Vitol group submits bid above $10 B for Citgo's parent
A group led by commodities trading house Vitol submitted a bid exceeding $10 B in the final hours of a court-organized auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum, two sources with knowledge of the offer said on Wednesday.
A Delaware (U.S.) court officer overseeing the auction is expected to recommend a winner on Wednesday unless he requests more time to evaluate bids submitted in the last minute.
Proceeds from the auction of PDV Holding, parent of the seventh largest U.S. refiner, are meant to compensate at least a handful of the 15 creditors fighting since 2017 to recover nearly $19 B in U.S. courts after Venezuela expropriated assets and defaulted on debt.
The Vitol-led group's offer includes about $5 B in cash and the remaining amount in credit bids covering up to 14 claims, and it also includes a provision to pay holders of a defaulted Venezuelan bond, one of the sources said.
Vitol did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Vitol participated in a first bidding round for PDV Holding last year and in a competition earlier this year to select a starting bid, which was won by Red Tree Investments with a $3.7 B offer. But new bidders have emerged in the last mile of the auction, following court decisions in parallel legal cases that have encouraged new and improved offers.
An offer approaching the same amount by a consortium led by Chicago-based Black Lion Capital Advisors was also submitted in recent days, while a consortium led by a subsidiary on miner Gold Reserve GRZ.V said it submitted two revised offers.
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