YPF creditors reject last debt offer as deadline looms

A group of creditors have rejected the latest debt restructuring offer from state energy company YPF SA, just days before the expiration of its US$6.2-billion bond proposal.

The YPF Ad Hoc Bondholder Group,which claims to have 45 percent of bonds due on March 23, indicated that it would not enter into the exchange, according to an emailed statement from Clifford Chance LLP, one of the group's legal advisers.

The statement said the offer was a step forward, but that it failed “to provide a balanced solution.” The group hopes to continue negotiating with the company, it said.

Clifford Chance said a counter-proposal “that would provide additional cash flow flexibility and interest savings over the next several years with below-market interest rates” had been submitted to the company.

However, a second group of creditors, represented by Dechert LLP and DLA Piper Argentina and holding around 25 percent of notes, said it supported the offer.

Bondholders had until Friday to accept YPF's proposal to swap existing debt for three new bonds and a new cash stimulus. On Monday, the company modified its offer for the third time, proposing a higher cash payment upfront as an incentive to attract more support.

Last month, YPF surprised bondholders by announcing a sweeping debt restructuring plan after the Central Bank said it would not give the company the dollars it needed to pay a US$413-million bond due in March. 

YPF's debt restructuring plans are designed to free up cash that the company could use to boost production in the Vaca Muerta shale basin.

YPF has invited creditors who favoured the swap to exchange bonds nevertheless.

– TIMES/BLOOMBERG