Argentina’s state-controlled energy company YPF will pay US$430 million for the remaining 24.99% of power-generation company YPF Luz, giving it full ownership of a business that supplied about 10% of Argentina’s electricity in the 12 months to June 2026. YPF’s board approved the purchase on Thursday, October 8. People who rely on that electricity get no details here about what the buyout means for their bills or service.
Who Gets Control
YPF already owns 75.01% of YPF Luz. Its board approved the purchase of 237,499,943 Class B shares from BNR Power Investments; those shares carry the remaining 24.99% of YPF Luz’s capital and voting rights. If the conditions precedent are met, YPF will own 100%. There’s no closing date.
The purchase would make a major electricity provider a wholly owned unit of a state-controlled company. YPF Luz builds and operates power plants, then sells electricity from thermal and renewable sources. Its installed capacity totals 3,764 megawatts: 2,740 MW of thermal power and 1,024 MW of renewable capacity across eight Argentine provinces.
YPF describes YPF Luz as Argentina’s second-largest renewable generator and the leader in long-term private renewable power contracts. The company generated about 10% of Argentina’s supplied electricity in the 12 months to June 2026. Its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization came to US$479 million over that period.
The Money Behind the Deal
YPF says it will finance the US$430 million purchase from abroad. Its filing names neither the lenders nor the loan terms, leaving investors—and the public—with no disclosed cost for the foreign debt. The Rio Times calculated that the price implied an equity value of about US$1.72 billion for YPF Luz.
For holders of YPF’s New York-listed shares, the deal would give the company full control of a unit with US$479 million in yearly adjusted EBITDA while adding foreign debt whose cost hasn’t been disclosed. YPF shares were scheduled to trade in New York on Friday, October 9, for the first time since the announcement. The transaction still depends on conditions precedent.
YPF disclosed the decision in a filing to Argentina’s securities regulator, the National Securities Commission (CNV), at 7:57 p.m. Buenos Aires time, or 6:57 p.m. in New York, after US trading closed. The filing doesn’t say who owns BNR Power Investments today. The Rio Times reported no public comment from GE Vernova or the Silk Road Fund by Friday morning, October 9.
A Listing That May Not Happen
In July, YPF Luz publicly filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list shares in New York. The selling shareholder would have made the planned sale, with YPF Luz receiving no proceeds; the shares were intended to trade on the NYSE under the ticker YLUZ and in Buenos Aires. YPF hasn’t said whether that listing will proceed, and its buyout filing doesn’t mention it. One route would have sold shares without putting proceeds into the operating company; now YPF proposes to buy the stake outright.
The buyout would remove a Chinese state-backed fund from a major Argentine power company. It comes as a US government delegation visits Argentina that week to advance a US-backed Andes-Atlantic investment corridor, Infobae reported. YPF chief executive Horacio Marín said, according to Ámbito, “YPF continues to grow to become a world-class energy company.” He said the purchase would speed up the company’s growth while keeping its focus on electricity. The filing gives the price and promise of consolidated control. No closing date, loan terms, or named lenders appear in it.