Business
Burford Capital Announces Fir
Burford Capital Announces Fir.
About this update from Burford Capital Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\n RNS Number : 8871C Burford Capital 23 November 2009 \n \n\n23 November 2009\nBurford Capital Announces First Two Investments\n- Investments Confirm Burford's High Return Portfolio Model -\nBurford Capital Limited (\"Burford\" or \"the Company\"), the commercial dispute investor, today announces that it has made its first two investments in commercial disputes following its successful IPO and admission to the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange last month.\n\nThese two investments are for Burford's short duration portfolio, which aims to make investments expected to generate realizations within 12-18 months. Because of their proximity to resolution, short duration investments tend to be smaller than Burford's average investment because of the lower need for funding to reach resolution.\nIn addition to these investments, Burford has reviewed over 25 potential investments of widely varying size and duration in its first month of operations, a number of which remain in active due diligence.\nThe first investment is in a trade secret theft and breach of contract matter pending in US federal court with a trial date set for May 2010. Burford's investment is US$2.0 million to cover costs to get the matter to trial and the payment of some prior legal fees. If successful, the structure of the investment provides high returns for Burford with Burford entitled to a range of 35% to 67% of settlements or judgments depending on amount, with a lower result in the case providing a higher share of recovery to Burford.\nThe second investment is an arbitration matter concerning a shareholder dispute over the application of proceeds from the sale of a business with the arbitration hearing scheduled for February 2010. Burford's investment is US$2.3 million in this matter. The structure of the investment provides for a payment of 3x its investment to Burford (as first dollar recovery, before any money is received by the claimant) if the matter settles before or during the arbitration hearing, or 4x (also as first dollar recovery) if the matter is resolved thereafter. \nChristopher Bogart, Principal of Burford Group, commented: \n\"Our ability to close two investments in less than a month following our IPO, both with the potential to deliver significant returns in a rapid period ...