Burford Capital

Burford Capital, founded in 2009, provides specialized finance to the legal market.[2] It operates as a finance and professional services company worldwide with principal offices in New York, London and Chicago. The company offers financing to lawyers and clients engaged in litigation and arbitration,[3] asset recovery and other legal finance and advisory activities.[4]

Burford Capital
TypePublic
LSE: BUR
NYSE: BUR
IndustryFinancial services
Founded2009 (2009)
FoundersChristopher Bogart
Jonathan Molot
HeadquartersGuernsey
New York City
Chicago
London
Key people
Christopher Bogart (CEO)[1]
Jonathan Molot (CIO)
ProductsLitigation finance
Websitewww.burfordcapital.com

History

Burford was founded by Christopher Bogart as a way to fund legal cases. The company was launched with Jonathan Molot in 2009.[5]

Burford has been publicly traded on the London AIM Stock Exchange (BUR:LN) [6] since October 2009 and issued further shares in a follow-on in 2010. In 2017, Burford received the AIM Award for Innovative Fundraising of the Year.[7]

On 7 August 2019, Muddy Waters Research cited issues[8][9] with Burford's fair value accounting practices and of misrepresenting its returns on invested capital and rates of return.[10] [11] Burford responded to each of the seven claims made by Muddy Waters, raising what it called “many factual inaccuracies”.[12] On 12 August 2019, Burford alleged it had identified evidence consistent with “illegal market manipulation” of its shares in the run up to a short attack.[13] Three days later, on 15 August 2019, Burford announced the replacement of its chief finance officer, the spouse of the chief executive officer.[14]

On 21 June 2021, Burford Capital announced it had successfully been paid $103m USD, resulting from the divorce settlement between Farkhad Akhmedov, a Russian businessman and Tatiana Akhmedova. [15] Bloomberg claims the total settlement was $186m USD. Burford Capital were successful in financing the litigation and were paid over 55% of the total settlement, which contributed $20m to its 2021 operating profit, according to Burford Capital. [16][17]

References
  1. "Q&A with litigation financier Chris Bogart". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  2. "What Do You Get if You Cross a Lawyer With a Banker?". Bloomberg.com. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  3. "Burford Capital Ltd (BUR:London Stock Exchange)". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  4. "N+1 Singer Begins Coverage on Burford Capital Limited (BUR)". WKRB. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  5. Kinder, Tabby; Beioley, Kate (9 August 2019). "Behind Burford Capital: the litigation funder under siege". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  6. "BUR BURFORD CAPITAL LIMITED ORD NPV". London Stock Exchange. Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  7. "Best AIM companies of 2017 confirmed". Interactive Investor. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  8. "Burford Capital attacks short sellers as shares plunge 40 per cent". City A.M. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  9. Russell, Harriet; O'Dwyer, Michael (7 August 2019). "Short seller Muddy Waters attacks litigation funder Burford Capital". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  10. "Muddy Waters criticises Burford Capital: the report unspun". The Times. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  11. "Shares crash as short seller Muddy Waters savages Burford Capital". City A.M. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  12. "Clarity on Burford Capital is needed after Muddy Waters treatment". The Guardian. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  13. "Burford Capital alleges illegal market manipulation". The Times. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  14. "Burford Capital ditches finance chief in response to activist pressure". City A.M. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  15. "Legal financiers paid £75m for role in Russian billionaire divorce battle". The Independent. 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  16. Burford Capital Website. "Akhmedov Judgment Enforcement Resolution". Burford Capital. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  17. "Billionaire Ends Largest U.K. Divorce With $186 Million Deal". Bloomberg.com. 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.