Goldman, MS share $60m fees on Qld Motorways bid

Sarah Thompson, Anthony MacDonald, Gretchen Friemann

Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will share in more than $60 million in fees after advising Transurban Group on its winning Queensland Motorways bid.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are expected to receive more than $20 million as financial adviser to the winning consortia, but the big earner is an estimated $40 million for underwriting Transurban’s $2 billion-plus rights issue.

It makes it a $30 million-plus payday for each of the banks.

The whopping fee comes after Transurban and its partners AustralianSuper and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority bid a record $7 billion for Queensland Motorways, the largest ever asset auction in Australia.

Goldman Sachs infrastructure banker Nick Forster was heavily involved, along with equity capital markets managing director Sarah Rennie and natural resources head Richard Phillips.

At Morgan Stanley, Melbourne-based Julian Peck and Rick Ball led the team, along with investment bank boss Richard Wagner. Capital market head Mark Burmeister’s is running the equity piece.

Transurban also called on Lazard’s Andrew Leyden as an independent adviser to the toll road group’s ball, while Aquasia boss Angus James was an independent adviser to the winning consortia. [Transurban owned 62.5 per cent of the winning bidding group, while AustralianSuper had 25 per cent and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority took the remaining 12.5 per cent].

Macquarie and UBS will be set for a paydown of their own, after running the auction on behalf of the vendor, QIC Ltd and its global infrastructure boss Ross Israel.

The two banks would collect an estimated $10 million each for their role in the deal, according to sources, or potentially more depending on the ratch-up clauses.

Macquarie’s Ivan Varughese and Jim Miller, and UBS’s Jarrod Key, led the respective teams.

At Transurban, strategy boss Wes Ballantine was calling the shots, while chief executive and former Deutsche Bank-er Scott Charlton was heavily involved in what is the company’s largest ever deal.

AustralianSuper’s team was led by infrastructure head Jason Peasley, another former Deutsche Bank-er, while ADIA’s Karim Mourad took charge. Mourad is a former Macquarie Capital banker.

Among the lawyers, Allens M&A partners Tom Story and Kylie Brown took charge on the sell-side, while King & Wood Mallesons partner Peter Doyle and Evie Bruce worked for the winning consortia.

Gilbert + Tobin’s Peter Cook advised Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on the underwriting agreement.

Transurban is expected to launch the rights issue on Thursday afternoon or Monday morning, however much of the marketing is expected to take place next week after the ANZAC Day long-weekend.

Australian Financial Review