HOUSTON (Reuters) – A U.S. court is expected to confirm or reject in coming days a $3.7 billion offer by an affiliate of Contrarian Funds aimed at setting a floor for a new bidding round for shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum, following a hearing where creditors made their arguments on Thursday.
Contrarian Funds’ bid, recommended by a court officer overseeing the auction last month, has unleashed a battle among the 16 creditors that remain in the 8-year court case, aimed at compensating companies and bondholders for debt defaults and expropriations in Venezuela.
Delaware judge Leonard Stark filed a document earlier this week saying he was “inclined” to accept the court officer’s recommendation of the bid by Contrarian’s affiliate Red Tree Investments, which was selected due to its certainty of closing.
However, several creditors and lawyers representing Venezuela said in the hearing that starting with such a ‘low’ bid would make it difficult to approach a targeted $7 billion to $8 billion value for Citgo.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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