3i Group PLC | Global Ambitions in the 2000s
Global Ambitions in the 2000s
3i at last came to market in 1994, with a listing on the London Stock Exchange. Just two months after its initial public offering, the company joined the prestigious FTSE 100 index. By then, the company had adopted an increasingly international strategy. In 1994, for example, the company launched its first foray into external fund management, launching a £225 million fund in partnership with a number of British, Swiss, U.S., and Pacific Rim investors, targeting the continental European growth businesses market.
By the late 1990s, 3i's interest in continental Europe had become a key part of its aim to transform itself into a leading globally active venture capital group. Part of the company's strategy came through the lack of growth prospects in the United Kingdom. Indeed, in 1999, 3i had attempted to acquire new scale at home when it launched a takeover bid for its chief rival, Electra Investment Trust. That bid was rejected,...
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