3i

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3i Group PLC

logo
legal form Public limited company
ISIN GB00B1YW4409
founding 1984 - The parent company has existed since 1946
Seat London , UK
management Simon A. Borrows ( CEO )
Number of employees 281
Branch Finance
Website https://www.3i.com/

3i Group PLC (3i stands for I nvestors i n I ndustries) is a British investment company , which on the London Stock Exchange listed and FTSE 100 is represented. The group was formed in 1946 as a consortium of British banks to invest in industries , making it the oldest active British financial investor . In 1987 the banks involved sold their shares, transforming this consortium into a public limited company (PLC). Today the 3i group is one of the largest publicly traded private equity firms in the world, operating worldwide.

In addition to today's core business medium Leveraged acquisitions (buy-outs), growth and infrastructure was financing 3i as venture capital encoder with selective start-up - and early-stage financings active. 3i is now represented in 14 countries in Europe , Asia and North America . In the 2006 financial year , the 3i Group invested around 2.3 billion euros . In the previous ten years, 3i had carried out more than 150 initial public offerings and in the last five more than 400 divestments. The company manages a total of 10.7 billion euros in various investment funds .

history

3i was formed in 1945 by two British financial institutions as a consortium to invest in industrial companies . From its inception until the 1970s, investment activity was concentrated in the UK . An investment during this period was £ 17,000 in Bond Helicopters , which later became the largest civil helicopter operator in the world with an enterprise value of £ 80 million.

With the opening of offices in Germany and France in 1984, which formed the basis for the 3i international network that soon followed, 3is began its gradual expansion abroad. In 1987 the banks involved finally sold their shares, transforming this consortium into a Public Limited Company (PLC). This enabled 3i to go public in 1994, resulting in a market capitalization of £ 1.5 billion. As a result, 3i was added to the FTSE 100 Index on the London Stock Exchange . Due to insufficient market capitalization, the 3i is no longer listed there today. In 1997, the company expanded into Southeast Asia with the opening of an office in Singapore, and in 1999 the venture capital business expanded in the USA with the opening of offices in Silicon Valley and Boston .

2000 took over the 3i in 1987 by F. Falk Strascheg founded German venture capital encoder technology holding .

In 2001 the organizational structure of 3i was realigned to the three business areas buy-outs , growth financing and venture capital and in the course of this the presence in Scandinavia was strengthened through acquisitions and the opening of an office in Copenhagen . In the same year, 3i also carried out the first Western-style management buyout in Japan and opened an office in Hong Kong .

In 2005, with the opening of offices in Shanghai and Mumbai, business activities in Southeast Asia were further strengthened. In the same year, 3i was awarded the Venture Capital House of the Year 2005 award by the European Venture Capital Journal . In 2006 an office was opened in New York . In 2007, 3i received another award from Private Equity News with the European Mid-Market Firm of the Year 2007 .

In March 2008, 3i announced that it was withdrawing from the venture capital financing business because it had not made any profits with it in the years 2002 to 2007. In September 2011, 3i took over the retail chain Action .

The current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 3i is Simon A. Borrows and the current Finance Director is Julia Susan Wilson.

Companies

The 3i Group is an international investment company that has its own offices in Europe , Asia and North America and has so far invested in more than 30 countries, with 14 countries making up the basis of its business activities. The core activities provide growth financing, infrastructure financing and buyouts represent. Focused 3i to the six branches services , healthcare , technology , new media , consumer goods and automotive industries . The company currently employs over 750 people, over 250 of whom work in the investment sector.

In the past five years 3i has supported a total of 44 IPOs for companies from a wide variety of industries and sold 450 companies in the same period. As of March 31, 2007, 3i had a market capitalization of EUR 7.6 billion and had invested a total of EUR 2.3 billion in various companies in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 . In the same financial year, the 3i investments in each of the four core business areas were in the three-digit million euro range. In 2007, the cumulative value of the global portfolio was 7.5 billion euros, made up of investments in more than 750 companies. The total managed fund volume of 3i including external funds amounts to 3.5 billion euros to a total of 10.7 billion euros.

3i in Germany

3i has had its own offices in Germany since 1984. The 3i Germany Society for Industrial Holdings Ltd. has offices in Frankfurt , Munich and Stuttgart , which throughout the German-speaking countries are active. The buy-outs and growth capital investments are managed from the Frankfurt office; the administrative staff of the German branches are also located there. Venture capital activities were bundled in Munich, also due to the regional concentration of technology companies in the region. In Germany, 3i focuses primarily on majority and minority stakes in medium-sized companies .

Stephan Krümmer has been a partner and managing director of activities in the German-speaking area since 2005 . Prior to joining 3i he served as Germany Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking , the Rothschild GmbH in Frankfurt.

management

In March 2007, the former CEO of Mobilcom , Thorsten Grenz, was brought into the pan-European buyout team of 3i as “Operating Partner” for the buyout business in Germany. Together with Tim Harrison and Iain McRitchie in London and Jerome Girzsyn in Paris, Grenz is concentrating in a separate team on investments in companies that 3i believes have "significant potential for optimizing capital structure and operational efficiency".

3is position in the private equity environment

In the past, the private equity industry has been heavily criticized several times for its aggressive, purely short-term profit-oriented corporate strategies, particularly in Germany in the so-called " locust debate " in spring 2005. 3i, however, attaches importance to the fact that it is 60 years old Company history have made almost only medium and long-term investments in companies and have also built a corresponding corporate culture of stability internally . In addition, 3i distanced itself from other investment companies that had come under criticism for their aggressive business activities.

