Aussie bank slammed for ‘poor’ treatment of the British after buying up large chunk of the UK gas network
Unions say that Macquarie is an 'unsuitable' owner and warned of possible price rises for cutomers
A FOREIGN bank that has been slammed for “poor” treatment of Brits struck a deal yesterday to buy a big chunk of the UK’s gas network.
Australia’s MACQUARIE is part of a foreign consortium, which will pay NATIONAL GRID £13.8billion for a 61 per cent stake in the division.
Qatari, plus Chinese state investors and a division of German insurer ALLIANZ are also in on the deal.
But unions say Macquarie, which already has a stake in THAMES WATER, is an “unsuitable” owner and warned of possible price rises for customers.
The ruthless investment bank — known as the Vampire Kangaroo — bought a share in the water supplier in 2006 and squeezed it for profits over a decade before deciding to sell it this year.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Macquarie has poor form already — in building up huge company debt, repatriating massive dividends to the southern hemisphere and charging more for a poorer service.
“The company has proved it can’t be trusted with the nation’s water supply, but now it is to be in charge of gas pipes to millions of homes and businesses.”
Last night John Pettigrew, chief exec of the National Grid, the UK’s power network operator, sought to calm fears.
He said: “The consortium will have exactly the same obligations in terms of security, reliability and safety as National Grid.
“It involves a group of investors who have a long track record of investing in critical infrastructure in the UK.”
National Grid has around 82,000 miles of pipeline delivering gas to regions including London and the East of England, the West Midlands and the North-West. It serves 11million homes and businesses and has nearly 5,700 staff.
National Grid pledged to return £4billion to shareholders after the deal and will hand out a £150million payment to benefit British energy customers.
It will also keep a 39 per cent stake, but is in talks with the consortium over the sale of a potential further 14 per cent share. Shares in National Grid closed up 0.8 per cent after yesterday’s deal, the latest involving foreign buyers investing in the UK’s infrastructure.
CIC, part of China’s sovereign wealth fund, is part of the National Grid consortium. It already owns a stake in Heathrow Airport and Thames Water.
Energy giant SSE sold a minority stake in its gas distribution network to ABU DHABI INVESTMENT AUTHORITY for £621million.
In September, PM Theresa May cleared the £18billion Hinkley Point nuclear power plant, which will be built with Chinese money.