Ministers missed out on tens of millions extra on the sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) in August, according to the spending watchdog. The National Audit Office said the £1.6bn paid in cash by the Australian bank Macquarie came in at the low end of the government’s valuation. Macquarie agreed to spend a further £500m to cover the bank’s existing commitments. Moreover, the government could have increased the value of the sale by £63m if it had waited until some of the windfarms owned by the bank had finished construction. One option under consideration was a phased sale, where the government retained ownership of the bank until 2018 when most of its investments were operational and then privatised it through an initial public offering. Government faces fresh criticism over Green Investment Bank sell-off.
Guardian 12th Dec 2017 read more »
