, Columnist
Muddy Waters Declares War on London Litigators
The implosion of Burford Capital's share price after a Muddy Waters short-seller attack raises questions about how it values its legal cases.
Block tackle.
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Investors who bought shares in the litigation finance specialist Burford Capital Ltd. when it listed on London’s Aim market in 2009 had enjoyed a more than 2,000% return by the time the stock peaked in the summer of 2018.1
This week has been more sobering. On Wednesday the shares lost more than half of their value after Muddy Waters published a note casting doubt on the company’s seemingly stellar performance. Almost 2 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) of investor wealth has gone up in smoke since rumors of the short-selling firm’s interest first emerged on Tuesday.