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, however, after 3i's CEO publicly acknowledged that its interest in Electra was for its assets, and not its people.

Instead, 3i turned to the overseas market. The company stepped up its investment activities in continental Europe. It also returned to the United States in 1999, establishing new offices on the East and West Coasts. By 2000, the company's portfolio in the United States topped $300 million. The company also made its first entry into the Asian market, opening offices in Hong Kong and Japan.

3i next went on something of a spending spree in order to establish a solid presence on the European continent. In late 2000 and into 2001, the company completed four strategic acquisitions. In Germany, the company acquired Technologieholding, that country's leading specialist in early-stage technology ventures. In Sweden, 3i bought Atle, one of the Scandinavian market's oldest and largest private equity specialists. The company added venture capital and fund management operations in Austria, through the purchase of Bank Austrai TFV High Tech Unternehmens Beteiligung. Then the company returned to Scandinavia, picking up Finland's SFK Finance, which specialized in telecommunications, IT, and environmental technology investments.

Having secured a dominant position in the European venture capital market, 3i turned to the next phase in its global strategy, that of boosting its operations in the Asian region. 3i's strategy called for its Asian investments to top 5 percent of its total portfolio by 2006. The company's Hong Kong office, overseeing the Korean and fast-growing Chinese markets, soon became the focal point for the company's regional growth. In 2003, the company closed its less active Japanese office.

By 2005, 3i began preparation for the next phase in its Asian region expansion, initiating recruiting for personnel to back the launch of an office in India. At the same time, the company announced its intention to open its first office on the Chinese mainland, in Shanghai, at mid-decade. After 60 years in business, 3i remained one of the world's largest venture capital groups.