Argentine Exec Heard Targeting YPF Stake

A group led by Argentine executive Enrique Eskenazi is rumored to be lining up a bridge loan to acquire a 25% stake in YPF, the Argentine subsidiary of Spanish oil and gas behemoth Repsol YPF. Bankers away from the deal say the financing is apparently being led by Credit Suisse and is estimated at $4bn. YPF’s market cap was quoted by Economatica at ARP48.7bn Thursday, which would make a 25% stake worth roughly $3.89bn. The deal has been in discussion for months, according to local press reports, though concrete steps to make it happen so far have been limited to statements on the government’s intentions to make it happen. Eskenazi is the owner and CEO of Banco Santa Cruz, based in the southern province of Santa Cruz, where Nestor Kirchner was born and where he became governor in 1991. The two reportedly have personal ties. Argentine corporates have found themselves out of favor in the international debt markets lately, and a bank financing for a private equity-like deal from Argentina is sure to include some challenging pricing dynamics.