The Victorian Department of Treasury & Finance in late May 2013 received an unsolicited offer by Industry Funds Management. IFM proposed to fund, construct and run the planned east-west link toll road project's two phases simultaneously, at a cost of around $A12 bilion. 

The Victorian government rejected the bid.

Industry Funds Management lodged a detailed proposal to build both sections of the road simultaneously, suggesting it could be done for under $12 billion with minimal risk for taxpayers. IFM offered to bear partially the financial risk if traffic volumes were lower than predicted. Under the proposal, the investment would be recovered partly from toll revenue and partly through regular availability payments from the state.

The government's proposal for the project is expected to cost $6 billion to $8 billion. On July 19th, the state invited Expressions of Interest to build Stage One of the East West Link project.

Project proponents will have six weeks to get their Expressions of Interest in, with the Linking Melbourne Authority expecting to go to the market with a Request for Proposals in October, and awarding a contract in late 2014.