Allons y! ACCC ruling lures offshore investors to EastLink
The ACCC’s decision to green light Origin Energy’s $18.7 billion takeover monopolised attention Tuesday, for good reason, but spare a thought for Transurban. The toll road giant’s bid for Melbourne’s EastLink motorway was blocked by the competition watchdog last month in a bombshell ruling.
Embedded in the ACCC’s opposing statement were clear signals the powerful body doesn’t want to see Transurban control allthe roads, having witnessed the company’s stranglehold on Sydney and Brisbane’s road network. The welcome mat was well and truly laid out to offshore strategics.
Melbourne’s EastLink toll road. Craig Sillitoe
Interested parties have taken this to heart and it appears there’s a new gorilla in the auction. Street Talk understands France-based Vinci Group has signed confidentiality agreements with EastLink sell-side adviser, RBC Capital Markets, and will be in line to receive detailed due diligence materials when the data room opens on October 16.
The Euronext-listed concessions and construction company is based in Paris, made more than $100 billion in revenue in 2022 and has investments in motorways, airports, energy infrastructure and water across 120 countries. It showed up in theHobart Airport auction in 2019.
We’ll be watching to see if Vinci, which is currently battling France’s new motorway tax alongside ASX-listed toll road group Atlas Arteria, lobs a bid, and who, if anyone, they partner with. Sell-side adviser RBC Capital Markets is expected to call for non-binding indicative offers in late November.
The move comes after rival strategic bidder Abertis Infraestructuras, Spain’s largest toll road operator,lined up bankers for a run at Eastlink. Abertis, backed by CIMIC’s owner Groupo ACS, hired Citi and
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