Action: How a Dutch Discount Chain Became 3i’s Biggest Success

Action is the most valuable retailer the Netherlands has produced this century, and almost nobody outside the discount trade knew its name until 3i’s share price made it impossible to ignore. A chain selling €1 candles, €3 phone cables and €5 garden tools has become a €16 billion business that opens more than one store a day, employs almost 85,000 people and underpins the valuation of a FTSE 100 investment company. This article traces Action from Gerard Deen’s converted antiques shop to its 3,000th store in Italy, explains how 3i turned a £134 million minority investment into a £24 billion position, and asks whether the formula survives contact with the United States. It is part of the Netherlands Company Stories hub.

How did a shop in Enkhuizen become Europe’s fastest-growing retailer?

Action began in July 1993 when Gerard Deen and Rob Wagemaker converted Deen’s antiques shop in Enkhuizen, North Holland, into a discount store selling surplus and clearance goods at fixed low prices; the model worked well enough that the company had 94 stores by the end of 2002 and its own distribution centre from 1995.

The early Action was a classic Dutch “koopjeswinkel”, stocking whatever end-of-line stock the founders could buy cheaply. What distinguished it from hundreds of similar shops was discipline about price points and store standardisation: the same layout, the same categories and the same handful of price tiers in every location, which let the chain add stores quickly without reinventing each one. In November 2003 the company opened a combined headquarters and distribution centre in Zwaagdijk-Oost, a village between Hoorn and Enkhuizen that remains its base.

International expansion started cautiously, with Belgium in 2005 and Germany in 2009, both close enough to be supplied from Zwaagdijk. By 2011 Action had more than 250 stores in the Benelux and Germany and more than 7,000 employees, and the founders were ready to sell a majority stake. That is when 3i arrived.

The pace since then has been extraordinary even by discount-retail standards: France in 2012, Austria and Luxembourg in 2015, Poland in 2017, the Czech Republic in 2020, Italy in 2021, Spain in 2022, Slovakia in 2023, Portugal in 2024, Switzerland in April 2025, Romania in September 2025 and Croatia in March 2026. The 3,000th store opened in June 2025 in San Rocco al Porto, Italy, and by June 2026 the count stood at 3,423.

What exactly is the Action formula?

The Action formula is a limited, fast-changing assortment of around 6,000 non-food products across 14 categories, sold at very low fixed price points in stores that look identical from Lisbon to Bucharest, supported by a logistics network of 19 European distribution centres and sourcing in which roughly half of products come from China.

Around two-thirds of the assortment rotates regularly and more than 150 new products arrive each week, which creates the “treasure hunt” effect that keeps customers returning without any loyalty scheme or advertising budget to speak of. Average weekly customers reached 21.6 million in 2025, up from 18.7 million in 2024, and chief executive Hajir Hajji attributed the increase to households trading down for necessities as living costs rose.

The economics rest on three things. First, buying volume: with 3,400 stores ordering the same items, Action can commission products from Asian manufacturers at prices no national chain can match. Second, low operating cost: stores are leased in secondary retail parks and edge-of-town locations, staffed thinly and fitted out cheaply. Third, logistics density: a distribution centre every few hundred kilometres means a new region can be filled with stores quickly once the depot is open. The 19th distribution centre opened in Ferentino, Italy, in June 2026, and three more are planned for Italy, Spain and France in 2026.

The result is an operating EBITDA margin of 14.8% in 2025 (15.0% before a one-off €26 million staff payment), far above the 4% Ahold Delhaize earns in groceries, as described in the Ahold Delhaize story, and comparable to the best-run discounters anywhere.

Why did 3i buy Action in 2011, and what did it pay?

3i invested about £134 million in 2011 for a stake of up to 45% in Action, at roughly 8.3 times EBITDA, because the London-listed investor was shifting under new chief executive Simon Borrows towards mid-market European companies that it could hold on its own balance sheet rather than through third-party funds.

3i had been badly hurt by the financial crisis, halving its net asset value and raising emergency equity in 2009. Borrows, appointed in 2011, wanted fewer, better investments with long holding periods. Action fitted: a proven format, a founder team willing to sell a majority, and a store roll-out that generated cash rather than consuming it. The company had 250-odd stores at the time; 3i’s thesis was that the format could be exported across Europe.

