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3i plc

Type	Public company (LSE: III)
Founded	1945 (created by a syndicate of British banks)
Headquarters	London, England, United Kingdom
Key people	Baroness Hogg, Chairman Philip Yea, CEO
Industry	Venture capital and Private equity
Revenue	£1,041m (2008)
Operating income	▲ £834m (2008)
Net income	▲ £828m (2008)
Employees	765 (2007)
Website	www.3i.com

3i Group PLC (LSE: III) is a leading venture capital and private equity firm. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

The company was formed in 1945, as the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation (ICFC), by the Bank of England and the major British banks to provide long term investment funding for small and medium-sized enterprises. Its foundation was inspired by the government, and resulted from the recognition in the 1930s, given new impetus in the postwar era, that smaller businesses faced a gap in available corporate finance: the banks were unwilling to provide long-term capital and the companies were too small to raise capital from the public markets.

During the 1950s and 1960s, particularly after 1959 when the shareholder banks allowed it to raise external funds, ICFC expanded to become the largest provider of venture capital for unquoted companies in the United Kingdom. In 1973 ICFC acquired Finance Corporation for Industry, a sister company also formed in 1945 which focused on finance for large companies, and was renamed Finance for Industry (FFI). In the 1980s FFI became a leading provider of finance for management buyouts, and expanded internationally. In 1983 the company was renamed Investors in Industry, commonly known as 3i.

3i Group was created in 1987 when the banks sold off their stakes to form a public limited company. In 1994 the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of £1.5 billion.¹ Until that time the company had only managed its own portfolio of investments, but in 1994 the company began managing funds for external investors. Since that time the company has continued its international expansion, making a number of acquisitions in Europe and more recently starting operations in Asia.

Operations

The company undertakes buyouts, growth capital investments, infrastructure investments and quoted private equity.

Notable current investments

Current investments include:

• NCP: this investment was acquired in July 2005 from from Cinven. 3i has since entered into a partial sale of that business.²

• Scandlines: on June 19 2007, Deutsche Bahn AG and the Danish transport ministry announced the sale of Scandlines for 1,560 million Euros to a consortium consisting of 3i, Allianz Capital Partners and Deutsche Seereederei (DSR) Rostock. DSR will hold 20%, 3i and Allianz both 40%.³

• Agent Provocateur: in November 2007 3i acquired the lingerie business.⁴

• Foster and Partners: 3i acquired a minority (growth capital) stake in the architecture practice in May 2007.⁵

References

External links

• Official site
• Yahoo profile

Companies portal

v • d • e Private equity and venture capital investment firms Investment strategy Buyout • Venture • Growth • Mezzanine • Secondaries History History of private equity and venture capital • Early history of private equity • Private equity in the 1980s • Private equity in the 1990s • Private equity in the 21st century Investors Institutional Investors • Pension funds • Insurance companies • Endowments • Fund of funds • High net worth individuals • Sovereign wealth funds Private equity firms • Venture capital firms • Portfolio companies

v • d • e Largest private equity investment firms 3i Group • AAC Capital Partners • Advent International • AlpInvest Partners • American Capital • Apax Partners • Apollo Management • Bain Capital • BC Partners • Berkshire Partners • The Blackstone Group • Bridgepoint Capital • Candover • The Carlyle Group • CCMP Capital • Cerberus Capital Management • Charterhouse Capital Partners • Cinven • Clayton, Dubilier & Rice • CVC Capital Partners • Doughty Hanson & Co • EQT Partners • First Reserve Corporation • Fortress Investment Group • General Atlantic • Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area • GTCR Golder Rauner • Hellman & Friedman • Kohlberg Kravis Roberts • Lehman Brothers Private Equity • Leonard Green & Partners • Madison Dearborn Partners • Nordic Capital • Oak Investment Partners • Oaktree Capital Management • Onex • Teachers' Private Capital • Pacific Equity Partners • PAI Partners • Permira • Providence Equity Partners • Silver Lake Partners • Summit Partners • Sun Capital Partners • TA Associates • Terra Firma Capital Partners • Thomas H. Lee Partners • TPG Capital • Warburg Pincus • Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe Private equity • Private equity firms • Venture capital firms • Portfolio companies

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 7 December 2008, at 23:15.

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