The controversial bank behind the Edinburgh sick kids’ hospital scandal used another major private finance project to generate £392million.
Macquarie was criticised over the figure it made on the back of the building of the M6 toll road in the Midlands in England in 2006.
The Australian finance group, which was the project’s owner at the time, rearranged debt facilities “releasing” £392million, prompting claims of a PFI rip-off.
It is now the lead partner at IHSL – the consortium behind the new Royal Hospital for Sick Children.
A public inquiry was ordered last month after patients were unable to move into the facility in July over safety concerns.
The hospital is not expected to be fully operational until next autumn.
Despite the hold-up, £1.4million of taxpayers’ money is being paid to IHSL every month in contract repayments.
Minutes of an NHS Lothian board meeting revealed last week show there were 2000 snagging issues with the hospital.
Documents also showed that a planned legal challenge was dropped in favour of paying IHSL £11.6million to settle the outstanding issues – a move approved by the Scottish Government.
Last week, the Sunday Mail revealed that Charlotte Street Partners, a lobbying firm run by Andrew Wilson, .
The former SNP MSP is a close economic adviser of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and was head of her party’s Sustainable Growth Commission.
It is also believed that Charlotte Street’s chairman Sir Angus Grossart would have played a role in setting up the IHSL hospital deal in his previous role as chairman of the Scottish Futures Trust quango.
Labour’s Monica Lennon said: “History tells us this isn’t a company that gets involved in infrastructure projects out of a sense of public duty.
“We need to know how much Macquarie stands to make from this debacle.
“The SNP has saddled the public with decades of debt for a faulty hospital that so far is only benefiting private interests. Nicola Sturgeon and her ministers need to start being straight.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said it has “no involvement whatsoever in any road projects in England”.
A spokesman for Macquarie said the firm no longer owned the M6 toll road, and insisted the £392million released through refinancing was not profit and had been reinvested in another toll road.
