Equity capital markets teams, start your engines.
The $21 billion Transurban is a capital hungry beast and it is no secret the tollroad owner is likely to go cap in hand to shareholders for an equity top-up. The question is when.
Credit Suisse analysts have re-ignited the debate, tipping a $1 billion equity raising before June 30.
The analysts reckon the cash call could coincide with Transurban reaching final agreement on the Western Distributor project in Melbourne, which is a $5.5 billion investment for the company and due in the coming month or two.
Such a pre-emptive raising would also restock the tollroad owner's war chest ahead of some looming acquisition opportunities at home and abroad.
No doubt Transurban would argue that Credit Suisse's timing is a bit out.
The company has been upfront about pending capital commitments, telling investors it is more likely to need the equity injection after Western Distributor's financial close. That would mean a 2018 raising at the earliest, all things being equal.
And of course the quantum of equity required would be muted by a growing balance sheet, capacity for new debt and side measures like a distribution reinvestment plan.
Whatever the case, you can bet bankers would tell Transurban that it is better to raise before the market expects it. And while the going is good.
UBS and Morgan Stanley handled Transurban's most recent raising - a $1.025 billion rights issue - in late 2015, while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley raised $2.74 billion for the tollroad owner one year earlier.
Among the other banks, Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a keen lender and one of nine banks that signed off on a $845 million loan last month, while you can bet others are also trying to get management's ear.
As for Credit Suisse, it grabbed hedge funds' attention when it pointed out how well Transurban shares had performed following equity raisings in recent years.
Of course the trigger could always be NSW's WestConnex, should it come to market later this year. NSW has Goldman Sachs and Ashurst running a scoping study on the potential sale, with a decision on timing and structure expected by June's budget. Transurban has a history of raising for M&A; deals.
There is also the Macquarie Atlas Roads Group-backed Dulles Greenway, which connects with Transurban's tollroads in the United States. The road - or at least a stake in it - is expected to be put up for sale later this year, although Transurban is likely to wait and see the proposed sale structure before spending too much time on it.
