North of England-based ME Group, which provides litigation funding and insurance, has acquired specialist funder Quanta Capital - in what it says will be the first of several moves in the litigation funding sphere.

Quanta Capital specialises in litigation funding for commercial disputes and matrimonial matters. 

It will operate as a standalone business within the ME Group under which it is set to take on disputes involving small and-medium-sized enterprises - which require funding of between £250K - £2.5m - and matrimonial disputes involving high-net worth clients. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Quanta Capital finances firms and clients charging a fixed monthly interest payment.

Rob Cooper, ME Group chief executive, said: ‘We anticipate that Quanta Capital will be a significant driver of growth within our portfolio of dispute resolution services.’ He added that he expects to announce further moves by the group during the next few months to ‘increase our presence along the dispute resolution value chain.’

ME Group also revealed interim financial results for the six months to September 2018. The business reported profit before tax of £1.26m on turnover of £6.2m. In the 15 months to March 2018, the only comparison provided, profit was £0.93m and turnover was £5.8m.

Cooper said: ‘These are excellent results for the group, underlining the significant progress we have made since we began trading in 2017.’