Burford Capital gets green light for dual listing in New York
Aim-listed Burford Capital has received approval from the New York Stock Exchange for a dual listing of its shares.
The litigation funder, which listed on London’s Aim exchange in 2009, said it had received approval “subject to customary listing condition”.
Burford Capital announced plans to list in the US in July shortly after a renewed short-selling attack from US hedge fund Muddy Waters.
The investment firm described Burford’s 2019 financial figures as using “reclassification, redefinition to inflate cash receipts, operating profit, and to otherwise present a misleading picture of the business”.
The listing remains subject to approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates stock exchanges, as well as the New York Stock Exchange’s listing conditions.
It said that while the SEC process is continuing, it was beginning the administrative preparation now “so that in the event of SEC approval the shares can begin to trade on the NYSE”.
Burford added that part of the preparation was asking shareholders to decide whether they want future trading of the shares to settle through Crest or its US analogy, the Depositary Trust company.
Shares in Burford jumped nearly five per cent following the announcement before settling up 0.85 per cent. The litigation funder had been a victim of the market sell-off but has rallied upwards since.
The firm suffered a setback last month after a Dubai court refused to hand over possession of a £353m superyacht to a divorcee of Russian oligarch.
The ruling meant Tatiana Akhmedova and Burford, her litigation finance backer, cannot seize the asset which was owned by her ex-husband Farkhad Akhmedov.
Akhmedova was in 2016 granted a 41.5 per cent share of her ex-husband’s £1bn fortune but since then she and Burford have recouped less than one per cent.