Gold Reserve announces $30 million placement for Citgo bid

Gold Reserve (TSXV: GRZ) has engaged Cantor Fitzgerald Canada to undertake a private placement of Class A common shares at $4.10 per share for anticipated gross proceeds of up to $30 million.

Part of the proceeds will go toward the company’s previously announced credit bid for PDV Holdings (PDVH), the indirect parent company of Venezuela-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum, it said in a press release Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Gold Reserve said it had placed a bid for PDVH as part of a US federal court auction to pay off Citgo’s creditors. These include the gold miner itself as well as Canadian miners Rusoro (TSXV: RML) and Crystallex. The latter was the first to bring up the case with the state of Delaware, where more than half of US public companies are incorporated.

One of the largest oil refiners in the world, the Houston, Texas-based Citgo currently represents Venezuela’s most important foreign asset, processing up to 807,000 barrels of oil per day. It is the main asset targeted by the creditors.

Together, the group of 18 creditors is seeking as much as $21.3 billion in arbitration rewards for past expropriations and debt defaults in Venezuela dating back to the Hugo Chavez regime.

Current President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly rejected the auction, alleging that the US is trying to steal his country’s key assets.

Meanwhile the Citgo sale process kicked off in January, but the first round of bids fell short of Citgo’s valuation of $11 billion-$13 billion. Bids have already been placed in the second round of auctions, for which the deadline is set for July 15.

In the initial round, Gold Reserve and others had sought funding from JPMorgan Chase for the failed $7.3 billion bid. However, the auction recently attracted other high-profile investors such as Elliott Investment Management and Centerview Partners.

According to Reuters, Venezuela might press the court for a third bidding round if offers do not approach $10 billion.

Gold Reserve previously worked with the Venezuela government under a joint venture to develop the Siembra Minera project, but had its mining rights revoked in 2022. Its claim against Venezuela was cleared by the court for repayment from the auction’s proceeds.

Shares of Gold Reserve traded 3.5% higher by 2:00 p.m. ET, for a market capitalization of C$616.4 million ($451 million).