Now they’re acting like banks. In a development that highlights the growing versatility of litigation funding, on June 3 Burford Capital announced details of a “highly profitable” investment that it says represents the future of its industry.
Litigation funder Burford says that it backed the U.K. power company Rurelec plc in an arbitration against the government of Bolivia that culminated in a $41 million award this year. Burford says that it loaned Rurelec $15 million in 2012, and got back the principal, plus $11 million in profit—a 73 percent return on its investment.
