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Burford Capital

Company type	Public
Traded as	LSE: BUR NYSE: BUR
Industry	Financial services
Founded	2009 (2009)
Founders	Christopher Bogart Jonathan Molot
Headquarters	Guernsey
Key people	Christopher Bogart (CEO) Jonathan Molot (CIO)
Products	Litigation finance
Website	www.burfordcapital.com

Burford Capital is a financial services company that provides specialized finance to the legal market. Founded in 2009, it offers financing to corporate legal departments and law firms engaged in litigation and arbitration, asset recovery and other legal finance and advisory activities. It operates internationally with headquarters in Guernsey.

History

Burford was founded by Christopher Bogart and Jonathan Molot in 2009 as a way to fund commercial litigation and arbitration. Bogart had worked as general counsel for Time Warner and operated a venture capital fund, and Molot operated a firm that provided capital to companies at risk of litigation. Burford began as a small fund that initially helped corporate legal departments pay their lawyers' billable hours during litigation.

Burford became publicly traded on the London AIM Stock Exchange in October 2009 and issued further shares in a follow-on in 2010. In December 2016, Burford purchased Gerchen Keller Capital, another legal finance company. Burford launched The Equity Project in 2018. The project is used to finance commercial litigation and arbitration matters led by women and racially diverse individuals.

In 2019, Burford responded to a short attack by Muddy Waters Research that claimed financial inaccuracies. The same year, the company replaced its chief financial officer, the spouse of the chief executive officer. On 12 August 2019, Burford alleged it had identified evidence consistent with “illegal market manipulation” of its shares in the run up to the short attack.

On 21 June 2021, Burford announced it had successfully been paid $103m USD, resulting from the enforcement of a judgment in the divorce suit between Farkhad Akhmedov, a Russian businessman and Tatiana Akhmedova. Bloomberg reported the total settlement amount was £135m. Burford Capital was successful in financing the enforcement of the judgment in the divorce litigation. Burford went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020.

Burford financed litigation surrounding the renationalization of YPF, where in 2023 $16.1 billion in damages was awarded against Argentina on behalf of two minority shareholders of YPF. Burford's share of the verdict was estimated at $6 billion, with Burford seeking shares in YPF as payment on the judgement.

In 2023, Sysco assigned its claims to Burford in anti-trust lawsuits for price fixing. Sysco originally brought the suits against chicken, beef, pork and turkey suppliers. Burford had funded $140 million of the litigation beginning in 2019 and was later in a dispute with Sysco over settlements with the suppliers. It sued Burford, alleging Burford was interfering with the settlements. Sysco had previously assigned a substantial portion of the claims in breach of its agreement with Burford.

References

1. "Q&A with litigation financier Chris Bogart". New York Business Journal. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
2. "Burford Capital Ltd (BUR:London Stock Exchange)". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
3. "N+1 Singer Begins Coverage on Burford Capital Limited (BUR)". WKRB. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
4. "What Do You Get if You Cross a Lawyer With a Banker?". Bloomberg.com. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
5. Kinder, Tabby; Beioley, Kate (9 August 2019). "Behind Burford Capital: the litigation funder under siege". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
6. ^ Dewey, Katrina. "HOW THE FINANCIERS OF BURFORD CAPITAL ARE TRANSFORMING THE BUSINESS OF LAW". Law Dragon.
7. "BUR BURFORD CAPITAL LIMITED ORD NPV". London Stock Exchange. Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
8. Merken, Sara. "Burford sets aside new $100 mln pool for women, minority lawyers". Reuters. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
9. "Burford Capital attacks short sellers as shares plunge 40 per cent". City A.M. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
10. Russell, Harriet; O'Dwyer, Michael (7 August 2019). "Short seller Muddy Waters attacks litigation funder Burford Capital". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
11. "Clarity on Burford Capital is needed after Muddy Waters treatment". The Guardian. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
12. "Burford Capital ditches finance chief in response to activist pressure". City A.M. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
13. "Burford Capital alleges illegal market manipulation". The Times. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
14. "Legal financiers paid £75m for role in Russian billionaire divorce battle". The Independent. 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
15. Browning, Jonathan. "Billionaire Ends Largest U.K. Divorce With $186 MillionDeal". Bloomberg Law.
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.
18. Han, Yoonji. "Litigation finance is going mainstream. Here's how a US stock listing for top player Burford Capital could transform the landscape for investors placing bets on lawsuits". Business Insider.
19. Iglesia, Facundo. "Argentina: granting Burford's request for YPF shares would 'violate international law'". Buenos Aires Herald.
20. Scarcella, Mike. "Litigation funder Burford wins bid to take over Sysco chicken antitrust cases". Reuters.
21. Frankel, Alison. "Sysco cedes antitrust claims to litigation funder Burford as two sides drop cases". Reuters.

External links

• Burford Capital Home Page

• Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
• Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
• Financial services companies based in London
• Financial services companies based in New York City
• Lawsuits
• Legal costs