Litigation funder Gerchen Keller Capital LLC made headlines last year when it paid $26.2 million to purchase a portion of a $213 million bankruptcy judgment. Now, the first known purchase into a bankruptcy judgment by a litigation funder appears poised to pay off for Burford Capital Ltd., which paid $160 million in December to acquire Chicago-based Gerchen Keller.
Burford stands to reap a 91 percent return from Gerchen Keller’s investment after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed last week a large judgment that arose from a 2015 trial over claims that billionaire Ira Rennert siphoned millions of dollars from his investment fund, Renco Group Inc. Burford is in line to receive $50 million of the judgment, which could be paid out as early as later this year pending any potential en banc review or U.S. Supreme Court petition.
