US judge authorizes sale of Citgo parent’s shares to Elliott affiliate

A U.S. judge on Saturday authorized the sale of shares in the Venezuela-owned parent of Citgo Petroleum to an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management, following his approval earlier this week of a $5.9 billion bid from the company in a court-organized auction to pay Venezuela-linked creditors.
The sale order is the last major legal step to wrap a two-year auction aimed at paying up to 15 creditors for debt defaults and expropriations in the South American country.
In a case first introduced by miner Crystallex against Venezuela in 2017, the Delaware court found Citgo’s parent PDV Holding liable for the OPEC country’s debt, opening the door for over a dozen additional creditors to join the auction.
The bid from Elliott’s Amber Energy, which includes a key agreement to pay $2.1 billion to the holders of a defaulted Venezuelan bond, had been recommended earlier this year by a court officer overseeing the auction, in a switch from his previous recommendation of an offer from rival bidder Gold Reserve.