Petersen Buys 10% Stake in YPF

Grupo Petersen announced yesterday it would exercise its option to buy 10% of the capital of YPF for $1.3bn from Repsol. The deal had been expected since Petersen, controlled by the Argentinean Eskenazi family, acquired a 14.9% stake in the Argentinean oil and gas company in 2008 with the option to buy the additional 10%. Following the transaction, Repsol will hold 58.23% of YPF while Grupo Petersen will control 25.46%. Repsol says it plans to continue to bring international and Argentine minority investors into YPF.