NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has secured affirmance from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit of its 2023 summary judgment win on behalf of YPF S.A., the largest energy producer in the Republic of Argentina – defeating claims for more than $16 billion in damages and interest. This is a landmark win for YPF, affirming the dismissal of a case that has been pending in S.D.N.Y since 2015. The Second Circuit fully affirmed the District Court’s holding that YPF did not owe the alleged contractual obligations to Petersen Energía Inversora, S.A.U. and Petersen Energía, S.A.U. or Eton Park Capital Management, L.P., Eton Park Master Fund, Ltd., and Eton Park Fund, L.P., and is not liable for the damages Plaintiffs – and their litigation funder, Burford Capital – had claimed.
This case arises from the Republic of Argentina’s 2012 intervention of YPF and subsequent expropriation of 51% of YPF’s capital stock. This litigation was filed in 2015 and Debevoise took over the representation and defense of YPF in December 2020 after motions to dismiss were denied and affirmed by the Second Circuit. In 2022 – after nearly two years of intense discovery involving over a dozen experts – Plaintiffs, YPF, and YPF’s co-defendant the Republic, all cross-moved for summary judgment. In 2023, YPF’s motion for summary judgment was granted in full, with the District Court adopting Debevoise’s arguments that YPF was not obligated under its Bylaws to compel the Republic to conduct a tender offer or to prevent the Republic from exercising corporate governance powers associated with the occupied shares. As to the Republic, the District Court in large part granted Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. Following a three-day bench trial, the District Court in September 2023 entered judgment against the Republic totaling more than $16 billion. The parties appealed, cross-appealed, and conditionally cross-appealed to the Second Circuit, which was fully briefed in 2024 and argued on October 29, 2025.
On March 27, 2026, the Second Circuit issued its decision affirming the dismissal as to YPF and reversing the District Court’s grant of summary judgment against the Republic. The Second Circuit, in short, concluded that Plaintiffs’ breach of contract damages claims against the Republic and YPF were not cognizable as a matter of Argentine law, and that YPF did not have the contractual obligations under its Bylaws claimed by Plaintiffs. Argentina President Javier Milei called this victory “historic, unthinkable, the greatest legal achievement in national history.”
The Debevoise team was led by litigation partners Mark P. Goodman, Shannon Rose Selden, and Jim Pastore and included partners Dietmar Prager and Sam Rowe, counsel Wendy Reilly and Robert Abraham, and associates Nathan Richards, Sol Czerwonko, Juan Fandino, Gaby Kohan, Barrett Greenwell, Michelle Bao, Julianna Eboli Andreu, and Olivia Cazayoux.
Contacts
Kathy O’Brien
Rubenstein Communications
[email protected]
