Repsol Demand to Argentina in a New York Court for the Expropriation of YPF
Spanish oil company Repsol filed in federal court in New York a collective lawsuit against the Argentine government for the expropriation of 51% of YPF in order to obtain financial compensation.
The lawsuit, which is available today in the electronic record of the U.S. judicial system, was introduced by Repsol and the investment fund Texas Capital Corporation and Yale went to the federal judge, Thomas Griesa.
Lawyers for the Spanish group in New York claim that the court compel the Argentine government to launch a takeover bid (OPA) for YPF after the expropriation accomplished on 3 May.
In the lawsuit, 27 pages, Repsol claims that Argentina violated its contractual obligations by failing to launch a bid for the oil after regaining control of YPF, and ask them to offer price is fixed according to the provisions of the law.
The lawyers added that until it launches IPO shares is expropriated by Argentina “can not exercise their right to vote or collect dividends or be taken into account for calculating the quorum of the relevant General Meeting.”
In parallel, Repsol began Tuesday the process to lead to international arbitration with the nationalization of YPF sending a letter to the president of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez, which declares the existence of a dispute over expropriation.
Now open a period of six months that the parties reach an agreement before this definitely Repsol arbitration claims before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank (ICSID).
YPF’s shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange fell 7.1% today after Repsol submit the claim against the Argentine government for expropriation.
American Depositary Receipts (ADR) of YPF, financial instruments required to foreign entities to register their shares on Wall Street, lost halfway through the session $ 1.02 to change hands for $ 13.21.
So far this year, these ADRs have lost 61.94% of its value in the main financial center in the world, most after Buenos Aires announced April 16 its decision to nationalize and intervene YPF, the largest Argentina’s oil.
Expropriation until ordered by the Argentine government was the majority shareholder Repsol YPF with 57.4% of the capital, a share that the company led by Antonio Brufau valued at 10,500 million dollars (over 8,000 million euros).
According to Repsol, the expropriation violates the commitments of the Treaty on the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments signed between Spain and Argentina, so this dispute should be settled before the ICSID.
Category: Business News
