Offshore Exploration & Production LLC v. Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A.

986 F. Supp. 2d 308, 2013 WL 6230324, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169789
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedDecember 2, 2013
DocketNo. 13 Civ. 3537(JGK)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 986 F. Supp. 2d 308 (Offshore Exploration & Production LLC v. Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Offshore Exploration & Production LLC v. Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A., 986 F. Supp. 2d 308, 2013 WL 6230324, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169789 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN G. KOELTL, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Offshore Exploration and Production, LLC (“Offshore”), brings this action against defendants Korea National Oil Corporation (“KNOC”), Ecopetrol S.A., and Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A. The Complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that Morgan Stanley, acting as an Escrow Agent, must release to KNOC and Ecopetrol over $75 million from an escrow fund that Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A. now holds pursuant to an escrow agreement. An arbitration panel has already determined that Offshore must pay that amount to KNOC and Ecopetrol. However, KNOC and Ecopetrol contend that the money should not come from the escrow fund but rather should be paid independently by Offshore so as not to reduce the amount of the escrow fund that would otherwise be available for other obligations owed by Offshore to KNOC and Ecopetrol. KNOC and Ecopetrol contend that the parties agreed in a Stock Purchase Agreement to commit the resolution of this dispute to the arbitrators and that this action should be stayed or dismissed while the arbitrators decide the dispute.

The defendants move under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b) and the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C § 3, to stay or dismiss this proceeding pending arbitration. Offshore crossmoves for summary judgment on its declaratory judgment claim. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral [311]*311Awards, 9 U.S.C. § 203, and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 based on diversity of citizenship. For the reasons explained below, this action should be stayed to allow the arbitrators to decide whether the dispute among the parties is subject to arbitration and, if it is, to decide the dispute. The plaintiffs motion for summary judgment is therefore denied without prejudice pending a decision by the arbitrators.

I.

Unless otherwise indicated, the following facts are accepted as true for purposes of the pending motions.

A.

Offshore is a private investment holding company incorporated in Delaware, with its principal place of business in Houston, Texas. (Complaint ¶ 6.) On December 29, 2008, Offshore entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with defendant purchasers KNOC and Ecopetrol S.A. (collectively, the “Purchasers”). (Declaration of Mark P. Gimbel (“Gimbel Decl.”) Ex. A (Stock Purchase Agreement, or “SPA”).) KNOC, the national oil company of the Republic of Korea, is organized under Korean law and has its principal place of business in the Republic of Korea. (Complaint ¶ 19.) Ecopetrol S.A., the national oil company of Colombia, is incorporated in Colombia and has its principal place of business in Colombia. (Complaint ¶ 8.)

Pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement, Offshore sold to the Purchasers all of the issued and outstanding common stock of its subsidiary, Offshore International Group, Inc., and each of Offshore International Group’s subsidiaries. (Declaration of Derek L. Shaffer (“Shaffer Deck”) Ex. L at 2.) Under the Stock Purchase Agreement, Offshore must “indemnify and defend the Purchaser Indemnitees and hold the Purchaser Indemnitees harmless from and against” various taxes that the subsidiaries might owe. (SPA § 7.4(a).) The Stock Purchase Agreement also states that if contested taxes “must be paid under applicable Law prior to or upon commencement of a contest proceeding, [Offshore] shall pay such Taxes to the applicable Governmental Authority prior to or upon commencement of such proceeding.” (SPA § 7. 4(d).)

In order to secure the Purchasers’ potential indemnification claims under the Stock Purchase Agreement, the parties agreed that the Purchasers would deliver $150 million of their $1.2 billion purchase price to an escrow agent: Morgan Stanley Trust, N.A.1 (“Morgan Stanley”). (Gimbel Deck Ex. A (“First Amendment to the SPA”) § 2.3(b)®.)2 The Purchasers were permitted to apply the escrowed funds to various indemnification claims arising under the Stock Purchase Agreement and funds were to be disbursed “in accordance” with the terms of the Escrow Agreement to which Offshore, the Purchasers, and Morgan Stanley were parties. (First Amendment to the SPA § 2.3®)®.) The Stock Purchase Agreement required that the escrow period be extended and that an adequate amount in escrow be retained to cover any indemnification claim timely asserted. (First Amendment to the SPA § 2.3®)®.)

[312]*312Additional rights and procedures regarding disbursement from the escrow were enumerated in Section 8.6 of the Stock Purchase Agreement. That section provided that “[b]y written notice to Seller specifying in reasonable detail the basis for set-off, Purchaser may assert a claim to set off any amount to which it is or if Seller has objected has been determined to be entitled under Article 7 and ... Article 8 against the Escrow Amount.” (SPA § 8.6.) Section 8 also stated that “[njeither the exercise of nor the failure to exercise such right of setoff will constitute an election of remedies or limit Purchaser in any manner in the enforcement of any other remedies that may be available to it.” (SPA § 8.6.)

In the event that any party breached its obligations under the Stock Purchase Agreement, the Agreement provided to the nonbreaching party “the right to seek specific performance of this Agreement without the necessity of proving the inadequacy of money damages as a remedy.” (SPA § 8.4.) Additionally, the Stock Purchase Agreement contained a broad, mandatory arbitration clause providing that:

Any dispute, controversy or Action arising out of or relating to this Agreement, or the breach thereof ... shall be determined by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its International Arbitration Rules.

(SPA § 10.7(a).)

B.

Offshore and the Purchasers signed the First Amendment to the Stock Purchase Agreement as of February 5, 2009. (First Amendment to the SPA.) Offshore, the Purchasers, and Morgan Stanley also executed the Escrow Agreement as of February 5, 2009. The Escrow Agreement provides procedures for the disbursement of funds held in escrow (the “Escrow Amount”). Disbursement must occur if any Purchaser submits a Purchaser’s Indemnity Certificate and Offshore does not object within thirty days. (Complaint Ex. A (“Escrow Agreement”) § 3.) However, if Offshore disputes a claim made against the Escrow Amount, Morgan Stanley is prohibited from disbursing funds:

except in accordance with either (i) written instructions executed both by an authorized officer of Purchaser and by an authorized officer of Seller (“Joint Instructions”), or (ii) a certificate delivered by any Purchaser to the Escrow Agent, executed by an authorized officer of such Purchaser (a “Final Award Certificate”). ...

(Escrow Agreement § 3.) A Final Award certificate must include the amount of the contested amount to which the Purchaser is entitled and an “Arbitral Award” confirming the Purchaser’s entitlement.

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Bluebook (online)
986 F. Supp. 2d 308, 2013 WL 6230324, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169789, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/offshore-exploration-production-llc-v-morgan-stanley-private-bank-na-nysd-2013.