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

  • UK: Work starts on Mersey Gateway main bridge deck
    June 2, 2016
    Work has started on 2.2km Mersey Gateway’s main bridge deck as the project enters its third year of construction. The new six-lane toll bridge will link the English towns of Runcorn and Widnes and teams will begin to connect the steel support cables to the deck and upper pylons this summer. Trinity, the project’s movable scaffolding system (MSS), has cast the first 250m of the north approach viaduct and a new MSS is on its way to Halton to build the south approach viaduct. The local road network is al
  • Road development works for Sydney, Australia
    January 26, 2023
    Road development works are planned for Sydney, Australia.
  • New highways to improve Austria's connections
    March 6, 2012
    A massive highway project will boost Austria's international links. The €933 million Ostergion PPP motorway project is one of the largest PPP projects currently in operation in Europe. The financers of the project are AMBAC and EIB, while the routine maintenance activities are headed by Egis. The project intends to ease congestion Austria's capital, Vienna, improve commuter traffic, enhance road connections between Austria and the Czech Republic and increase safety on congested B roads around the country.
  • Australia’s transport development a priority in New South Wales and Western Australia
    December 2, 2019
    In Australia, the states of New South Wales and Western Australia are both setting transport development as a priority. Both states are planning major spending programmes on new infrastructure projects, with transport representing a key portion of that future investment.