Australian litigation and disputes funder IMF Bentham Ltd. will merge with Dutch litigation funder Omni Bridgeway Holdings BV to create a global litigation funder with more than $1.5 billion) in capital.

As part of the deal, IMF Bentham will acquire all of Omni Bridgeway's investment and business activities for a minimum of $61 million, and the transaction value may increase, contingent on future business development.

The combined company will have 18 offices in 10 countries across North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East, with 145 professionals experienced in legal and recovery systems worldwide and fluent in more than 20 languages, the parties said in a statement.

The group will offer services including the funding and management of disputes, and international enforcement of judgments and awards; the enforcement of nonperforming loans of banks and subrogation claims of insurance companies; and after-the-event cost protection cover in cost-shifting jurisdictions.

The merger will drive both companies' shared goal of global diversification and presence in key litigation markets, the statement said. The combined team will include professionals with expertise across all types of disputes and economists, financial experts, business intelligence and asset tracing professionals.

"We view the merger as a partnership of complementary strengths," said Raymond van Hulst, managing director at Omni Bridgeway. "Together, we have the global scale and local understanding needed for today's complex multijurisdictional and domestic disputes."

IMF Bentham began funding disputes in Australia in the 1990s. Omni Bridgeway was founded in the Netherlands in 1986 and is a financier of high-value claims and a global specialist in cross-border enforcement against sovereign governments. In 2017, German litigation funder ROLAND ProzessFinanz became part of Omni Bridgeway.

"Like IMF Bentham, Omni Bridgeway has been at the forefront of the dispute finance industry in its regions and areas for decades," said Andrew Saker, managing director and chief executive officer of IMF Bentham. "As one of continental Europe's leading litigation funders, it offered unique advantages compared to other acquisition candidates that IMF Bentham considered for its European expansion. Those factors, combined with a strong cultural fit, made clear that merging was the right choice at the right time for both companies."

IMF Bentham will continue to be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The combined group will assume one global name, pending a rebrand projected for completion by June 30, 2020.