UPDATE 2-Venezuela, Gold Reserve challenge sale order of Citgo parent before appeals court

Delaware Judge Leonard Stark last week authorized the sale of Citgo parent PDV Holding to an affiliate of hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, following the confirmation of the company's $5.9 billion bid in a court-organized auction. The transaction is pending approval from the U.S. Treasury Department, but Elliott's affiliate Amber Energy has said it expects it to close next year.

Lawyers representing Venezuela, refiner Citgo Petroleum, its parent companies and miner Gold Reserve on Monday appealed against an order last week from a Delaware judge that approved the sale of PDV Holding's shares. Delaware Judge Leonard Stark last week authorized the sale of Citgo parent PDV Holding to an affiliate of hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, following the confirmation of the company's $5.9 billion bid in a court-organized auction.

The transaction is pending approval from the U.S. Treasury Department, but Elliott's affiliate Amber Energy has said it expects it to close next year. "The forced sale process has been marked by deficiencies and irregularities, including a conflict of interest involving advisers to the court," the Venezuelan parties said in a release last week. Amber and a court officer overseeing the auction have denied any wrongdoing.

Gold Reserve's appeal, filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, challenges the sale order and all prior orders and decisions supporting it, including Judge Stark's opinion on the best bid submitted. Venezuela and rival bidder Gold Reserve had previously filed objections to Amber's bid and motions to disqualify the judge and advisors the court selected to evaluate the offers, which were denied by Judge Stark.

The sale process aims to compensate up to 15 creditors for debt defaults and asset expropriations in Venezuela. If the transaction is completed, companies including miners Crystallex and Rusoro and oil producer ConocoPhillips are set to recover billions from auction proceeds.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)