Repsol-YPF Stock Sale Stirs Up Rumors

The statement by Repsol YPF’s chairman, Antonio Brufau, that the company is considering floating between 15% and 20% of its Argentine business on the local stock exchange has stirred up rumors of strategy and motives among market commentators. The Spanish-Argentine oil giant moved swiftly to deny on its website that it had “received any indication from the Argentine government … that it is supposedly acquiring 51% of YPF’s capital.” It also made clear that the company would “maintain a clear majority stake in YPF” and that the sale of its capital in the company, under optimal conditions, would be aimed at private investors.