Delaware Court Provides for CITGO Sale Process Hearing

Rhea-AI Summary

Gold Reserve (OTCQX: GDRZF) announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has scheduled a hearing on April 17, 2025, in Wilmington regarding objections to the Special Master's recommendation. The recommendation concerns selecting Red Tree Investments, a subsidiary of Contrarian Capital Management, , as the stalking horse bidder for purchasing PDV Holding, Inc. (PDVH) shares, which is CITGO Petroleum Corp's indirect parent company.

Gold Reserve, along with its consortium members and other parties, filed their objections on March 31, 2025, followed by responses from the Special Master on April 3, and replies supporting the objections on April 4, 2025. The Court has identified specific issues regarding the Special Master's recommendation and scheduled pre-hearing briefing.

Positive

• Court hearing date set for April 17, 2025, moving the CITGO sale process forward
• Company actively participating in potential high-value asset sale process

Negative

• Uncertainty about bid acceptance and regulatory approvals
• Risk of insufficient proceeds to satisfy company's claims
• Potential forfeiture of cash deposit if bid fails
• Competition from other creditors may reduce potential recovery

PEMBROKE, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Gold Reserve Ltd. (TSX.V: GRZ) (OTCQX: GDRZF) (“Gold Reserve” or the “Company”) announces that on April 5, 2025 the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware (the “Court”) issued an order scheduling a hearing on the objections to the recommendation made by the Special Master to select the bid made by Red Tree Investments, an indirect subsidiary of Contrarian Capital Management, LLC, to be the stalking horse bidder for the purchase of the shares of PDV Holding, Inc. (“PDVH”), the indirect parent company of CITGO Petroleum Corp.

Gold Reserve, its consortium members and other parties filed their objections to the Special Master’s recommendation on March 31, 2025. The Special Master and other parties filed their responses to the objections on April 3, 2025. Gold Reserve, its consortium members and other parties filed their replies in support of the objections on April 4, 2025. Copies of the objections, responses to the objections and replies in support of the objections can be found at https://goldreserve.bm/objections-responses-replies.

The Court set the hearing for April 17, 2025 in Wilmington, Delaware. In the Court’s order scheduling the hearing, the Court also identified certain issues regarding the Special Master’s recommendation that were raised in the objections and scheduled pre-hearing briefing on the same. A copy of the Court’s order can be found at https://goldreserve.bm/order.

A complete description of the Delaware sale proceedings can be found on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system in Crystallex International Corporation v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 1:17-mc-00151-LPS (D. Del.) and its related proceedings.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking statements

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable U.S. federal securities laws and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial and territorial securities laws and state Gold Reserve’s and its management’s intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. They are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Bid.

We caution that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other risks that may cause the actual events, outcomes or results of Gold Reserve to be materially different from our estimated outcomes, results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the discretion of the Special Master to consider the Bid, to enter into any discussions or negotiation with respect thereto and that the Special Master may reject the Bid at any time; the Special Master may choose not to recommend a Base Bid or Final Bid to the Court; the failure of the Company to negotiate the Bid, including as a result of failing to obtain sufficient equity and/or debt financing; that Bid submitted by the Company will not be selected as the “Base Bid” or the “Final Recommend Bid” under the Bidding Procedures, and if selected may not close due to the Sale Process not being completed, including as a result of not obtaining necessary regulatory approval to close on the purchase of the PDVH shares, including but not limited to any necessary approvals from the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”), the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission or the TSX Venture Exchange; failure of the Company or any other party to obtain any required shareholders approvals for, or satisfy other conditions to effect, any transaction resulting from the Bid; that the Company forfeit any cash amount deposit made due to failing to complete the Bid or otherwise; that the making of the Bid or any transaction resulting therefrom may involve unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; that, prior to or as a result of the completion of any transaction contemplated by the Bid, the business of the Company may experience significant disruptions due to transaction related uncertainty, industry conditions, tariff wars or other factors; the ability to enforce the writ of attachment granted to the Company; the timing set for various reports and/or other matters with respect to the Sale Process may not be met; the ability of the Company to otherwise participate in the Sale Process (and related costs associated therewith; the amount, if any, of proceeds associated with the Sale Process; the competing claims of other creditors of Venezuela, PDVSA and the Company, including any interest on such creditors’ judgements and any priority afforded thereto; uncertainties with respect to possible settlements between Venezuela and other creditors and the impact of any such settlements on the amount of funds that may be available under the Sale Process; and the proceeds from the Sale Process may not be sufficient to satisfy the amounts outstanding under the Company’s September 2014 arbitral award and/or corresponding November 15, 2015 U.S. judgement in full; and the ramifications of bankruptcy with respect to the Sale Process and/or the Company’s claims, including as a result of the priority of other claims. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company’s forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of the risk factors affecting the Company’s business, see the Company’s Annual Information Form on Form 40-F and Management’s Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2023 and other reports that have been filed on SEDAR+ and are available under the Company’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca and which have been filed on EDGAR and are available under the Company’s profile at www.sec.gov/edgar.

Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Gold Reserve or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Gold Reserve disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements or the foregoing list of assumptions or factors, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, subject to its disclosure obligations under applicable rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and applicable Canadian provincial and territorial securities laws.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250407295175/en/

For further information regarding Dalinar Energy, visit: https://www.dalinarenergy.com.



For further information regarding Gold Reserve Ltd., visit https://www.goldreserve.bm or contact:



Kathryn Houlden

(800) 625-9550

Rosebank Centre, 5th Floor, 11 Bermudiana Road, Pembroke HM 08, Bermuda investorrelations@goldreserve.bm

Source: Gold Reserve Ltd.

FAQ

What is the purpose of the Delaware Court hearing for GDRZF stock?

The hearing on April 17, 2025, will address objections to the Special Master's recommendation of Red Tree Investments as stalking horse bidder for PDV Holding shares, CITGO's parent company.

When did Gold Reserve (GDRZF) file its objections to the CITGO sale process?

Gold Reserve and consortium members filed their objections on March 31, 2025, with subsequent replies in support filed on April 4, 2025.

Who was recommended as the stalking horse bidder for CITGO's parent company shares?

Red Tree Investments, an indirect subsidiary of Contrarian Capital Management, , was recommended as the stalking horse bidder.

What are the key risks in the GDRZF CITGO sale process?

Key risks include potential rejection of the bid, failure to obtain regulatory approvals from OFAC and other agencies, and uncertainty about proceeds satisfying creditor claims.