3i maintains investment pace

3i, the FTSE 100 investment firm, kept up investing in the last quarter of last year despite the problems in the global credit markets. Chief executive Philip Yea emphasised the group’s mid-market position and international network to explain the steady investment flow.

Global investment firm 3i invested £544 million ($1.07 billion; €732.8 million) in the final quarter of last year, according to the firm’s third quarter results.

Philip Yea:
diversified

Despite the global credit crunch dramatically slowing down many buyout firms, as a diversified firm 3i’s investment pace remained relatively undiminished. Over the three quarters to the end of December it invested a total of £1.78 billlion.

Philip Yea, 3i’s chief executive, said in a statement: “Our mid-market position and the depth of our international network have allowed us to continue to source good investment opportunities notwithstanding the more difficult economic outlook.”

While many larger market buyout firms struggled to invest, 3i invested ÂŁ208 million, broadly continuous with the ÂŁ644 million invested in the first three quarters of the year. In fact, 3i only invested ÂŁ107 million in buyouts in the three months to 30 June, with ÂŁ329 million invested in the three months to 30 September.

3i also invested ÂŁ245 million in growth capital, ÂŁ60 million in venture and ÂŁ6 million in small and medium investments in the final quarter of the year.

The firm also realised ÂŁ429 million of investments, 29 percent of realisations in the nine months to the end of the year. Of these realisations, ÂŁ290 million came from buyouts, ÂŁ85 million from growth capital, ÂŁ30 million from venture and ÂŁ24 million from small and medium investments.