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The UK Government has officially transferred ownership of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to its new private sector owners.

The controversial £2.3 billion sale of the Edinburgh-headquartered bank was agreed with a consortium led by Australian bank Macquarie in April.

Macquarie's consortium, which includes Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 (MEIF5) and Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), put up £1.7 billion to buy the bank as well as assuming £600 million in liabilities in the UK-based Universities Superannuation Scheme for university professors.

The government will retain a 'Special Share' in GIB to protect its “green purposes”, which will be managed by a new company, Green Purposes Company Ltd (GPC).

Macquarie announced the completion of the sale on Friday in which it also announced the bank's name would be changed to Green Investment Group, a name change it says is necessary to “overcome the legal and regulatory barriers to using the term"Bank” in many international markets”.

Under the terms of the sale, GIB's Edinburgh and London offices will be maintained with a new asset management office to be established in Edinburgh.

Green Investment Group will be led by Edward Northam, GIB's head of investment banking.

Shaun Kingsbury will step down as chief executive and will not join the Macquarie Group.

Daniel Wong, head of Macquarie Capital Europe, said: “Combined with Macquarie’s resources as the world’s largest infrastructure investor, the Green Investment Group will be uniquely placed to continue in its pioneering role in the world's transition to a low-carbon economy.

“We look forward to growing the Green Investment Group’s capacity and its contribution to the UK and global renewables markets.”

The GIB was launched in November 2012 with £3 billion of public money after being granted state aid permission from the European Commission.

Plans to sell the bank were initially outlined in June 2015 when the government hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise on the sale.

The think-tank E3G, which developed the concept for the Green Investment Bank, described the Government's move to sell as “completely reckless”.

E3G chief executive Nick Mabey warned privatisation of the bank threatens to “destroy investor confidence, which in turn will damage both energy security and the UK economy”.

The Green Investment Bank reported a pre-tax profit of of £100,000 for the 2014/15 financial year, largely as a result of a £3 million pre-tax profit booked for the second half of the year.

The bank had booked a £5.7 million loss for the 2013/14 financial year, which GIB chief executive Shaun Kingsbury said was down to a number of projects still in the construction phase.

Kingsbury had forecast in the 2014/15 results the banks' investments “should deliver a return for the taxpayer of eight per cent a year”.

The UK Government noted on the launch of the sale process last year, GIB had committed £2.6 billion of capital to almost 70 green infrastructure projects across the UK since its launch “helped mobilise a total of £10.6 billion of investment”.

Lord Smith of Kelvin, chair of the Green Investment Bank up to the completion of the transaction, said: “Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Green Investment Bank.

“Under Macquarie ownership, the business will have the support it needs to deliver a growing green impact, at home in the UK and now abroad.”

“I'm confident that with this support the Green Investment Bank, nurtured so well through its early years by the UK Government, will go on to bigger and better things.”

Lord Smith added: “If the Paris Agreement is to be delivered we need to see mature green infrastructure delivered quickly and at scale, alongside the rapid development of emerging technologies.

“To achieve this the world needs committed, innovative, specialist, experienced investors with access to deep and flexible pools of capital.

“The Green Investment Group will now have the platform to meet that market need and fulfil its full potential.”