KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - Toll road owner Macquarie Infrastructure Group has sold its entire stake in Sydney's Westlink M7 toll road to Western Sydney Road Group (WSRG) for A$805 million ($963 million).
MIG will reap net proceeds of A$402.5 million ($480 million) from the sale of the 47.5 per cent stake.
WSRG is jointly owned by MIG and an unnamed leading Australian institutional investment manager.
WSRG will have the same voting and control rights in Westlink that MIG had under the present 50/50 ownership structure of Westlink with Transurban Group. Chief executive John Hughes also said MIG was in talks with third-party investors about selling its 50 per cent interest in WSRG.
"Any selldown of MIG's interest in WSRG will be subject to the pre-emptive rights of the existing Westlink shareholder [Transurban] and MIG's partner in WSRG," he said.
"In developing this structure, MIG has expedited the sale process, preserved the rights of shareholders in Westlink M7, and positioned MIG to deliver, for security holders, optimal price for the sale of MIG's 50 per cent interest in WSRG."
Mr Hughes said MIG "will continue to look to realise value for security holders by pursuing further opportunities to divest other road businesses".
MIG's Westlink partner Transurban said it had not yet received a formal pre-emptive notice and full details about MIG's sale.
- AAP
