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.
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.
Argentina has warned that it would suffer irreparable harm and its economy could be destabilized if it gave up its stake in YPF, the country’s largest energy company.
The appeals court did not provide reasons for its order.
Preska had awarded the $16.1 billion in September 2023 to Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management.
They sued over Argentina’s 2012 decision to seize the YPF stake from Spain’s Repsol without making a tender offer to minority shareholders.
Lawyers for Petersen and Eton Park did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Argentina’s government said it was confident the $16.1 billion judgment would be overturned in the appeal.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Edmund Klamann)
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