US judge orders Argentina to sell 51 pct stake in oil firm YPF
NEW YORK
A federal judge in New York has ordered Argentina on to sell its majority stake in oil firm YPF, the latest blow to Buenos Aires in a decade-long international legal saga.
The case revolves around the 2012 renationalization of YPF from the control of Spanish giant Repsol.
Two minority shareholders, Petersen Energia and Eton Park Capital, filed suit in 2015 seeking damages for allegedly not receiving proper compensation in the sale.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and in September 2023 ordered Argentina to pay over $16 billion to the firms.
To partially satisfy the outstanding sum, Preska ordered Argentina to transfer its 51 percent stake of YPF to an intermediary.
"We will appeal this decision in all appropriate courts to defend national interests," Argentine President Javier Milei posted on X.
YPF, a century-old and iconic Argentine company with more than 22,000 employees, was privatized in the 1990s and gradually came under the control of Repsol.
It was renationalized in 2012 under then-president Cristina Kirchner.
In 2014, after months of dispute, Repsol reached an agreement with Argentina for compensation of around $5 billion.
The Petersen Group and Eton Park Capital, which together held 25.4 percent of YPF's capital, filed suit in 2015, alleging that the country had not submitted a takeover bid as provided by law.
Preska has ordered Argentina to pay $7.5 billion in damages and $6.85 billion in interest to Petersen Energia.
She also ordered Argentina to pay about $1.7 billion, between damages and interest, to Eton Park Capital.
