Burford Capital lower as Dubai court withholds superyacht in Russian oligarch divorce case

Burford Capital Limited (LON:BUR) shares turned lower on Friday after a court in Dubai refused to hand over a superyacht in the ongoing divorce case of an Azerbaijani-Russian oligarch.

The company, which provides financing for legal cases and law firms, has been backing Tatiana Akhmedova, the divorcee of billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov, who has been fighting in the courts to secure ownership of the ship, named Luna, which is worth around £353mln, according to a report in the Evening Standard.

Akhmedova was originally awarded just over 40% of her former husband’s fortune in a ruling at the High Court in London in 2016, however, since then she and Burford have recouped less than 1% of the entire sum, which stands at £453mln.

Burford’s attempts to pursue Akhmedov for more assets have also involved enlisting the services of Arcanum, a private intelligence firm that provides assistance to both governments and corporations.

The ruling marks another setback for Burford, which in May dropped its legal pursuit of US short-seller Muddy Waters after a High Court ruling refused to allow access to London Stock Exchange data that might have indicated market manipulation of its shares.

Shares in Burford were down 0.3% to 523.6p in early deals.