Want to sue Venezuela for millions? These firms can help, for a price

WILMINGTON: As Venezuela collapses, one little-known U.S. investment fund is poised to win big from litigation against its socialist government: Tenor Capital Management.

Since 2012, the New York firm has invested $76 million in Canadian mining firm Crystallex International Corp, largely to fund a lawsuit being waged against Venezuela for expropriating a gold mine.

Now, Tenor stands to claim around $800 million of a $1.4 billion international arbitration award that Crystallex has been trying to collect since 2016 .

Tenor’s cash allowed Crystallex to force Venezuela to pay up by attempting a court-ordered seizure of Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp, the country’s overseas crown jewel.

Effectively bankrupted by the loss of its Venezuela project, Crystallex turned to Tenor.

Tenor and Crystallex declined to comment.

In return, Crystallex agreed to give Tenor at least 70 percent of any payments it could collect from Venezuela, once Crystallex paid off Tenor’s loan and other creditors, the documents show.

Crystallex shareholders sought to reduce Tenor’s share of the Venezuela arbitration settlement, alleging in court documents that Tenor violated Canadian laws against excessive interest rates.

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Article source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/International/2018/Dec-21/472396-want-to-sue-venezuela-for-millions-these-firms-can-help-for-a-price.ashx