3i Group PLC | Introduction
Introduction
91 Waterloo Road
London SE1 8XP
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 20 7928 3131
Fax: +44 20 7928 0058
Web site: http://www.3i.com
Public Company
Incorporated: 1945 as Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation Limited
Employees: 833
Sales: $480.20 million (2004)
Stock Exchanges: London
Ticker Symbol: III
NAIC: 523999 Miscellaneous Financial Investment Activities
3i Group PLC is one of the leading venture capital groups in Europe and one of only a handful of publicly listed private equity and investment groups in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1945 as a government-inspired initiative to provide investment funding for the United Kingdom's SME (small and medium enterprise) market, 3i has distinguished itself by establishing operations across all major funding areas, ranging from early-stage venture capital to growth capital investment, and including buyouts. Into the mid-2000s, the company's investments average EUR 1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) across 200 or more deals per year. Unlike many of its competitors, which operate small firms of ten people or less, 3i boasts a team of more than 250 investment professionals, backed by a support staff of more than 600 worldwide. The company operates offices in 13 countries. The United Kingdom represents its core market; in the 2000s, however, 3i's European investments topped its U.K. investments for the first time. The United States is also a strategic market, and the company has established a target of boosting its Asian investment portfolio to 5 percent of its overall investments by 2006. As part of this effort, the company began building an investment team in India in 2005, while also beginning preparations to open its first office in China, in Shanghai. 3i Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is led by CEO Philip Yea and non-Executive Chairman Baroness Sarah Hogg, who also serves as chairperson of the BBC.