3i has secured a rescue refinancing deal for VNU Business Media Europe, the struggling Dutch media business that it bought in 2006.

Britain’s oldest private equity group has agreed to pump millions into VNU in a deal that will involve HIG Capital, the distressed debt specialist that owns some of VNU’s debt, taking over half of the media company.

VNU, which 3i bought at the height of the buyout boom, was heavily indebted and close to breaking its banking covenants. 3i paid €320 million and is thought to have written off most of the equity part of that deal.

At one stage VNU’s lenders could have taken over in a debt-forequity swap.

3i and HIG will inject €17.2 million (£14.7 million) into VNU, but 3i declined to reveal how that would be split.

3i and HIG will own equal stakes, with VNU’s management also getting a minority stake in the restructured company. In return VNU’s lenders have agreed to relax the company’s banking covenants and have written off some of its debt.

Menno Antal, a 3i Group partner, said: “VNU Media, together with other Dutch and European media companies, is suffering from a downturn in its activities due to the current economic conditions. The agreement reached with the lenders aims at providing the company with new financial means and at alleviating the debt burden on the business.”

Apax, 3i’s private equity rival, is struggling with Incisive Media, the British division of VNU Europe that was spun off in 2006. Lenders to Incisive look set to seize control of the business, leaving Apax with a stake of as little as 2 per cent.

Apax proposed a restructuring plan in which it would pump £20 million into Incisive in return for a reduction in the company’s debt mountain.

The senior lenders — Royal Bank of Scotland, Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland — and Deloitte, their adviser, have rejected the plan, proposing a deal to take control themselves.

Apax declined to comment.

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