Four bidders likely to vie for RiverCity

KordaMentha says final bids are due at the end of the day for the bankrupt toll road RiverCity Motorway Group, owner of the 6.8 kilometre Clem Jones Tunnel.

The tunnel is valued at between $700 million and $750 million by hedge funds that trade its distressed debt.

Martin Madden, the KordaMentha partner who together with his colleague Cassandra Mathews are the receivers and managers of the RiverCity sale, told DataRoom at the very earliest the announcement of the winning bidder will be made “by the end of the week”.

Madden says KordaMentha will probably take seven to 10 days before deciding on the new owner of RiverCity, which was built at a cost of $3 billion and opened for traffic in March 2010.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc is advising KordaMentha on the sale.

Queensland Motorways is considered to be the frontrunner to buy RiverCity. The operator of 62 kilometres of Queensland toll roads can potentially pay more for the Clem Jones Tunnel as it can integrate RiverCity into its existing toll road assets in Brisbane and leverage the reduced costs and higher cash flows to pay a better price than rivals.

Madden declined to comment on the identity of the final bidders.

UBS’ infrastructure fund is also seeking to buy RiverCity. It is understood other final bidders include Spanish infrastructure companies Abertis Infraestructuras and Globalvia; Melbourne-based superannuation fund REST Industry Super; and Spanish infrastructure investor Cintra partnering with Australian infrastructure fund manager CP2.