Repsol files class action lawsuit against Argentina

According to a recent statement, Repsol has filed a class action lawsuit against Argentina in response to the allegedly illegal takeover of YPF. Repsol is pursuing the case in the name of other shareholders who were also affected by the takeover.

Repsol has argued that Argentinian government is bound by the terms of an agreement made in 1993 regarding YPF’s original privatisation. The agreement states that Argentina has to offer a cash tender to all holders of Class D Shares in the company.

The company has also demanded that damages be paid and an injunction be passed which would prevent the Argentinian government from participating in company votes or receiving dividends until a tender off is proposed.

The lawsuit states that, “Argentina’s failure to launch a tender offer despite having retaken control over YPF constitutes a breach of its contractual obligations to other shareholders … Argentina’s commitment, in its capacity as a shareholder of YPF, not to retake control of the company without launching a tender offer has been repeatedly reiterated and reaffirmed to investors in the US.”

This lawsuit comes in the wake of the company’s announcement that it plans to take a formal complaint to the World Bank’s arbitration body, the ICSID, in order to seek the US$ 10.5 billion it feels it is owed in exchange for the loss of shares. Argentina has stated that it will not pay such a sum.

Edited from various sources by David Bizley

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