Threats to YPF grow: new vulture funds demand action for unpaid debts

International judicial pressure on the state-owned oil company YPF continues unabated. In recent hours, a group of investment funds joined the list of creditors demanding to acquire the 51% of the Argentine state's shares in the company, following the ruling by US judge Loretta Preska . The argument: compensation for old unpaid sovereign debts dating back to the 2001 default .

Among the new players are names with a history of involvement in the Argentine debt dispute: Attestor Master Value , Trinity Investments , Bybrook , White Hawthorne , and Bison Bee . All requested to be included in the enforcement of the judgment through the legal mechanism known as "me too," which allows beneficiaries of similar cases to claim the same type of compensation.

" Beneficiaries of a defaulted debt judgment are also seeking to take possession of YPF shares held by the state. They are also demanding priority over the Petersen and Bainbridge cases, since their rulings are prior ," explained Sebastián Maril , director of Latam Advisors , referring to the potential impact of this move.

Behind this move, NA reported, is lawyer Dennis Hranitzky , known in Argentina for having seized the Libertad frigate in Ghana in 2012, and for being the legal mastermind of several successful lawsuits against the Argentine State when he represented the NML-Elliott fund.

The funds maintain that Argentina still owns 51% of YPF and that this stake should be used to settle outstanding debts , both under U.S. law and under international rules governing sovereign defaults.

The legal context is becoming more complex: while Javier Milei's government will appeal Preska's ruling this week , the judge must decide whether or not to grant a stay of execution of the original judgment. The petition, filed by the firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP , insists that "Argentina has solid legal arguments" and that enforcing the ruling without leaving room for appeal would be seriously prejudicial .

This new legal battle adds an explosive element to the future of the country's most important energy company and the most valuable state asset abroad . The Argentine government, meanwhile, is remaining tight-lipped about its international strategy while the case escalates in New York courts.