By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Friday granted Argentina’s request to put on temporary hold a judge’s order that it turn over its 51% stake in oil and gas company YPF to partially satisfy a $16.1 billion judgment won by two investors.
In a brief order, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan stayed U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska’s June 30 turnover order while Argentina appeals.
Friday’s order provides a reprieve for Argentine President Javier Milei’s government, which warned of irreparable harm and economic instability if it gave up its stake in YPF, the country’s largest energy company.
Argentina is separately appealing the $16.1 billion judgment, which Preska awarded in September 2023 to Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management.
The investors are represented by litigation funder Burford Capital, which would share in their damages.
Lawyers for Petersen and Eton Park did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Friday’s order did not provide reasons for the stay, which should last at least a few months. Argentina’s next legal filing related to YPF is due on September 25, court records show.
The dispute stemmed from Argentina’s 2012 decision to seize the YPF stake from Spain’s Repsol without making a tender offer to minority shareholders.
Argentina had argued that the YPF shares were immune from turnover under the federal Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
The U.S. government sided with Argentina, saying a resolution of the dispute should not be rushed and potentially interfere with relations between the countries.
Lawyers for the investors countered that a commercial activity exception to immunity, together with Argentina’s “many years” of evasion, justified a turnover.
In her June 30 order, Preska said Argentina’s control over the YPF shares triggered the exception, and the country could not simply invoke its own laws to prevent a turnover.
A spokesperson for the Argentine government said the country welcomed Friday’s order, and confident the $16.1 billion damages award would also be overturned.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler, Edmund Klamann and Marguerita Choy)
