Augusta, the largest litigation and dispute funding institution in the UK – with £150m of capital and a team of 70 in London, today announces its expansion into the Canadian market with the opening of an office in Toronto. This complements Augusta’s existing operations in Sydney and London.
As the market for funding of litigation and disputes has come into maturity around the world, there is growing acceptance of third-party funding as a route for claimants to seek justice, for lawyers to ensure certainty of fee income and to maximize flexibility of working capital. And with increasing geopolitical uncertainty, activity around litigation and disputes has grown also. The non-recourse nature of third-party funding provides certainty and peace of mind to claimants and their lawyers in otherwise unstable times.
These trends on the ‘demand side’ are echoed on the ‘supply side’, with an increase in litigation funders joining stock markets and receiving substantial commitments from investors who recognise the specialist skills of such organisations. Augusta, for example, raised £150m in 2018, and all indications are that investment into well-managed funders will continue to increase in 2019, enabling more claims to be pursued with third-party support, at lower costs than were once tenable.
Augusta’s Toronto office will be headed by Max Doyle, who re-joins Augusta. Max will be supported by several experienced members of Augusta’s London team.
Louis Young, Managing Director of Augusta said: “We’re delighted to launch our Canadian operations today. 2018 was a strong year for Augusta, where we funded a record number of successful claims and raised significant capital. Our business model and operating platform allows us to finance claims of all sizes, and our underwriting discipline allows us to be a price leader in the markets that we operate in. We have been involved in the Canadian market for several years and we see Toronto as a logical first step in our growth plans for 2019.”
Max Doyle, Head of Augusta Canada said: “I am delighted to be part of the expansion of Augusta’s operations into Canada where there is a growing and exciting litigation funding market. The company has been hugely successful in the UK, Europe and Australia and opening an office in North America was a logical next step. Augusta looks forward to introducing its creative and flexible funding solutions to the Canadian market. I am delighted to be part of this phase of the company’s growth.”
About Augusta Ventures
- Established in 2013, Augusta is the largest litigation and dispute funding institution in the UK – with £150m of capital and a team of 70 in London and 85 worldwide. Augusta’s scale enables us to make decisions in market-leading timeframes and fund cases of any size.
- Augusta is organised into a series of specialist practice groups: Arbitration, Class Action, Competition, Consumer, Intellectual Property and Litigation, and sectors including Financial Services and Construction & Energy.
- By the end of 2018, Augusta had funded 197 claims with a market leading win ratio of 80%.
