Record placement and investor demand
Argentina's state-controlled oil company YPF placed $1.2 billion in international corporate bonds on Wednesday, the largest amount raised by an Argentine company in the international market in the past 11 years, according to the company. The notes mature in 2035, giving them a nine-year term, and carry a 7.55% coupon with a 7.85% effective annual rate. After two days of meetings with about 50 international investors in New York, the company received offers totaling roughly $2.2 billion, nearly double the amount it had sought.[S1][S2]
YPF said the bond priced at a spread of 300 basis points over U.S. Treasury bonds, which the company described as the narrowest differential it has ever achieved in the international capital market. That spread is a gauge of the risk investors assign to the company: the lower it is, the cheaper its borrowing relative to U.S. government debt, which is treated as a risk-free benchmark. The placement was arranged by BBVA, Itaú, JP Morgan, Santander and Balanz as global bookrunners, with Galicia, Macro, CMF, Cucchiara, Latin Securities and Cocos also participating in the local tranche.[S1][S2]
Use of funds and growth strategy
YPF will use the proceeds to prepay two series of international negotiable obligations maturing between 2027 and 2029 and to finance its growth plan, including the 4x4 plan. The company said the transaction improves its debt maturity profile and extends the average life of its liabilities by replacing shorter-term commitments with an instrument due in 2035. The funds will support investments in production, infrastructure and exports as YPF accelerates its expansion in Vaca Muerta, crude transport projects, liquefied natural gas development and commitments under Argentina's Incentive Regime for Large Investments.[S1][S2]
YPF is the leading operator in the vast Vaca Muerta unconventional hydrocarbon formation in southwestern Argentina and holds stakes in multibillion-dollar projects with other companies to export crude and liquefied natural gas. Its shares trade on the New York and Buenos Aires stock exchanges. The company reported a net profit of $1.614 billion in the first half of this year, multiplying by 34 the $48 million earned in the same period of 2025.[S1]
