UK - 3i to return £500m to investors

3i made £1.82bn from selling assets in the 11 months to February, an increase of almost 60 per cent on the previous year after large sales, such as foreign exchange chain Travelex and the Yellow Brick Road directories, made into strong markets in the first half.

In an interview with the FT, Philip Yea, 3i’s CEO, described the return of cash as 'a signal we need to make to the market today'.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s said in a statement that the annopuncement would not affect its ratings on the group and that it did not expect net leverage, last reported in September 2005 at 20%, to approach the top end of the target range. Suffering from an embarrassment of cash, 3i has paid a special dividend of around £245m since July and spent £220m on share buybacks. It has also sought new investment opportunities in Asia and in infrastructure.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• UK / Ireland