A New York appeals court has granted Argentina’s request to halt the transfer of 51 percent of YPF shares as it considers appeals related to the ruling mandating the country to compensate two companies with US$16.1 billion due to the oil firm’s nationalization in 2012. Argentina will consequently retain its YPF shares during the ongoing appeals process in the United States – a favorable development for President Javier Milei’s administration.
In 2012, Argentina undertook the controversial expropriation of 51 percent of YPF, which was then partially under the control of the Spanish conglomerate Repsol. This action culminated in a compensation of US$5 billion in 2014. Minority shareholders like Petersen Energía and Eton Park Capital experienced a different scenario. In 2015, they initiated legal proceedings asserting that the country did not execute its takeover bid in accordance with legal stipulations.
In a significant legal decision, US federal judge Loretta Preska ruled against Argentina in September 2023, subsequently ordering on June 30 that the state is required to transfer 51 percent of YPF shares. This action aims to “partially” fulfill the US$16.1 billion payment owed to the two companies that previously owned 25.4 percent of the oil firm prior to its nationalisation.
Argentina contested that ruling. The request for the suspension of Preska’s order during the pendency of the appeal has been granted by the New York-based appeals court this Friday. “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,” stated Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, clerk of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan.
Judge Preska had stipulated that Argentina must transfer the shares into a global custody account at the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM) within a two-week timeframe. Milei’s administration expressed approval of the ruling, asserting that 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.