Business areas

Buy-out

In the buy-out area, 3i concentrates on majority stakes in companies with an enterprise value of between 100 million and 1 billion euros. Investments are made in a wide variety of industries.

At the beginning of 2004, the generics manufacturer betapharm was taken over from the ownership and holdings of the owners of the Hexal Group and in 2006 it was transferred to the Indian pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. resold again. Also in spring 2006, 3i took over the Maintaler auto supplier Rasmussen GmbH .

In February 2007 3i acquired the publishing house VNU Business Media Europe , which was sold by the parent company VNU as part of a restructuring . The German branch, VNU Business Publications , which among other things published the IT magazines PC Professionell and Internet Professionell , was closed by 3i in June 2007, which led to the dismissal of 75 employees at the Munich publishing office. In June 2007 3i took over 40 percent of the Scandlines shipping company . Allianz Capital Partners took over another 40 percent , the remaining 20 percent the Deutsche Seereederei . In July 2007, 3i acquired Deutz Power Systems from Deutz AG for a purchase price of 360 million euros. The company specializes in gas engines for power generation and is particularly active in the biogas / specialty gas sector.

In spring 2011, 3i bought the German automotive supplier Hilite (which previously belonged to Siemens under the name “Hydraulic Ring”). In May 2014, the FAZ reported that 3i was selling Hilite to the Chinese state-owned company Avic for 473 million euros.

Growth financing

3i Growth Capital focuses on minority investments in leading medium-sized companies with a strong market position. Fresh equity capital can be made available to companies to finance growth projects ( capital increase ), and minority shares can be acquired by shareholders willing to sell (private placement), although in reality there is often a combination of both forms. The capital invested by 3i is usually between 50 and 250 million euros per investment.

A prominent example of a minority stake is the commitment entered into in summer 2007 with Foster + Partners , the world's leading architecture company based in London. Further examples from 2007 are the entry into the family business Mold-Masters, the world market leader in the field of hot runner technology, as well as the participation in the Belgian company KNEIP, an outsourcing service provider for the financial sector. Examples from the German-speaking area are the participation in Pilatus, the world's leading manufacturer of turboprop aircraft, in 2005 and the investment in Novem, world market leader for fine wood interior fittings for automobiles, which was carried out in 2004.

Investments were also made in early 2001, for example, in the discotheque and record company Ministry of Sound and in 2006 in Electrawinds , a leading provider of renewable energy in Belgium .

Venture capital

The venture capital department of 3i invested in both young and established companies. The typical investment amount was between 2 million and 50 million euros per investment.

In January 2006, 3i joined the payment service provider ClickandBuy (Webpay AG). With the capital thus made available, Webpay AG plans to expand in Europe, the USA and Latin America over the next few years . Also in 2006, invested 3i in the US company Demand Media Inc . The company was founded and is run by MySpace co-founder and former MySpace chairman Richard Rosenblatt . In April 2007, 3i, together with the co-investors HG Capital and Neuhaus Partners, sold the DocMorris mail-order pharmacy to the pharmaceutical retailer Celesio . Finally, in May 2007, 3i listed the fuel cell manufacturer Smart Fuel Cell on the stock exchange.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure sector 3i focuses on majority and minority investments in infrastructure projects and typically invests between 30 million and 400 million euros per investment.

In February 2007, the subsidiary 3i Infrastructure Limited was listed on the stock exchange, which serves as a vehicle for 3i's future infrastructure investments. At the beginning of 2007, investments were made in the Alpha Schools project, which finances the construction of 10 schools in Scotland .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Website of the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship
  2. ↑ Martin Arnold, Sven Clausen: 3i dared enough. In: Financial Times Germany. March 25, 2008, archived from the original on March 26, 2008 ; accessed on August 30, 2019 .
  3. ↑ The Story of Action. In: Action. Retrieved August 30, 2019 .
  4. ↑ 3I GROUP Stock. Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance, accessed August 23, 2016 .
  5. ↑ 3i Germany press release: 3i brings industry managers to the buyout team . To: Finanzplatz München Initiative . March 12, 2007, accessed September 6, 2007
  6. ^ Daniel Schäfer: Financial investor 3i shortly before buying the "Berliner Zeitung" . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . October 12, 2005, accessed September 6, 2007
  7. ↑ Levente J. Dobszay: The end of PC and Internet professionally. In: weblog.internet-pro.de. April 17, 2007, archived from the original on September 27, 2007 ; accessed on August 30, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Henrik Sauer: Hilite closes production. In: The Teckbote. July 15, 2013, archived from the original on August 19, 2016 ; accessed on August 30, 2019 .
  9. ↑ FAZ.net May 29, 2014: The Chinese go on a shopping spree in Europe , see also www.hilite.com , Jones Day advises Hilite International Inc. on the sale to 3i
  10. ↑ 3i supports the international expansion of the ClickandBuy payment service with 20 million euros. In: clickandbuy.com. January 3, 2006, archived from the original on January 18, 2006 ; accessed on August 30, 2019 .
  11. ^ Matt Marshall: Demand Media raises $ 100M for Web site land grab. In: VentureBeat. September 29, 2006, accessed August 30, 2019 .