This post was originally published on this site
https://i-invdn-com.investing.com/trkd-images/LYNXMPEJ870LU_L.jpg
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Argentina suffered a big legal defeat on Friday as a U.S. judge ruled against the country in a dispute with minority shareholders of YPF arising from the country’s 2012 seizure of a majority stake in the oil and gas company.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan ruled in favor of Burford Capital, which funded the litigation brought by shareholders Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management LP, and according to court papers was entitled to a respective 70% and 75% of their damages.
The plaintiffs had sought $16.05 billion, while Argentina said it owed no more than $4.92 billion, court papers show.
Argentina had argued that a big payout “would further burden a sovereign nation with a populace enduring pressing economic challenges and would far exceed Argentina’s budget for many critical services.”
Burford, a litigation funding company, in a statement acknowledged the ruling and said it was reviewing and analyzing it. Its shares were up 17.2% at $16.25 in Friday trading.
Preska ruled after a three-day non-jury trial held in late July. A lawyer for Argentina did not immediately respond to a request for comment
She had previously ruled that Argentina had breached its obligations to the shareholders by seizing the 51% YPF stake held by Repsol (OTC:REPYY) without tendering for the remaining shares, including those held by Petersen and Eton Park.
The trial concerned how much Argentina owed in damages.
Lawyers for the shareholders sought $8.43 billion in damages plus $7.62 billion in prejudgment interest, court papers show.
Those estimates were based on Argentina’s seizure of the YPF shares on April 16, 2012, which the shareholders said transferred “control,” plus 8% annual interest, based on the 6% to 8% commercial rates charged by Argentine courts.
Argentina countered that the trigger date was May 7, 2012, when the law allowed it to exercise rights attached to the seized shares, and the interest rate should be zero or at most 3%.
