Litigation finance provider Burford Capital (LON: BUR) has secured a positive ruling in a major case. Trading in the shares was suspended on Friday afternoon when the verdict was announce and when trading recommenced this morning the share price jumped 25.2% to 944.5p, having been above 1000p early in the morning.
This case has been described as one of AIM-quoted Burford Capital’s four pillars of value. The damages could be between $2bn and $3bn, plus interest. Burford will take a large share of this payout. The size differs by case.
Peel Hunt has increased its previous estimate of book value for Burford Capital from 1046p a share to 1268p a share.
The New York court published an Opinion and Order on the Petersen and Eton Park cases against the Republic of Argentina and YPF. This case has been going on since 2015.
The court decided that Argentina was liable for failing to make a tender offer for YPF shares and the arguments made by Argentina to reduce damages were unavailing. YPF was found not to be liable.
The next step is a hearing to resolve two factual issues and then the level of damages can be calculated. However, Argentina is likely to appeal and that could take 12-18 months.
The case can be found at http://investors.burfordcapital.com.