Court Approves Elliott Bid for Citgo

Core Viewpoint - A Delaware judge has approved Elliott Management's bid for Citgo, the U.S. refining arm of Venezuela's PDVSA, stating that the Amber Bid offers the best combination of price and certainty of closing [1]. Group 1: Bids and Offers - Amber Energy, an affiliate of Elliott Management, made a bid of $5.86 billion to PDV Holding creditors and an additional $2.86 billion for bondholder claims [2]. - A rival bid from a consortium led by Gold Reserve was for $7.4 billion, exceeding both the Amber Energy bid and the court's floor price of $3.7 billion [3]. - Gold Reserve's lawyers criticized the Elliott bid as a back-room deal that diverts funds from legitimate creditors to bondholders [3]. Group 2: Legal and Procedural Issues - Gold Reserve requested a stay in the auction process, and PDV Holding's lawyers expressed concerns over the low amount of the Amber Energy bid, calling it shocking [4]. - The auction has been described as having significant conflicts of interest, including $170 million in fees collected by advisors linked to Elliott and the 2020 bondholders [5]. Group 3: Creditor Compensation - Proceeds from the sale are intended to compensate 15 creditors seeking to recover losses from Venezuela's nationalization efforts and debt defaults since 2017, with total claims amounting to $19 billion [5].