NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday put on temporary hold a judge’s order that Argentina turn over its 51% stake in oil and gas company YPF to partially satisfy a $16.1 billion judgment.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan gave Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management, which won the judgment, until July 17 to oppose Argentina’s bid for a longer stay while the country appeals the turnover.
Argentina has until July 22 to reply, and the matter will be reviewed by “the next available” three-judge panel, the appeals court said.
The dispute stemmed from Argentina’s 2012 seizure of the YPF stake from Spain’s Repsol without making a tender offer to Petersen and Eton Park, which had been minority shareholders.
Those shareholders are represented by litigation funder Burford Capital, which has said it expected to receive 35% and 73% of Petersen’s and Eton Park’s respective damages.
Argentina has warned its economy could be destabilized if it gave up its controlling stake in YPF, the country’s largest energy company.
The country had faced a July 14 deadline for the turnover, but U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan agreed to delay enforcement so Argentina could seek relief from the appeals court.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)
