3i

3i Group plc

Type	Public limited company
Traded as	LSE: III FTSE 100 Component
Industry	Private equity
Founded	1945 (created by a syndicate of British banks)
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Key people	Simon Thompson (Chairman) Simon Borrows (CEO)[1]
Operating income	£940 million (2016)[2]
Net income	£830 million (2016)[2]
Number of employees	281 (2017)[3]
Website	www.3i.com

3i Group plc is a multinational private equity and venture capital company based in London, United Kingdom. 3i 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 Macmillan Committee, 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 due to banks being unwilling to provide long-term capital and the companies being too small to raise capital from the public markets.

During the 1950s and 1960s, and particularly after 1959 when the shareholder banks allowed it to raise external funds, ICFC expanded to become the largest provider of growth 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 capitalisation of £1.5 billion.^[4]

Operations

3i invests in mid-market buyouts, growth capital (minority) and infrastructure. Sectors invested in are business and financial services, consumer, industrials and energy, and healthcare.

Current investments include:

• ACR Capital Reinsurance: 3i bought into this re-insurance business in 2006.^[5]
• Action: in June 2011 3i bought a majority stake in this Dutch discount retailer.^[6]
• Agent Provocateur: in November 2007 3i acquired the lingerie business.^[7]
• Element Materials Technology: 3i announced the acquisition of the materials and testing group of Stork B.V. in November 2010.^[8]
• Foster and Partners: 3i acquired a minority (growth capital) stake in the architecture practice in May 2007. This was bought back by the practice in June 2014 to become wholly owned by the 140 partners.^[9]
• Mémora Servicios Funerarias: 3i bought into this Spanish funeral service provider in 2008.^[10] It sold it to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2017.^[11]
• Scandlines: 3i have had 100% ownership of Scandlines since November 2013.^[12]
• Q Holding Co: 3i are due to purchase the company's three main operating businesses, Qure Medical, QSR and Quadra Tooling and Automation.^[13]
• Weener Plastic Packaging Group: in June 2015 3i announced an investment in Weener Plastic Packaging Group^[14]
• Formel D: In 2017, 3i invested €155 million in Formel D, a German car parts company, while CITIC invested €72 million.^[11]

References

External links

• Official site
• Yahoo profile

FTSE 100 companies of the United Kingdom   → FTSE 250

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Private equity and venture capital
Basic investment types	Buyout Venture Mezzanine Growth Secondaries Equity co-investment
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 2000s
Terms and concepts	Buyout Financial sponsor Management buyout Divisional buyout Buy–sell agreement Leveraged recapitalization Dividend recapitalization Venture Angel investor Business incubator Post-money valuation Pre-money valuation Seed money Startup company Venture capital financing Venture debt Venture round Structure Private equity firms and funds Limited partnership Limited liability company Carried interest Management fee Publicly traded private equity Business Development Company Venture capital trust Private investment in public equity (PIPE) Pledge fund
Investors	Corporations Institutional investors Pension funds Insurance companies Fund of funds Endowments Foundations Investment banks Merchant banks Commercial banks High-net-worth individuals Family offices Sovereign wealth funds Crowdfunding
Related financial terms	AUM Cap table Capital call Capital commitment Capital structure Distribution waterfall EBITDA Envy ratio High-yield debt IPO IRR Leverage Liquidation preference M&A PME Taxation of private equity and hedge funds Undercapitalization Vintage year
Private equity and venture capital investors Private equity firms Venture capital firms Angel investors Portfolio companies

Largest private equity investment firms
3i Group AAC Capital Partners Advent International AlpInvest Partners American Capital Apax Partners Apollo Global Management Ares Management Bain Capital BC Partners Berkshire Partners The Blackstone Group Bridgepoint Capital The Carlyle Group CCMP Capital Cerberus Capital Management Charterhouse Capital Partners Cinven Clayton, Dubilier & Rice CVC Capital Partners Doughty Hanson & Co EnCap Investments EQT Partners First Reserve Corporation Fortress Investment Group General Atlantic Goldman Sachs Capital Partners GTCR Hellman & Friedman H.I.G. Capital JRK Property Holdings KKR Trilantic Capital Partners 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 Sentinel Capital 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