US court clears Altana Fund to take part in auction of shares in Citgo parent (updated)

Rusoro Mining

24/01/2024 16:54

(Adds judge's order and context in paragraphs 3-4 and 6,
graphic, bylines)
    By Marianna Parraga and Gary McWilliams
       Jan 24 (Reuters) - A U.S. court on Wednesday ruled that
a holder of Venezuelan bonds, Altana Credit Opportunities Fund,
could seek proceeds from an auction of shares in Citgo
Petroleum's parent, whose first bidding round closed this week,
to pay the country's creditors.
    A court officer appointed for the Delaware case, first
brought by miner Crystallex in 2017, this month released a list
of 17 creditors cleared to obtain proceeds from the sale of
shares in PDV Holding, whose only asset is Citgo.
    The ruling paves the way for Altana to cash in its roughly
$530 million claim, and increases the total allowed by the court
to some $21.3 billion from 18 creditors.
    
    The auction, which is expected to trigger an ownership
change for Houston-based Citgo, is expected to conclude this
year after a second bidding round, U.S. Judge Leonard Stark has
said.
    Stark separately denied a writ of attachment to Florida
resident and creditor Ricardo Devengoechea, but will allow him
additional time to further argue why his $17 million claim
should be attached to the case.
    The judge said he would slightly modify the auction
procedure, but based on advice from court officer Robert Pincus,
he is trying to "draw a line" on allowing other creditors to
join the case. Pincus has said that including others could
further complicate the roughly seven-year-old case and extend
delays for a final sale to compensate creditors. 
    Stark also said Caracas-based state oil company PDVSA
 PDVSA.UL  remains the alter ego of Venezuela, the core argument
that has allowed Crystallex and more than a dozen additional
creditors including oil producer ConocoPhillips  COP.N , glass
maker O-I Group  OI.N  and miners Rusoro  RML.V  and Gold
Reserve  GRZ.V  to pursue PDVSA's foreign assets in U.S. courts.

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Creditors cleared to take part in Citgo parent's share auction  
 https://tmsnrt.rs/3vKQglY
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 (Reporting by Marianna Parraga; editing by Gary McWilliams and
Richard Chang)
 ((marianna.parraga@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713 371 7559; Reuters
Messaging: @mariannaparraga))