Burford Capital (BUR) has sold a 10 per cent stake in its entitlement to a landmark case for $100m (£78m), as the litigation finance group and the claimant it backs notched up another victory in US courts.
On Monday, the US Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Argentina to block a lawsuit brought by a bankrupt shareholder in YPF, the state oil company expropriated by the South American country in 2012.
Argentina had argued that US courts lacked jurisdiction, though Madrid-based Petersen Energia – which is being funded by Burford – has so far successfully argued that the nationalisation triggered provisions for a tender offer to shareholders.
The case will now return to the trial court, though Burford stressed that the latest decision “relates purely to a preliminary jurisdictional question and does not foreshadow any particular result in the underlying litigation”.
But the fact that claims are assured a hearing in US courts is another boost to an asset for which Burford paid just $18m in 2015. For proof, Burford announced it had sold a 10 per cent claim to any eventual payout, thereby valuing its initial investment at $1bn.
