US judge denies Blue Water's request to extend Citgo parent's sale hearing

By Marianna Parraga

HOUSTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - A request from special purpose acquisition company Blue Water Acquisition Corp BLUW.O to extend a final sale hearing in the U.S. court-ordered auction of Citgo Petroleum's parent was denied by a Delaware judge on Monday.

Blue Water last week submitted a bid valued at $10 billion the Venezuela-owned refiner, which included a $3.2 billion settlement proposal to holders of a defaulted Venezuelan bond. The company wanted the hearing extended so that its bit could be considered by the court.

Funding for the offer, which arrived after deadlines for submitting and improving bids, is not yet committed, Blue Water representatives told the court as part of a 4-day sale hearing to complete the auction of Citgo's parent, PDV Holding, to pay creditors.

"Perhaps they (Blue Water) can spend this week seeing if they can get the financing committed," Judge Leonard Stark said, adding that he could later request that a court officer overseeing the auction engage with the company on its bid.

The company did not reply to requests for comment.

Court officer Robert Pincus last month selected a $5.9 billion bid by an affiliate of hedge fund Elliott Investment Management as the auction's frontrunner. Judge Stark said he plans to make a final decision on the winner after the hearing.