News: TCL UPDATE 1-Transurban buys 51 pct stake in Sydney toll road for $6.7 bln

• Transurban buys toll road for A$9.3 billion
• Announces A$4.2 billion equity raising to fund it
• Shares halted until Sep. 5

(Adds Transurban statement and capital raising, treasurer quote)

SYDNEY, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A consortium led by Transurban Group (TCL) will buy a controlling stake in a Sydney toll road for A$9.3 billion ($6.7 billion) the company said on Friday, while also launching a capital raising to pay for it.

The consortium will hold 51 percent of the unfinished road, called WestConnex, while the New South Wales (NSW) state government will retain a 49 percent stake, the government and Transurban said in separate statements.

It adds to seven Sydney toll roads the company already owns. Transurban will issue shares to raise A$4.2 billion to fund the purchase, with the rest of the funding to come from debt and contributions from its consortium partners, pension funds AustralianSuper and CPPID, and Adu Dhabi fund Tawreed Investments Limited.

"WestConnex is a critical component of the NSW government's long-term, transport and planning solution and is strategically significant," Transurban Chief Executive Officer Scott Charlton said in a statement.

The unfinished 33-km (21-mile) road cuts through Sydney's burgeoning western suburbs, and will be built in three stages. It is the largest transport project in the city since the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was completed in 1932.

The NSW government will use the sale proceeds to fund the remainder of Westconnex construction and also for other projects such as schools and hospitals, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said in a statement.

Transurban expects its first full year of operation will be in 2028. The company said it will issue new shares at A$10.80, a 10.4 percent discount to its Thursday closing price of A$12.06.

Its shares are halted until Sept. 5 for the bookbuild. Transurban's bid was the winner of a government auction of the project, one of Australia's biggest transport infrastructure projects, and it was cleared by Australia's competition regulator on Thursday despite initial concerns about the firm's dominance of Sydney toll roads.

The consortium, dubbed Sydney Transport Partners, beat an offer from another group spearheaded by pension fund IFM Investors, which owns toll roads in Europe, North America and Sydney. ($1 = 1.3768 Australian dollars)