LONDON, March 31, 2026, 16:09 BST
3i Group reported new insider buying Tuesday: Head of Private Equity Peter Wirtz picked up 25,000 shares, following Chief Executive Simon Borrows and family trusts, who grabbed 350,147 shares just a day earlier. Together, the two filings represent roughly £9.5 million in stock snagged after last week’s selloff in the London-listed investment group. 1
3i’s shares plunged 17.6% on March 26, hitting their lowest point in over two years, after the company said its Dutch discount chain Action is targeting like-for-like sales growth of just 4% to 5% in 2026. The retailer also mapped out plans to launch its first U.S. store before the end of 2027 or in early 2028. Action’s CEO, Hajir Hajji, told investors the business is “strong and sizeable enough to execute a US entry,” noting they’ve learned from the mistakes of other companies in that space. 2
That has an outsized impact for 3i compared to other listed firms. Action accounted for 22.38 billion pounds of value as of Dec. 31, making up roughly 74% of 3i’s 30.31 billion-pound portfolio. It’s a concentration that means even modest changes in the chain’s prospects can sharply affect the parent’s valuation. 3
Borrows, chair of the Dutch holding company behind 3i’s Action stake, picked up shares at 2,555 pence apiece on March 26. Four days later, Wirtz—who heads up 3i’s private equity arm and has been involved with the Action deal—bought in at 2,338.89 pence per share. 4
Barclays data had 3i gaining 3.18% as of 15:48 in London on Tuesday, recovering some ground after last week’s sharp drop. AJ Bell quoted recent trades near 2,434 pence, pegging the shares at a 23.45% discount to estimated net asset value—still not enough to reach Borrows’ buy price. 5
Despite the pullback, 3i’s discount remained tighter than much of the listed private-equity space, based on AIC figures referenced by interactive investor. That put it more in line with rivals like ICG Enterprise Trust and HgCapital Trust. Will Crighton at Cavendish commented that 3i’s earlier premium “looked to be getting out of hand” before this recent slip. 6
Matthew Read, senior analyst at QuotedData, called Action a solid asset but flagged its dominance within 3i as “a huge concentration risk if things go wrong”. That sheer weight, he said, is really what stops 3i from getting the same treatment as a typical diversified private equity firm. 7
But here comes the real test. If France remains sluggish, and the U.S. launch ends up eating management’s attention without producing quick momentum, that re-rating may hit a wall. Charles Murphy, senior research analyst at Singer Capital Markets, put it to interactive investor: the “big risk” isn’t just the money being spent—it’s the leadership time the expansion could drain. 6
3i reported that Action’s sales outside France outpaced forecasts in the first 12 weeks of 2026, but performance in France lagged a bit. The company described the rest of its portfolio as broadly encouraging. Annual results for the year ended March 31 are scheduled for release on May 14. 8
