A consortium led by toll road operator Transurban has signed an agreement with the New South Wales Government to acquire a 51% stake in WestConnex in a A$9.26bn ($6.7bn) transaction.

The consortium, called Sydney Transport Partners, is formed by Transurban, AustralianSuper, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Tawreed Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

The NSW Government will continue to own the remaining 49% stake in WestConnex. The government will have to offer the stake to the Transurban consortium first if it decides to offload.

The announcement follows the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) approval, which recently cleared Transurban’s bid against a competing consortium led by IFM Investors.

“The proposed transaction will further boost the company’s position in Australia’s toll-road market, as the company already owns seven of the nine toll road concessions in Sydney.”

In order to clear its bid, the ACCC asked Transurban to give undertakings that the company will publish some traffic data from its toll roads to enable other companies to compete for toll-road projects in future.

WestConnex is a 33km-long motorway project that will connect western and south-western Sydney, Kingsford Smith Airport and Port Botany precincts.

Scheduled to be completed by 2023, the motorway will mainly be constructed in the M4 and M5 corridors and will feature nearly 14km of road above ground and about 19km of tunnels.

Transurban will raise $4.2bn to fund its part of the deal. The proposed transaction will further boost the company’s position in Australia’s toll-road market, as the company already owns seven of the nine toll road concessions in Sydney.

Transurban CEO Scott Charlton said that this announcement is a significant milestone for WestConnex.

“The government is invested in creating the Sydney of tomorrow that we can all be proud of and ensuring Sydney takes its place as one of the great global cities of the world. We share this vision and look forward to playing a part in supporting it become a reality,” Charlton added.

“We look forward to building on the great work done by Sydney Motorway Corporation. WestConnex will help further boost the economy and employ more than 10,000 workers.”

The NSW government will use the proceeds from the divestment of the 51% stake to fund the remaining part of Westconnex.