Trans-Tasman listed fund manager Morrison is selling the remainder of its Public Infrastructure Partnership (PIP) fund assets, three sources said.

These include a 38.3% stake in the 19km, NZD 1bn (USD 590m) Puhoi to Warkworth motorway north of Auckland and 49% of the Melbourne Convention Centre.

Mafic is financial adviser to Morrison on the sale.

First round bids are due next week from which a preferred bidder will be chosen, with the deal expected to be finalised by around March next year.

Morrison’s PIP funds, of which four were established starting from 2009, also own the Bendigo key health worker village in Victoria and the new Waikeria Prison project in New Zealand, which were both built under PPP contracts.

The Bendigo accommodation is being sold separately via property agent Colliers. The Waikeria prison is still not complete, so has been left out of the current sale process, but it is expected to be completed soon and sold soon after, the sources added.

The closed end PIP funds invested in the first PPPs in New Zealand and are due to come to the end of their life in 2025.

Amber Infrastructure acquired the rest of the PIP funds assets – which included several schools, Auckland Prison and student accommodation at the Auckland University of Technology – in 2023 for about NZD 200m. It is one of those bidding this time, the sources said, although it is not clear if it will bid for all of the remaining assets.

The sale expected to attract the most interest is the Puhoi to Warkworth project, with all other investors in the asset, including the Accident Compensation Corporation, expected to sell out, the sources added.

“We are giving it consideration. We’re constantly evaluating all our investments and if prices offered are acceptable, then we will sell,” said a spokesperson for ACC’s Investment Fund.

Opened to traffic last year after long delays due to the pandemic, the government is now moving to tender three extensions to that road under a PPP contract potentially worth up to a combined NZD 12bn.

Spokespeople and officials at Morrison, Amber and Mafic either did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment.

[Editor’s note: The article has been updated post-publication to add comment from ACC Investment Fund.]