Venezuela

Elliott Investment Management is the leading bidder in a U.S. court-ordered auction of the parent company of Venezuelan-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp., Bloomberg News reported. Elliott was competing against bidders including independent refiner Vitol Group and Canadian miner Gold Reserve Inc., which was working on a joint bid with billionaire Carl Icahn’s CVR Energy. Elliott has now been granted exclusivity to negotiate a deal. The auction process has been long and winding, and Elliott’s emergence as the top contender doesn’t necessarily mean it will end up with the asset.

A group of Venezuela bondholders hired Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as its new legal adviser as they gear up to eventually negotiate a massive debt restructuring with the government, Bloomberg News reported. The Venezuela Creditor Committee, which holds more than $10 billion of defaulted government and state oil company bonds, said in a statement it had retained the San Francisco-based firm. It previously worked with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as its legal adviser.

At least five groups of investors submitted binding bids this month in a U.S. court-ordered auction of shares in Citgo Petroleum's parent, and three have secured financing commitments for Venezuela's foreign crown jewel, Reuters reported. In the last mile of an unprecedented auction to pay up to $21.3 billion from past expropriations and debt defaults in Venezuela, a federal court officer supervising the auction is working to evaluate bids from big investors and creditors.

A group of Venezuela creditors is seeking funding from JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a $7 billion bid for the parent of Citgo Petroleum Corp., Bloomberg News reported. The group, which includes Canadian miner Gold Reserve Inc., are among a list of claimants that between them have more than $20 billion in judgments against Venezuela for arbitration awards, unpaid debts and defaulted bonds. A district judge in Delaware is leading a process to sell PDV Holding, which controls Venezuela’s most important foreign asset, refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp., in an auction to pay off creditors.

Annual inflation slowed to a 10-year low in Venezuela as the central bank intervenes to prop up the currency, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 59% in May from a year earlier, the weakest pace since 2014, the bank said Friday. Monthly inflation eased to 1.5%, from 2% in April. President Nicolas Maduro’s government has sought to help ease consumer price pressure by selling more dollars in the official exchange market and cutting expenses in local currency as he campaigns for a third consecutive term in the July 28 election.

Venezuela’s opposition is ramping up lobbying efforts in Washington, trying to persuade the Biden administration to intervene in the court-ordered sale of Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s parent company in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported. The company is the South American nation’s most important foreign asset and its shares are due to be auctioned by July 15. The opposition fears Nicolas Maduro could blame them for Citgo’s loss ahead of crucial presidential elections set for the end of next month.

Venezuela’s opposition is weighing a move that would slow the sale of oil assets under its control by having Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s holding company file for bankruptcy in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported. Opposition-appointed Petroleos de Venezuela executives are seeking to retain control of their most important overseas asset, which is up for auction, and are mulling using a U.S. chapter 11 filing to block finalization of its sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the tactic.

Bidders in a U.S. court auction of shares that will decide the ownership of Venezuela-owned U.S. oil refiner Citgo Petroleum can be required to say if their binding offers cover claims by Venezuela bondholders in a separate court action, a U.S. District Court judge ruled on Friday, Reuters reported. The decision lets bidders seeking to place multi-billion dollar offers for a Citgo parent's shares to be asked if they plan to set aside cash or consider how they may accommodate Venezuela 2020 note holders seeking payment of $3 billion in principal debt.

After years of fits and starts, Venezuela is setting the stage for one of the largest and most complex debt restructurings in decades — unwinding a $154 billion web of defaulted bonds, loans and legal judgments owed to creditors from Wall Street to Russia, Bloomberg News reported. President Nicolas Maduro’s government’s recent hiring of Rothschild & Co. as a financial adviser marks a first step in a massive undertaking that’s likely to drag on for years.

Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA plans to increase digital currency usage in its crude and fuel exports as the U.S. reimposes oil sanctions on the country, Reuters reported. The U.S. Treasury Department last week gave PDVSA's customers and providers until May 31 to wind down transactions under a general license it did not renew due to a lack of electoral reforms. The move will make it more difficult for the country to increase oil output and exports as companies will have to wait for individual U.S. authorizations to do business with Venezuela.