YPF announced that it reached a settlement in the Maxus case in USAwhat perwill dismiss all actions filed against the Argentine oil company and against Repsol and will grant a full release and acquittal of the claims you filed at the time the Maxus Liquidation Trust for up to US$14 billion.
In a statement, the Argentine oil company recalled that after the privatization of YPF in 1992, the company deployed an international expansion strategy in the acquisition of Maxus, a US oil and gas company.
At that time, this firm had assets in various countries around the world (United States, Bolivia, Indonesia, Ecuador and Venezuela), which for YPF -controlled by Repsol- meant the kickoff of a business strategy that in light of the time was presented as attractive.
Years before, in 1986, Maxus had sold its chemical business to Occidental Chemical Corporation and agreed to indemnify it for environmental liabilities arising from its operations.
Subsequently, in 2005 the State of New Jersey sued Occidental and Maxus -later adding YPF and Repsol- for the contamination of the Passaic River -10 kilometers from New York City- with chemical residues.
Occidental asserted its indemnity and Maxus, the company that YPF had acquired in 1995, honored its obligations until June 17, 2016, when it made the decision to file for bankruptcy and was subsequently declared bankrupt.
In June 2018, the Maxus Liquidation Trust sued YPF and Repsol and certain subsidiaries, for an amount of up to 14,000 million dollars before the Bankruptcy Court of the District of Delaware.
The Trust alleged that Maxus intended to hinder, delay, or defraud his creditors.
Agreement
It’s a statement, YPF reported that after years of litigation and negotiations for the Maxus Liquidation Trust and after obtaining from the Argentine oil company, in June 2002, a partial summary judgment decision by the Bankruptcy Court, YPF and Repsol reached a conciliation agreement.
That agreement determines that the Maxus Liquidation Trust would waive the claims it has filed against YPF and Repsol in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, as well as all current and future claims it may have against both companies.
In exchange for this, YPF and Repsol agreed to pay the Trust an amount of US$287.5 million each, making a total of US$575 million.
The amount to be paid by YPF is equivalent to only 2% of the original amount of the claim.
The agreement is subject to judicial approval and other conditions that must be met over the next few months, the YPF statement detailed.
In addition, YPF and Repsol also signed a settlement agreement with Occidental Chemical Corporation and some of its affiliates, under which Occidental agreed to waive any future claims it may have against both companies in relation to the Maxus entities, the Passaic River and other areas subject to environmental remediation.
Repsol
Along these lines, both YPF and Repsol also signed agreements with various government entities, including the Department of Justice acting on behalf of the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the States of Ohio and Wisconsin, under which the government entities have committed not to bring claims against both companies in matters similar to those previously filed under the Maxus Settlement Trust.
The agreements with Occidental and the US Environmental Protection Agency are similarly subject to certain conditions precedent.
“If the conditions are met, the agreements will terminate the litigation that lasted for years, reaching a fair and reasonable settlement for all parties, and that will allow YPF to continue focusing its efforts on generating value and employment, deepening the growth of its production and focus its efforts on the necessary investments to strengthen and diversify the Argentine energy matrix”said the company led by Pablo González.
Source: Ambito