What followed was a series of transactions that steadily increased 3i’s ownership. 3i’s share rose to 52.9% by 2020 and, through reinvesting part of its proceeds from Action’s periodic share redemptions, to 54.8% in 2023, 57.9% in March 2025, 60.1% in September 2025 and, after reinvesting £755 million from an October 2025 redemption, 62.3%. By 31 March 2026 the stake stood at 65.4%. Each step was funded largely by cash that Action itself had distributed, so 3i’s net cost base has been modest relative to the value created.

The important detail for investors is that 3i never sold Action, even as the position came to dominate its portfolio. Most private-equity firms would have exited after five to seven years; 3i’s balance-sheet model let it keep compounding instead.

How big is Action inside 3i’s portfolio?

Action represented about 75% of 3i’s £31.8 billion investment portfolio at 31 March 2026 and roughly 80% of its private-equity book, and it contributed £4.5 billion of 3i’s £5.46 billion gross investment return in the year to March 2026.

3i’s financial year 2026 (to 31 March 2026) produced a total return of £5.3 billion, or 22% on opening shareholders’ funds, with net asset value per share rising from 2,542p to 3,030p. The group received £1.19 billion of cash from Action during the year, including a £246 million dividend in December 2025 and a £944 million distribution from the October 2025 capital restructuring, of which it reinvested £755 million to lift its stake. The full-year dividend to 3i shareholders rose to 84.5p, and a share buyback of up to £750 million was launched for completion before the end of 2026.

By 30 June 2026 the Action stake was valued at £24,249 million, up from £23,743 million three months earlier, and 3i’s net asset value per share had reached 3,131p. The valuation method has been stable for years: 18.5 times Action’s last-twelve-months run-rate EBITDA, which stood at €2.73 billion at 28 June 2026, with a liquidity discount applied. That multiple is the centre of every debate about 3i, and the subject of a 2024 short-seller report by ShadowFall that argued the premium to net asset value at which 3i shares trade was unjustified. 3i’s shares fell more than 16% in a single day in November 2025 when Borrows sounded a cautious note on new investment, even though the half-year results were strong.

What did Action’s 2025 results and 2026 trading show?

Action’s 2025 results, presented at a capital markets seminar on 26 March 2026, showed net sales of €16.0 billion, up 16%, operating EBITDA of €2,367 million, up 14%, like-for-like sales growth of 4.9% and a record 384 net new stores, taking the network to 3,302 across 14 countries at the end of December 2025.

Like-for-like growth has normalised from the exceptional post-pandemic years, when it reached 16.7% in 2023 and 10.3% in 2024, both driven almost entirely by volume rather than price. Growth in 2025 came mostly from new stores and higher footfall, and the company said even established stores saw more visitors. Hajji noted that US tariffs on Chinese goods had a modest effect: non-food purchase prices from China dipped slightly as suppliers looked for other markets, and Action passed the benefit on.

Trading in 2026 continued the pattern. In the first twelve weeks net sales of €3.7 billion were 14.5% ahead with like-for-like growth of 4.0%; by the end of June, first-half net sales had reached €8,348 million, up 14%, with operating EBITDA of €1,108 million, up 13%, at a 13.3% margin, and like-for-like growth of 3.6%. The company had added 121 net new stores by 28 June 2026 and reiterated its target of at least 400 for the year, an EBITDA margin maintained at about 14.8% and like-for-like growth of 4–5%. Cash on hand was about €900 million in March 2026 ahead of a further dividend to shareholders.

The 2023 and 2024 sales and EBITDA figures are approximate, derived from the reported growth rates; the 2025 and 2026 figures are as reported by Action and 3i.

How does Action expand into a new country?

Action enters a new country by first securing a distribution route, then opening a small cluster of stores near an existing depot or border, measuring first-year performance against the group’s benchmarks, and only then committing to a national roll-out and a local distribution centre.

