Street Talk

Allons y! ACCC ruling lures offshore investors to EastLink

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Oct 10, 2023 – 4.33pm

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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 all the 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.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.