Macquarie, the Australian financial group, is to acquire the UK's publicly-owned Green Investment Bank for £2.3 billion - leading a consortium that also includes the country's biggest pension fund, the Universities Superannuation Scheme.

Macquarie said that following the deal, the GIB will become its "platform" for deploying its own capital into green infrastructure in the UK and Europe, and said it will stick to the bank's existing pledge to drive £3 billion's worth of investment into green projects in the next three years.