Eyes on Growth

3i’s latest “Eyes on Growth” newsletter provides an overview of activity across our international Growth Capital portfolio. We have created this edition around the theme of Growth Capital investment being an important building block in the success of a company and a possible stepping stone to IPO.

We are extremely proud to announce the closing of our Growth Capital Fund, at €1.2 billion, the largest global fund dedicated to minority investments today. This is an exciting development for 3i as it allows us to accelerate our investment at a time of terrific global market opportunity.

The Growth Capital Fund will continue our existing Growth Capital strategy and make minority investments in growing businesses across Europe, Asia and North America.

We will invest in approximately 15 mid-market companies in the next couple of years, typically investing €25 million to €150 million of equity.

In conjunction with this, we have also completed our first Growth Capital investment from the new fund, an €84 million investment in Refresco, a leading European fruit juice producer. We believe this will be just the start of an exciting programme of investment for 3i in 2010.

Finally, we welcome an expert view on the Asian insurance and reinsurance market by John Tan, CEO of our investee company Asia Capital Reinsurance, which has achieved strong growth despite difficult market conditions.