The Melbourne City Link Authority (a Victorian Government agency) was established in 1994 to oversee the implementation of a privately funded toll road complex through the center of the City. In 1995, it awarded an A$2 billion 34-year concession to Transurban CityLink Limited, a private consortium comprised of Transfield, Obayashi Gumi, and Transroute.
The Transurban Corporation consists of a team of designers, underwriters and investors focused on the CityLink project. Transurban CityLink Ltd is now listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and is currently forecast to pay for the project by collecting tolls for 34 years. The debt participants include a syndicate of banks with initial underwriting by ANZ, CBA, Westpac, NAB, BNP, Credit Lyonnais Limited and IBJ.
CityLink is Australia's largest PPP project and first of its kind in Victoria. It used the finance-design-built-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model of project delivery. CityLink is operated and maintained by Translink, which is a joint venture between Transfield Services and Transroute.
The public and private partner roles and responsibilities for the CityLink project are summarized below:
• Public Sector Loan: Approximately 13 percent of the contract value was provided by the Victorian Government.
• Private Sector Debt: Approximately 63 percent of the contract value was financed by debt:
- A$120 million 19-year loan from the National Australia Bank;
- CPI-indexed bonds; and
- Additional debt provided by an Australian-French syndicate arranged by ANZ Bank.
• Private Sector Equity: The remaining 24 percent was financed through an equity raising effort, which was launched in March 1996. Shares in the toll road owner-operator, Transurban, are readily tradable on the Australian Stock Exchange.