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

  • SMEC is working on two key projects in Australia
    February 28, 2013
    SMEC is now working on two key projects in Australia. The company has been awarded the contract administration services contract for the Horse Park Drive extension in Canberra by the Australian Capital Territory Government. It has also won the intersection upgrade project in New South Wales. The project in Canberra involves construction of the final section of Horse Park Drive from Burrumarra Avenue to Mirrabei Drive in the Gungahlin area. On completion, the road will connect the new residential areas of Ja
  • Substantial motorway expansion projects planned in Bavaria
    February 2, 2017
    The budget for Germany’s Motorway Directorate for Northern Bavaria will remain at around €520 million for 2017, according to media reports. For many years the budget for the Autobahndirektion Nordbayern (ADNB) was pegged between €320-380 million. This changed last year when it was boosted to €520 million, noted the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Substantial work is planned on the A3 and A6 motorways and on bridges. The 94km on the A3 between Aschaffenburg and Würzburg will be widened to six lanes by 2
  • Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link could open by 2025 at earliest
    November 27, 2015
    The ambitious Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, connecting Denmark and Germany, will open in 2025 at the earliest, according to the Danish finance ministry. Femern A/S, the Danish government-owned company managing the project, confirmed the note from the government. It also said the ministry still has financial concerns over the deal to build an immersed tunnel connecting the towns of Rødby in Denmark’s southern Zealand with Puttgarden in northern Germany. Of particular is the time for a construction company t
  • Albania approves PPP motorway between Milot and Balldre
    July 24, 2019
    The Albanian parliament has approved a public-private partnership (PPP) deal worth nearly €214 million for a 17km section of motorway between Milot and Balldre.