In August 2018, the NSW Government awarded Sydney Transport Partners (STP) consortium a 51 per cent ownership stake in Sydney Motorway Corporation (SMC), which was the NSW Government-owned entity established to deliver WestConnex.
In November 2020, the NSW Government confirmed it would proceed with the sale of its remaining 49 per cent stake in the WestConnex motorway in a two-tranche process. While sale was separated into two tranches of 24.5 per cent each to create a more competitive process, both tranches were simultaneously awarded to STP in September 2021.
Under the terms of their acquisition of the first 51 per cent stake back in 2018, STP held the right of first offer for any of the remaining 49 per cent.
Key Dates
| Nov 2020 | Project Announcement |
| Jan 2021 | ROIs Open |
| Jun 2021 | RFT Close |
| Sep 2021 | Contract Award |
| Oct 2021 | Financial Close |
Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | NSW Treasury |
| Successful Tenderer: | Sydney Transport Partners (STP) consortium, comprising: Transurban, AustralianSuper, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Tawreed Investments and Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ). |
| Adviser (Govt): | Citi & RBC Capital Markets (Joint Financial Advisers) Allens (Legal Adviser) PwC (Accounting & Tax, Traffic, Economic Adviser) Jacobs (Technical Adviser) Environmental Resources Management (Environmental Adviser) Newgate (Communications) O'Connor Marsden (Probity) |
| Procurement note: | Initially tranche one and tranche two were to be awarded separately in September 2021, however both tranches were awarded together to STP. |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Aug 2018 | The NSW Government awarded Sydney Transport Partners (STP) consortium a 51 per cent ownership stake in Sydney Motorway Corporation (SMC), which was the NSW Government-owned entity established to deliver WestConnex. The transaction delivered $9.3 billion in revenue for the Government, of which $7 billion was used as seed funding for the NSW Generations Fund (NGF), the state’s sovereign wealth fund. |
| Mar 2020 | The NSW Government announced a scoping study to assess the future ownership of the State's remaining 49 per cent ownership in WestConnex. The study would examine whether retaining the Government’s current stake, or raising further capital for new infrastructure funding through divestment of its WestConnex equity, would be more beneficial. |
| Nov 2020 | The NSW Government confirmed it will proceed with the transaction of its remaining 49 per cent stake in the WestConnex motorway following the completion of the scoping study. |
| Nov 2020 | The NSW Government commenced the two-tranche divestment process for its remaining 49 per cent stake. The sale has been split in two with the stated aim of delivering a more competitive process. The Registration of Interest process for Tranche 1, representing a 24.5 per cent stake, opened in late November and will be followed by an Expression of Interest phase. The formal procurement process is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2021. |
| Sep 2021 | NSW Government awarded the remaining 49 per cent stake in WestConnex to Sydney Transport Partners (STP) for a total of $11.1 billion. STP was the only bidder. Also, Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ) joined the STP consortium. |
| Oct 2021 | The NSW Government reached financial close on the sale of its remaining 49 per cent stake in WestConnex to Sydney Transport Partners (STP). The sale raised $11.1 billion in gross proceeds, with the net proceeds to be invested in the NSW Generation Fund. |
