cut congestion and boost safety for commuters - Mike Woof writes. Florida’s 214km-long I-4 highway provides a key transport route between Tampa and Daytona Beach, but has an unenviable reputation for both congestion and safety, with frequent delays due to heavy traffic as well as crashes. The stretch running through the city of Orlando is particularly prone to jams at peak periods, with huge traffic volumes resulting in vehicles having to slow to a c