Company Overview

3i Group is one of the largest venture capital firms in Europe, with more than 30 offices in Europe, the Asia Pacific region, and the United States. Formerly known as Investors in Industry (hence the three i’s), the London-based 3i Group offers venture capital funding to emerging businesses, sometimes holding these investments for decades. Venture capital is only one of its services; 3i Group also takes controlling positions with buyouts of middle-market firms, makes growth capital investments, and invests in infrastructure, a segment it believes usually produces less volatile returns than equity. At the end of March 2006, buyouts represented 35 percent of the firm’s portfolio, growth represented 31 percent, venture capital 20 percent, and small minority investments 14 percent. Venture capital investments tend to focus on technology, in software, communications, health care, and electronics, and are typically made in Europe and the U.S. Other industries in which the company gets involved include transportation, insurance, printing, food retailing, and home furnishings. The firm has historically maintained an extensive portfolio of small, minority investments. It’s now in the process of selling those and acquiring a lesser number of larger companies and expanding geographically. After some difficulty entering the U.S. market in the 1980s, 3i Group opted to focus on investments in American high-tech companies; it now has offices in Menlo Park, California; New York City; and Waltham, Massachusetts.