| Burford Capital | |
| Logo Alt: | Burford Capital Logo |
| Type: | Public |
| Traded As: | |
| Industry: | Financial services |
| Founders: | Christopher Bogart Jonathan Molot |
| Location: | Guernsey |
| Key People: | Christopher Bogart (CEO)[1] Jonathan Molot (CIO) |
| Products: | Litigation finance |
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,[2] asset recovery and other legal finance and advisory activities.[3] [4] It operates internationally with headquarters in Guernsey.
Burford was founded by Christopher Bogart and Jonathan Molot in 2009 as a way to fund commercial litigation and arbitration.[5] 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.[6]
Burford became publicly traded on the London AIM Stock Exchange[7] 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.[6] 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.[8]
In 2019, Burford responded to a short attack by Muddy Waters Research[9] [10] that claimed financial inaccuracies.[11] The same year, the company replaced its chief financial officer, the spouse of the chief executive officer.[12] 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.[13]
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.[14] Bloomberg reported the total settlement amount was £135m.[15] Burford Capital was successful in financing the enforcement of the judgment in the divorce litigation. [16] [17] Burford went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020.[18]
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.[19]
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.[20] [21]