Macquarie to go Green

Australian banking giant Macquarie is aiming to secure their bid for the UK’s Green Investment Bank (GIB). The government has been looking at bids from Macquarie and a UK consortium including the Pension Protection Fund, Lloyds Bank and Sustainable Development Capital. Macquarie is thought to have made a higher offer. Ministers will now decide whether to maximise the sale price or retain a public stake in the bank.

The Green Investment Bank was founded in 2012 and aimed to use public and private sector money to fund environmental projects. Since then, GIB has invested around £770m of its own funds and around £3bn from private investors.

The bank turned its first profit of £9.9m in the last financial year and it aims to achieve a 10 per cent return on its overall investments. The government will maintain the bank’s ‘green’ responsibilities after GIB is privatised, with a golden share held through the Green Purposes Company.

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