Street Talk

Meet Transurban’s biggest competitor for $2 billion ConnectEast

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Jun 1, 2023 – 6.35pm

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Transurban’s not alone in the race for ConnectEast, Victoria’s largest toll road network. As this column flagged in late May, a mystery bidder had been asking investment banks to pitch for a funding and advisory role on a potential tilt at the prize asset, which could be worth some $2 billion.

Now Street Talk can confirm the would-be suitor is Abertis Infraestructuras, which is working with lawyers at Ashurst and preparing to appoint investment bankers ahead of the auction’s July start date. Abertis is Spain’s largest toll road operator.

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.