DLA Piper advises on Victoria's largest road project
DLA Piper has advised Webuild S.p.A, CPB Contractors Pty Ltd, GS Engineering and Construction Pty Ltd and China Construction Oceania Pty Ltd, as the Design & Construction Contractor forming part of the Spark Consortium, on successfully reaching financial close on the AUD11.1 billion North East Link Primary Package PPP – the largest PPP in Australia. The package forms part of the Victorian Government's North East Link Project, the largest transport infrastructure project in Victoria to date.
The multinational Spark Consortium, which includes Capella Capital, John Laing, DIF, Pacific Partnerships and Ventia, in addition to Webuild, CPB Contractors, GS Engineering and Construction and China Construction Oceania, was selected as the preferred bidder for the North East Link Primary Package PPP in June 2021, and achieved financial close today.
The D&C Contractor is responsible for the design and construction of the 6.5km three-lane road tunnels and key interchanges, to be delivered under a ‘first of kind’ incentivised target cost regime embedded within a PPP.
Once complete, North East Link will close the missing link in Melbourne’s freeway network, by connecting the Eastern Freeway with the Metropolitan (M80) Ring Road, and will service up to 135,000 vehicles every day, reducing congestion in the north-east while maintaining local roads for local trips.
The DLA Piper team was led by Finance & Projects partner, Jonathan Stafford, with solicitor Grace Powell, and supported by partners Alex Regan, John Gallagher, Onno Bakker and José de Ponte, senior associate Victoria Brockhall and solicitors Joanne Lim, Katherine Keene and Claire Robertson.
Jonathan Stafford, who led the DLA Piper team, said: “It has been a privilege advising the Design & Construction Contractor on such a transformational project for Melbourne, and one of Australia’s most significant PPPs to date. Congratulations to all of the parties involved in achieving this great outcome.”
