The committee is concerned that the GIB’s likely sale to Australian investment bank Macquarie could lead to it being “broken up”.
“The Green Investment Bank has had notable successes in investing in green energy infrastructure. The EAC’s view is that the retention of the bank’s green identity should be the most important objective of any sale,” said committee chair Mary Creagh.
She continued: “New companies have been registered at Companies’ House ahead of the sale of the bank. We have concerns that this might lead to the Bank being broken up.
“We have asked ministers and UK Government Investments to appear before the committee and assure us that the Green Investment Bank will continue to exist as a stand-alone investor.”
The GIB was founded in 2012 to help funnel investment into riskier green infrastructure projects which might not otherwise secure financing.
In June 2015, the then business secretary Sajid Javid announced that the bank would sold off to enable it to access greater pools of capital, and the following March he began the process of privatisation.
In line with the recommendations of an EAC report published in December 2015, he said a “golden share” would be created which would enable the holder – a government-formed Green Purposes Company – to reject any changes to the banks’ green ethos.
Macquarie emerged as the frontrunner to take over the bank in October following reports it had submitted a higher offer for the GIB than its rival.
Earlier this month an investigation by the climate change think tank E3G and the campaign group Greenpeace found that between 22 November and 1 December 2016, ten new companies – corresponding to the GIB’s largest assets – had been incorporated and registered to the bank’s office in London.
“This sudden proliferation of companies is uncharacteristic of the GIB, which has to date had a simple, stable and transparent structure,” said E3G. “The establishment of holding companies, and multiple corporate layers, is often synonymous with practices such as leveraging excessive debt, asset stripping and financial engineering.”
Former energy minister Greg Barker has called for the sale to be stopped to prevent “asset stripping”. EAC chair Mary Creagh has already written to the business and energy secretary Greg Clark to warn him against a repeat of “the Royal Mail debacle”.
The GIB and the wind fund it manages recently bought a 75 per cent stake in the Lincs offshore wind farm from Centrica and Siemens.