Burford Capital, a commercial dispute investor, has completed its initial public offering on the Aim market of the London Stock Exchange.

The company has raised approximately USD130m (GBP80m) through the placing of 80 million shares at an offer price of 100p per share.

It is expected that admission to Aim will become effective, and that unconditional dealings in the ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange will commence, at 8am on 21 October 2009 under the ticker symbol BUR.

Fox-Pitt Kelton acted as sole bookrunner, nominated adviser and broker to the company. Execution Limited acted as co-lead manager. Latham & Watkins acted as counsel to the company.

Burford will focus on complex commercial litigation in the US and on international arbitration.

Christopher Bogart (pictured), principal of Burford Group, says: “We are delighted by the response of investors to Burford Capital’s IPO, the largest ever worldwide for a litigation finance investor. We are pleased to be announcing the publication of our admission document and we look forward to becoming a listed fund that gives shareholders access to an exciting, uncorrelated and growing asset class.”

Burford Capital’s strategy is to create and manage a diversified portfolio of commercial dispute financing investments with the aim of providing shareholders with attractive levels of dividends and capital growth. The company expects returns to be uncorrelated to general equity market performance. In the short term, the company intends to focus on commercial disputes in the US and on international arbitration matters; in the medium term, it may expand its focus to other attractive and suitable jurisdictions.

Burford is chaired by Sir Peter Middleton, former group chairman and group chief executive of Barclays Bank.