Latest news with #AmberEnergy
Bloomberg
16-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Elliott Affiliate Weighs New Bid for Citgo as Legal Risks Ease
An Elliott Investment Management affiliate is considering rejoining the bidding for Citgo Petroleum Corp. 's parent company, according to people familiar with the matter. The affiliate, Amber Energy, had pulled out of the sale last month, leaving three groups of bidders to compete for the asset, including Red Tree Investments LLC, Vitol and a consortium led by Gold Reserve. But since then, other potential buyers, including TPG Angelo Gordon, have entered the contest, lured by easing legal risks related to the sale.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Venezuela about to lose Citgo, its most prized foreign asset?
By Marianna Parraga HOUSTON (Reuters) -A U.S. court-organized auction of shares in the parent company of Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum has entered its final stages, with bidders submitting improved offers for the U.S. refiner and creditors hoping to recover a portion of the proceeds. The auction stems from an eight-year-old case that Canadian miner Crystallex initiated in Delaware against Venezuela. The court found Citgo's parent, PDV Holding, liable for Venezuela's debts and expropriations, paving the way for over a dozen other creditors to pursue compensation of nearly $19 billion. Despite delays, the auction has progressed, especially since last year, through two bidding rounds. A $3.7 billion offer by Contrarian Funds' affiliate, Red Tree Investment, was selected in March as a starting bid and is now being challenged by rivals. Besides Red Tree, companies competing with improved bids include trading house Vitol, and a consortium including an affiliate of Gold Reserve, Rusoro Mining, and Koch. Elliott Investment Management's affiliate Amber Energy is also considering whether to submit a bid, following a separate court decision favoring a possible offer, according to a source familiar with the matter. A court officer overseeing the auction, who last month said new bidders could emerge right before a June 18 deadline to submit offers, must recommend the auction's winner by July 2. The judge and parties in the case are expected to attend a final hearing on August 18. How big a loss could this be for Venezuela? If Venezuela, which owns 100% of the refiner and its U.S.-based parent companies, fails to retain some equity, it would lose its most significant overseas asset. The country, with foreign debt reaching $150 billion, has already lost other assets in Europe and Asia to creditors. Delaware Judge Leonard Stark has left open a possibility for parties representing Venezuela to submit an offer. But boards supervising the seventh-largest U.S. refiner would need to secure backing from politicians in both Caracas and Washington, a challenge given U.S. sanctions on the OPEC nation and otherwise strained ties. Prior to the sanctions, Citgo's 807,000-barrel-per-day refining network was a primary processor of Venezuela's heavy sour crudes. Since Citgo cut ties with its ultimate parent, Caracas-based PDVSA, in 2019, Venezuela has struggled to find new markets for its oil, while the Houston-based refiner has sourced crude from other suppliers. Venezuela's opposition has worked for years to retain Citgo, including funding legal defenses and lobbying in Washington. The U.S. Treasury Department, which has shielded Citgo from creditors in recent years, must approve the auction's eventual winner. Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have stated Citgo could aid the nation's economic recovery if democracy is restored. Maduro's officials have rejected U.S. sanctions and called the auction the "robbery" of a sovereign asset. Can creditors claim post-auction compensation? Yes. Many creditors including ConocoPhillips, which holds the largest claims for almost $12 billion, and Gold Reserve, have pursued legal action outside of the U.S. to seize Venezuela-owned assets, such as bank accounts, tankers and PDVSA-controlled storage facilities. The creditors, who rejected the outcome of a bidding round last year due to conditions imposed by the selected winner, can submit objections if dissatisfied with its results. They can also continue parallel cases in other U.S. courts. Accumulating legal costs and uncertain recovery prospects led three of the 18 creditors originally cleared by the court to withdraw. Others, including an owner of artifacts that belonged to Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar, did not fulfill all court requirements to participate. Will all creditors be compensated? Unlikely. While Citgo was valued between $11 billion and $13 billion as part of the Delaware case, expectations are that the auction will yield no more than $8 billion, factoring in potential side agreements with key creditors, like bondholders. Citgo's recent weak performance, including a profit that plummeted to $305 million last year from $2 billion in 2023, is also expected to affect its valuation. These factors suggest that more than half of the 15 registered creditors, collectively claiming $18.9 billion, may not receive distributions from the auction.
Mint
21-04-2025
- Business
- Mint
Phillips 66 fires back at Elliott over Citgo conflict of interest amid board fight
(Adds Elliott response in paragraph 8, reflects letter was published in paragraphs 1-2) April 21 (Reuters) - Activist investor Elliott Investment Management should back down from its push to break up energy company Phillips 66 because it is conflicted from a separate effort to acquire one of the group's rivals, Phillips 66 said in a letter on Monday. The salvo is the latest in a bitter spat between Phillips 66 and Elliott that is due to come to a head at a shareholder meeting next month. In arguing against Elliott's break-up thesis in the letter, Phillips 66 said the investment firm has a conflict of interest due to its separate efforts to buy Citgo Petroleum. Citgo's parent company is being sold via a court-supervised auction. Last year, Elliott-backed Amber Energy was initially deemed the winner of the process, before creditor challenges forced the court to backtrack and launch a new sale. Amber Energy CEO Gregory Goff said on April 9 he had bought a position in Phillips 66 and backed Elliott's campaign. "This conflict is concerning because Amber Energy's executives are actively helping support Elliott's case to undermine Phillips 66's strategy," said Monday's letter from Phillips 66. Phillips 66 is one of the largest U.S. refiners, while Citgo is the seventh largest. In response to a request for comment, an Elliott spokesperson pointed to an April 10 regulatory filing. This stated that Goff's work alongside Elliott was "hidden from no one, and in no way represents a conflict of interest, diminishes the independence of his views or impairs his ability to help Phillips 66 become a stronger, more valuable company". Elliott has put forward four director nominees for the May 21 meeting as part of a campaign that has also included calling on Phillips 66 to sell or spin off its midstream business and consider divesting other assets to focus on its refining business and boost its share price. Elliott has said it has a more than $2.5 billion investment in Phillips 66. It is the second time the investment firm has pushed for change at Phillips 66, after a first effort ended in early 2024 with the addition of a new company board member blessed by Elliott. (Reporting by David French in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jan Harvey) First Published: 21 Apr 2025, 09:31 PM IST
