LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) – Greece on Wednesday won a London court ruling on its plans to buy back GDP-linked securities issued to holders of government bonds as part of the country’s 2012 sovereign debt restructuring.
Greece had told its investors that it wanted to repurchase all of the outstanding warrants due in 2042 for a call price of just over 25 cents on the euro.
The country applied to London’s High Court for declarations that it had validly exercised its option to purchase all of the GDP-linked securities and that its calculation of the call price was lawful and binding.
A group of investors, represented by law firm White & Case, disputed that Greece had validly exercised its option to buy back the securities or calculate the call price.
But Judge Robert Bright ruled in Greece’s favour, a decision which could be challenged on appeal.
Greece’s finance ministry and White & Case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
GDP-linked warrants are fixed income instruments that usually pay out once economic growth exceeds a certain threshold. They can be highly illiquid and complex to value.
Argentina and Ukraine have issued similar instruments to the Greek GDP warrant in debt restructurings.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; additional reporting by Karin Strohecker and Lefteris Papadimas in Athens; Editing by Louise Heavens)