Burford Capital (“Burford”), a leading global finance firm focused on law, today announces an innovative financing arrangement with leading professional services company Grant Thornton to provide a £9 million facility across a portfolio of insolvency cases in which Grant Thornton partners are trustees.
Insolvent estates are regularly in the position of needing to secure financing to manage and maximize the value of their claims, but complex insolvencies are not always good fits for simple case financing.
The Burford/Grant Thornton arrangement is unique in permitting Grant Thornton the flexibility it needs to administer all of the claims by and against the estate instead of being limited to funding legal fees for claims, as is the case in standard insolvency arrangements, and its portfolio design accommodates defence costs, declaratory matters and administration costs. The trustees are working to return value to creditors.
Grant Thornton partner and insolvency practitioner Nick Wood said:
“The Burford facility allows a huge amount of flexibility because of its unique structure. “We wanted the entire range of matters funded, and we needed an innovative solution to the challenging situation we were presented with. It required forward-thinking and flexibility – and Burford delivered that in providing a solution that addressed the entire portfolio. “Without a portfolio solution, we would be left trying to deal with the cases on a one-by-one basis in a much less streamlined way, and trying to agree different types of deals including CFAs. What Burford provided is a significant step away from traditional third-party funding and towards a bespoke financing arrangement that is tailored to the needs to the estate. “Ultimately, without this arrangement we could not have proceeded as we had wanted and that would have affected the creditors adversely. “The Burford team understood what we needed and has created an arrangement that works for everyone.”
Nick Rowles-Davies, Managing Director of Burford Capital (UK), commented:
“Burford is pleased to be able to offer flexibility, expertise and a unique solution to Grant Thornton and the creditors, and to once again show innovation in the litigation finance space. “This is arguably the first deal of its kind in insolvency, particularly incorporating capital availability for defence and non-claimant cases and the use of financing for the officeholders’ ongoing fees. “We also believe that bespoke portfolio financing arrangements providing for the officeholders’ fees will start to become more frequent in Burford’s work in the insolvency space. “We are pleased to have drawn on our corporate finance expertise in providing such an innovative solution to Grant Thornton’s team, and we think it will become a more widespread approach in years to come.”