EastLink auction kick off delayed by two months; eyes on ACCC decision
There’s a change of plans at the $2 billion auction for a majority stake in Melbourne’s EastLink toll road. Potential bidders were told last week that sell-side adviser RBC Capital Markets would delay the auction’s start date by nearly two months – from late July to late September.
Transurban, which operates CityLink (pictured), is looking to buy the EastLink tollroad. Wayne Taylor
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has already put the brakes on one major deal – scuppering ANZ’s $4.9 billion bid for Suncorp Bank last week – putting deal makers on guard. That decision seems to have turned EastLink’s suitors reflective, and willing to wait a little longer to a peek under the hood at EastLink.
Sources said tyre kickers and serious suitors alike wanted to wait until after they had digested the corporate regulator’s ruling on Transurban’s fate to bid for EastLink, due on September 7. That would mean non-binding indicative bids are likely to be called sometime in November.
It’s aslight change of sentiment from just a month ago, when everyone was raring to go despite the ACCC issuing a please-explain to Transurban. Information memorandums and due diligence materials were expected by now, while the ACCC’s statements were labelled “nothing unusual”.
No one knows what – or if anything – the regulator’s stance on ANZ’s pursuit of Suncorp’s banking division means for Transurban at EastLink. But everyone seems happy to stand still until after the decision.
Transurban for sure would have its fingers crossed it gets the green light. It has already hired a big advisory syndicate – Barrenjoey, Macquarie Capital, Morgan Stanley and Azure Capital. It also has a successful track record of winning toll road assets, and the
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