AustralianSuper and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board contributed A$1.7 billion ($1.2 billion) each to a winning A$9.3 billion bid to take a 51% ownership stake in WestConnex, an infrastructure project to build or improve 33 kilometers (about 20 miles) of roads in the Sydney area.
Transurban Group, a Melbourne-based manager and developer of urban toll road networks, led the consortium with an investment of A$4.1 billion, or 50% of the A$8.2 billion in equity provided.
AustralianSuper, a Melbourne-based industry fund with more than A$140 billion in retirement assets, and CPPIB, a Toronto-based pension fund with C$366.6 billion ($280.6 billion) in assets, will each have 20.5% of the equity, while Tawreed Investments, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, will invest A$700 million for the remaining 9%.
An additional A$1.1 billion in debt brings the winning bid to A$9.3 billion, which gives the consortium the concession for the toll road project through 2060.
Mark Delaney, AustralianSuper's chief investment officer, said in a news release the deal "will contribute to the long-term retirement savings" of AustralianSuper's members.
A spokesman for AustralianSuper said the fund's WestConnex investment lifts the portfolio's allocation to infrastructure to 12% from 11%.
