IMF Bentham Ltd (ASX: IMF) have just announced a $141 million acquisition of European litigation funder Omni Bridgeway. The purchase will be funded via a capital raising.
IMF has been one of the world’s leading global litigation funders since 2001. It’s headquartered in Australia and has offices in the US, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and London. IMF has an experienced litigation funding team that oversees its investments.
At 30 June 2019, IMF had achieved a 90% success rate across 184 completed cases (excluding withdrawals).
Major Acquisition
IMF has agreed to acquire Omni Bridgeway for up to €87.5 million (~AUD $141 million). Omni Bridgeway is a leading funder of litigation, arbitration and enforcement proceedings focusing on civil law jurisdictions primarily in Continental Europe and Central Asia.
IMF sighted compelling strategic and commercial benefits as the reasons behind the acquisition.
The purchase will be funded by a fully underwritten ~$139 million institutional placement and a pro-rata retail entitlement offer. Watch the Rask Finance video above to understand what that means.
Initially, $57 million will be paid upon completion of the deal with the remainder to be paid in instalments over the following five years. A significant portion is contingent on certain performance hurdles being met.
I think it will be interesting to see how investors react to the acquisition because it will give IMF a much wider geographic reach. The share price has performed strongly in recent months, up more than 50% in the last six months.
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At the time of publishing, Luke has no financial interest in any companies mentioned.