Argentina wins stay on YPF share transfer in US court battle

A New York appeals court accepted Argentina’s request on Friday to suspend the transfer of 51 percent of YPF shares while appeals are heard over the ruling that ordered the country to pay US$16.1 billion to two companies affected by the oil firm’s 2012 nationalisation.

Argentina will therefore not have to hand over YPF shares while the appeals process proceed in the United States – a positive step for President Javier Milei’s government.

In 2012, Argentina controversially expropriated 51 percent of YPF, then partly controlled by Spanish giant Repsol, which was later compensated with US$5 billion in 2014. That was not the case for minority shareholders such as Petersen Energía and Eton Park Capital, however, which in 2015 filed a lawsuit claiming the country had failed to launch its takeover bid in a manner required by law.

After ruling against Argentina in September 2023, US federal judge Loretta Preska ordered on June 30 that the state must transfer 51 percent of YPF shares to “partially” satisfy the US$16.1 billion payment to the two companies, which had held 25.4 percent of the oil firm before the nationalisation.

Argentina appealed that ruling. It also requested suspension of Preska’s order while the appeal is pending – a petition accepted this Friday by the New York-based appeals court.

“Upon due consideration, it is hereby ordered that the motions for a stay are granted and that the district court’s orders of June 30, 2025 are stayed pending resolution of the appeals,” wrote Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, clerk of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan.

Judge Preska had given Argentina two weeks to transfer the shares into a global custody account at the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM)

Milei’s government welcomed the decision, saying it “guarantees that the Argentine Republic retains the National State’s majority stake in the company while the appeal proceeds.”

The court’s order “does not affect the substantive appeal against the ruling issued in September 2023,” it added.

– TIMES/AFP