MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian bank purchases 3.6% stake in nationalized YPF

Itaú-Unibanco has no purpose of increasing its stake

Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco purchased a 3.6% stake in Argentina’s nationalized oil company YPF, an operation involving 157.8 million dollars.

In a communiqué sent to the Buenos Aires stock exchange YPF said on Tuesday that Itaú Unibanco through one of its affiliates in Grand Cayman last June 12 acquired a 3.609% stake in the company.

According to YPF, which last month was seized from Spain’s Repsol, the Brazilian bank said that its purpose “is not a greater share or to take control of the company”

The Itaú-Unibanco follows last week’s announcement by a subsidiary from the Mexican tycoon, Carlos Slim, Inbursa and Inmobiliaria Carso which acquired 8.36% of YPF’s shares for 340 million dollars.

The Argentine government took over a majority stake in YPF, 51%, from Spain’s Repsol following the congressional approval of a bill to that effect.

Likewise Repsol executed YPF shares in guarantee for unpaid credits from the Argentine group Petersen, thus increasing the Spanish group’s participation in the now nationalized oil and gas company to 12%.

In 2008 the Petersen Group was granted a loan of 1.018 billion dollars from a group of banks which included Crédit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Banco Itaú Europa plus a further 1.015 billion dollars from Repsol to purchase 14.9% of YPF.

The Petersen group was chosen and sponsored at the time by the Kirchner couple (Nestor and Cristina) to take hold of a quarter of the company, thus increasing the local share of the iconic oil and gas corporation which is also Argentina’s largest. The Petersen group belongs to the Ezkenazi family, close friends of the Kirchners.

Repsol CEO Antonio Brufau is claiming 10 billion dollars in compensation for the seized 51% of shares, but the Argentine government has said it would not pay the sum claimed by the Spanish company.

Last June 5, YPF announced it is planning to invest 7 billion dollars per annum from 2013 to 2017 with the purpose of increasing reserves and extraction helping Argentina to overcome its growing fuels deficit that in 2011 soared to over 9 billion dollars.