Britain's oldest private-equity firm today wrote down the value of its investment in retailer Hobbs because of poor trading over the festive period.
3i bought the upmarket womenswear chain, whose clothes are worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, for £111 million from Barclays Private Equity in 2004 but is now rumoured to want to sell it.
“Markets remain challenging for a number of our portfolio companies and the good overall performance was offset by a significant value reduction in the period of £14 million for our investment in Hobbs due to trading weakness in the last quarter of 2013,” it said in a statement.
3i, which also owns Agent Provocateur, said that it had banked £557 million from disposals during the nine months ending December 31 and its net asset value per share rose 3% to 333p.
It also invested millions into new businesses such as ferries operator Scandlines in the latest sign that the buyout markets have sprung back into life.
