Business
Burford Raises $180m in Pioneering USD Bond Issue
Burford Raises $180m in Pioneering USD Bond Issue.
About this update from Burford Capital Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 3850D Burford Capital 30 January 2018 \n\nThis announcement contains inside information.\n \n30 January 2018 \n \n \nBURFORD CAPITAL RAISES $180 MILLION IN PIONEERING US DOLLAR BOND ISSUE\nTO FURTHER SUPPORT CLIENT DEMAND AND BUSINESS GROWTH \n \nBurford Capital Limited (\"Burford\"), a leading global finance and investment management firm focused on law, announces that it has today raised US$180 million through an oversubscribed issue of US dollar denominated bonds on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (\"LSE\") by Burford Capital Finance LLC, its financing subsidiary. The bonds will be traded on the LSE's Order Book for Retail Bonds (\"ORB\"), pay interest at an annual rate of 6.125% and mature on 12 August 2025.\n \nThis new capital will permit Burford to continue growing its legal finance business, to which it committed $1.3 billion in 2017. Burford's business today is larger and comprises a more flexible range of legal finance offerings than ever before, underpinned by a long-term, deep capital base on its balance sheet and in its investment funds. The new bond was issued at a tighter spread to the relevant government debt than any of Burford's previous issues.\n \n \nChristopher Bogart, Burford's Chief Executive Officer, commented:\n\"Demand for Burford's first US dollar denominated bond was strong, requiring us to close the order book sooner than we had anticipated and cut back allocations. The level of subscription interest in our bond offerings underscores the attractions of the investment opportunities presented to Burford thanks to its leadership of the fast-growing commercial litigation finance market.\n \n\"Issued with a 6.125% coupon, at 349 basis points over a US Treasury bond of similar maturity, the offering priced significantly tighter than the coupon spread of 394 basis points over the underlying Gilt on our previous 2026 sterling bond when issued in May 2017.\n \n\"Adding US dollar debt - the first-ever USD issue on ORB - to our hitherto sterling-dominated debt will serve to diversify our currency risk, better matching the multi-denominational income profile of the Burford Group. We thank all our bondholders and shareholders for their continuing support of our global growth, and we look forward to capturing the si...