Switzerland, entered in April 2025, is the clearest recent example: the first two Swiss stores ranked among Action’s top ten best first-year performers across the group, and the country ended 2025 with eight stores despite the obvious contrast between Swiss incomes and the €1–€5 price points. Romania, entered in September 2025, ended the year with six stores, showing that the format can work at both ends of the European income spectrum. Croatia’s first store opened on 11 March 2026 with a second eight days later; Slovenia is planned after the summer of 2026 and Bulgaria for 2027.

The Netherlands, by contrast, is a saturated home market. Action opened only three Dutch stores in 2025, taking the total to 421, and now focuses on refurbishing existing ones. France is the largest country by store count and the engine of growth, while Germany, Poland and Italy supply most of the new openings. Action estimated its remaining European “white space” at about 4,650 additional stores in March 2026, up 200 on the previous year’s estimate, which implies that the current network could more than double on the continent alone.

Can Action’s formula work in the United States?

Action’s plan, announced in March 2026, is to open a first US store in the South-East by late 2027 or early 2028 and to reach 100 US stores by the end of 2030, using the same step-by-step approach it applied in Europe; whether it works depends on competing with Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Five Below in their home market.

The US already has more than 35,000 dollar stores, and Action’s European advantages, fragmented local competition and a long-established China sourcing network, are weaker there. Dollar Tree operates a similar fixed-price model at scale, and the US tariff regime on Chinese goods changes the cost base that Action relies on in Europe. Against that, Action’s assortment is broader and more design-led than most US dollar stores, its European buying scale is real, and the company says a completed market study shows clear potential.

Action is building a dedicated US organisation combining local hires with experienced internal leaders, and 3i has been careful to describe the move as a measured test rather than a transformation. The capital at stake is small relative to Action’s €900 million cash balance, but the signal matters: a chain whose entire history is European is betting that its model is universal. The experience of other Dutch retailers in America, from Ahold’s multi-decade success to Hudson’s Bay’s brief tenure in Dutch department stores, suggests both outcomes are possible.

What does Action mean for the Dutch retail landscape?

For Dutch retail, Action is the discounter that filled the space left by the collapse of the traditional variety-store chains, and its growth helps explain why Blokker went bankrupt in 2024, why HEMA needed three ownership changes, and why Dutch high streets have lost a quarter of their shop units in twenty years.

Blokker, HEMA and V&D all sold the household and seasonal goods that Action sells at a fraction of the price, but from expensive city-centre locations with higher staffing and inventory costs. As Action’s 421 Dutch stores spread through retail parks and suburban centres, the variety stores lost volume and could not cut costs fast enough. That decline is described in the HEMA, Blokker and the Dutch high street story. Action is also a major parcel-free competitor to online marketplaces: at its price points, delivery costs make e-commerce uneconomic, which is one reason bol and Amazon have not dented its growth.

The company is also a large employer and logistics customer. With almost 85,000 staff, 19 distribution centres and three more planned, Action is among the biggest users of Dutch and European warehouse space, with the kind of logistics footprint discussed in the PostNL parcel story and the Port of Rotterdam story, through which much of its Chinese-sourced stock arrives.

What can founders and investors learn from Action?

Founders and investors can learn that extreme standardisation beats local customisation in discount retail, that a patient majority owner willing to reinvest distributions can compound returns far beyond a conventional private-equity exit, and that unglamorous categories can produce some of the best businesses in Europe.

The first lesson is about focus. Action sells no fresh food, runs no loyalty scheme and spends little on advertising. Everything is subordinated to buying cheaply, shipping efficiently and opening stores. Founders who copy the model need to accept the discipline it demands: identical stores, limited assortments and relentless cost control.

The second lesson is about ownership. 3i’s willingness to hold Action for fifteen years, reinvest proceeds and avoid a sale or flotation is unusual. It is the main reason that a £134 million investment became a £24 billion position. Investors looking at private-equity portfolios should ask whether the manager has the balance sheet and governance to behave the same way; most do not.

The third lesson is about valuation. Action’s value is not only its 2025 EBITDA but the 4,650 stores it has not yet opened and a US market it has not yet entered. 3i’s shares trade at a premium to net asset value because investors assign value to that pipeline; the risk is that growth expectations and multiples move together. For more on the Dutch companies that have attracted global investors, see the Netherlands Company Stories hub.

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