Toll road giant Transurban will add an eighth Sydney motorway to its stable, after the New South Wales Government announced it was the successful bidder to buy WestConnex for $9.26 billion.
The company had been competing against a consortium, led by IFM Investors, to buy a majority stake in the $17 billion project.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) yesterday cleared Transurban's bid.
They will be allowed to operate the road for 42 years.
Transurban already owns seven of Sydney's nine toll roads, and the ACCC was examining how its proposed acquisitions of WestConnex might affect the competition for similar projects in the future.
WestConnex is being built by the NSW Government owned Sydney Motorway Corporation — but today's announcement means 51 per cent of that company will be sold to Transurban's consortium, called Sydney Transport Partners.
In order to bid for the project, the ACCC made Transurban accept several court-enforceable undertakings.
It will need to publish some traffic data from its toll roads that will assist other companies to compete for future projects.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said WestConnex would be "congestion busting".
"This project means people will be able to travel from the west and south west of Sydney with ease, spend less time in traffic, and get home to their families faster," he said.
"WestConnex never would have been built under Labor — it will become the Sydney Harbour Bridge of Western Sydney."
Mr Perrottet said the process to buy the road had been "strong and fair".
"It's not for me or the NSW Government to rule Transurban out when the competition watchdog has ruled Transurban in," he said.
"The ACCC has cleared Transurban to participate in this transaction and our job is to get the best result for the taxpayers of NSW and that's exactly what we've done."
In a statement to the ASX, Transurban chief executive officer Scott Charlton said the project was a "critical component of the NSW Government's long-term, transport and planning solution and is strategically significant for Sydney Transport Partners".
"The placement of $600 million to our partners AustralianSuper and Tawreed demonstrates their support for Transurban and the WestConnex acquisition," Mr Charlton said.
The State Opposition slammed the Government's decision to sell-off a majority stake in the project.
Opposition Leader Luke Foley said the sale would lock in tolls on the road for the next four decades.
"This is not a happy day for Sydney's motorists, it's not just that you'll be paying these tolls, your children will be paying these tolls and your children's children will be paying the Liberals' unfair tolls."
