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British multinational private equity and venture capital company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3i Group plc is a British multinational private equity and venture capital company based in London, England. 3i is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
| |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| ISIN | GB00B1YW4409 |
| Industry | Corporate finance |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Founder | Bank of England and a syndicate of British banks |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people |
|
| Services |
|
 £4,579 million (2023)[3] | |
| £4,577 million (2023)[3] | |
| AUM | £22.9 billion (2023)[3] |
Number of employees | c.250 (2024)[4] |
| Website | 3i |
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.[5]
During the 1950s and 1960s, and particularly after 1959 when the shareholder banks allowed it to raise external funds, ICFC expanded significantly. 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.[6]
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.[7]
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.
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