Therium calls on Simmons as it launches largest-ever litigation fund

Therium has completed the first close of its new £300m fund dedicated to litigation, the funder has announced.

Therium turned to Simmons & Simmons partner Matthew Pitman, Ogier and Seward & Kissel on the establishment on the new fund. The first close is at £200m with a further £100m expected before final close, in what is Therium’s largest fund.

Co-founder and chief investment officer Neil Purslow said: “Demand for litigation funding from Therium since we launched our last major fund has exceeded our expectations and we have transformed the scale of our operations over the past few years in order to meet that demand.

“Over that period, Therium has enjoyed an unprecedented scale of opportunity in funding single cases in all of our markets. At the same time, we have innovated with portfolio products for law firms and corporates and with the acquisition of claims, judgments and awards.

“Our new investor base provides the platform that we need to be able to deliver all of these products to our clients, and we are excited to be partnering with them in this rapidly developing space.”

Therium said it would use the new funds to continue to invest in litigation in the financial services, energy and mining and TMT sectors. It added that the new fund is expected to be deployed within two years.

The litigation funder has bankrolled a number of significant class actions, including one launched by 45,000 Volkswagen (VW) car owners against the manfucturer over its emissions scandal, and the £3.9bn compensation claim against a number of European truck manufacturers who were found by the European Commission to have engaged in illegal price fixing for 14 years.

It is also funding a £300m claim lodged by retailers including Nando’s, the Co-operative Group, Pret A Manger and Harvey Nichols against Mastercard over its credit card fees. The group of well-known UK retailers argue that the credit card giant breached a number of EU and UK regulations when it set “unlawful and anti-competitive” Mastercard rules and fees by itself.

Most recently, Therium announced it would contribute £1.5m to Noel Edmonds’ £60m claim against Lloyds Bank relating to the fraud that took place at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).

Edmonds is suing Lloyds, which merged with HBOS in 2009, for up to £60m – thought to have been revised down from £300m – in damages, after his business, Unique Group, collapsed following alleged fraud by HBOS bankers in Reading.

Earlier this year, rival funder Burford Capital said it was considering a potential bond issue following its $1.3bn investment in legal services during the past year.

The litigation funder invested more than triple its 2016 level last year. A notable case it has taken on is the cartel damages claim arising from the European Commission’s decision to issue a €2.9bn fine on manufacturers Daimler, Volvo/Renault, Iveco, MAN and DAF for price fixing.

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