Canadian company buys 80 per cent stake in partner in Transmission Gully consortium

Monday, 3 August 2020

A worksite on Transmission Gully, which is being built by the Wellington Gateway Partnership. FILE

A partner in the consortium building Transmission Gully has been bought by Canadian company Sun Life.

In July, Sun Life bought an 80 per cent share of InfraRed Capital Partners for about NZ$600 million.

InfraRed, a UK company, is a partner in the Wellington Gateway Partnership, the consortium contracted to design, build and maintain Transmission Gully for 25 years.

The Transmission Gully motorway north of Wellington was due to open in late 2020.

The New Zealand portion of the InfraRed sale gained consent from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) in June.

* Transmisssion Gully partners get $14m to keep the lights on

The Wellington Gateway Partnership says the InfraRed transaction will not affect progress. FILE

* Rumours rife over Transmission Gully construction as negotiations drag

The lockdown affected progress on Transmission Gully. FILE

It comes as Transmission Gully, built via a public-private partnership model, faces an uncertain opening date and final cost after the lockdown halted work.

Since then, Wellington Gateway, its building contractor CPB-HEB, and the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) have been negotiating a new opening date.

Wellington Gateway chief executive Sergio Mejia said the InfraRed transaction had “no contractual impact on Wellington Gateway Partnership”.

It would not affect progress on the road, or require any fresh contractual negotiations between parties, he said.

Sun Life, one of Canada’s largest public companies according to its website, offers financial services such as insurance, investment, and asset management.

Announcing the completion of the sale, InfraRed said it would remain a “distinct business” under Sun Life management.

LINZ said InfraRed, through its partly owned subsidiary, “has an indirect leasehold interest in approximately 270 hectares of sensitive land at the Transmission Gully project site north of Wellington”.

“The investment will provide substantial and identifiable benefit to New Zealand through advancing the government’s public-private partnership model and encouraging investment in capital infrastructure in New Zealand.”

Transmission Gully was expected to open in April this year, then May, then November - then after Covid-19, it was not officially expected to open till “sometime well-into” next year.

The NZTA would not comment on the deal, referring questions to the Wellington Gateway Partnership.

GATEWAY TO A ROAD

Wellington Gateway Partnership is a private partnership of financiers and contractors that signed up in 2014 to build the road. The Partnership comprised InfraRed, ACC, Pacific Partnerships, and sub contractor CPB-HEB Joint Venture. Australasian company Ventia will operate and maintain the road.