3i
BARONESS Hogg, 3i’s chairman, is ending her eight-and-a-half year stint on a high note. It’s been a rocky ride: staggering growth in the early part of her tenure was tempered by a plummeting share price in the face of the financial crisis.
Since he joined in January 2009, chief executive Michael Queen has been quietly repairing the firm’s balance sheet. But at last the moribund private equity deal arena appears to be awaking from its slumber.
3i appears to have found a way of making money from its investments, even in quiet times. Its £79m worth of exits from firms like Kneip and Dirickx, are all in some ways similar. 3i has found sound private businesses, often owned by a family, and provided the capital and expertise that is normally only available to those who opt for a flotation.
Such an approach mightn’t share the cut and thrust of the deals it cut in its hey-day, but seems to be working well in a time of muted activity.
With its shares trading at an 18 per cent discount to its net asset value at the end of March, investors looking for a long-term and liquid private equity investment could do much worse.