Argentina’s YPF Hopes for H2 IPO

Despite wretched market conditions for LatAm issuers, especially Argentine ones, YPF, the country’s biggest oil and gas company, is hoping to bring its up to $4bn IPO sometime in the last four months of 2008, say people familiar with the process. If successful, the transaction would set a new benchmark for Argentina, testing investor appetite for what is seen as a strong asset in a volatile, unpopular jurisdiction. The company, which last year was valued at some $15bn when its parent Repsol sold it to the Eskenazi group – a private consortium with ties to the government – plans to IPO 20%-24% of its equity. The company has improved operations, say officials close to the issuer, and the $15bn value is likely to serve more as a baseline value than an average one, they say. As such, the IPO could be in the $3bn-$4bn size range, according to a person familiar with the deal. No official results have been reported, so any estimates on the size of the IPO or the company are preliminary and unofficial. YPF is also heard to not be desperate to price the deal in 2008, meaning if market conditions remain unfavorable, it could carry the offering over into 2009. Credit Suisse and UBS are heading the deal, with Goldman and Itau BBA also carrying senior roles.