Litigation funder Burford resolves lawsuit against client in price-fixing cases
Litigation funder Burford resolves lawsuit against client in price-fixing cases By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Litigation funder Burford Capital BURF.L has reached a settlement with one of its funding clients, food distributor Harvest Sherwood, whose bankruptcy last year complicated Burford's efforts to recoup a $35 million investment.
Here are the details:
Publicly-traded Burford is the world’s largest litigation finance provider. Litigation funders provide financial support to clients in exchange for a part of any settlement or judgment.
In a court filing, Burford affiliates including Blakemore Investments on Thursday agreed to end their lawsuit in federal district court in Texas against Harvest Sherwood and affiliates, including Hamilton Meat. Burford will be paid $9.5 million in a settlement with Harvest, court papers show.
Detroit-based Harvest Sherwood in 2022 borrowed $35 million from Burford to help fund antitrust lawsuits accusing major meat processors of illegally fixing prices.
Once the country’s largest independent wholesale food distributors, Harvest Sherwood declared bankruptcy in May 2025. Its antitrust lawsuits accusing pork, chicken and beef producers of illegally fixing prices are among the company's key remaining assets.
Blakemore sued Harvest, Hamilton and other defendants as part of the bankruptcy last year. The complaint said the agreement to fund antitrust claims worth as much as $1.1 billion made Burford a secured creditor in the bankruptcy with a first-priority right to proceeds from the cases.
Harvest Sherwood said the funders sought improperly to “elevate Burford’s unsecured claim to some amorphous senior and first priority interest.”
Last November, Chief Judge Stacey Jernigan of the US Bankruptcy Court in Dallas had concluded Blakemore and another Burford entity had not shown that their capital provision agreement entitled them to payment ahead of secured creditors such as JPMorgan Chase.
Burford declined to comment on the settlement. Lawyers for Harvest and Hamilton did not immediately respond to a request for comment. They said in court filings that the settlement with Burford is “fair, equitable and reasonable.”
The case is Blakemore Investments LLC et al v. Hamilton Meat LLC et al, US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, No. 3:25-cv-03325-K.
For Blakemore: Julian Vasek and Kevin Lippman of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr
For Hamilton: Scott Cargill and Andrew Matott of Kelley Drye & Warren
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella)
((Email: mike.scarcella@thomsonreuters.com; Phone: 202-985-8228.))