A total of £29 million or $48 million worth of exits was completed by Britain-based private equity group 3i in the three months that ended December 31, Reuters reported. To date, this has brought the firm's total proceeds for 2013 to £557 million. The firm said the proceeds represented an increase of 35% from the figure posted in March 31 last year.
3i owns Hobbs, a women's fashion retailer and Mayborn, the maker of Tommee Tippee baby bottles. In the third quarter, investment went up to £247 million. This compared with the £4 million invested in the same period the year before, the report said.
Another highlight of the private equity firm is the £322 million it invested on behalf of shareholders and third-party investors. This included four significant investments in European Private Equity. The company also finished the BIFM acquisition in their infrastructure business. 3i also said that its diluted net asset value per share had risen by 3% to 333 pence, the statement said.
3i Chief Executive Officer Simon Borrows said that the quarter was very important for the company. He added, "These investments were the culmination of months of careful work and reflect the strength of our international, mid-market franchise. We sourced these investments away from highly competitive auction processes and the prices we paid reflect that. Being disciplined on price is central to our investment approach."
He added that their portfolio continues to do well as their larger investments have continued to exhibit strong growth. He added, "We have been strengthening our investment teams with recruitment in Private Equity and Debt Management, and through the acquisition of the BIFM platform in Infrastructure. Our cost and debt reduction strategy is resulting in a significantly reduced dilution of our investment returns. We continue to see very good momentum in the business."
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