The Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro authorized, this Thursday (9), the extra funding requested by Americanas on January 31. According to the decision of Judge Paulo Assed Estefan, of the 4th Corporate Court of the Judicial District of the Capital, the financing will be structured in the form of the issuance of debentures, with the availability of 2 thousand debentures with a nominal unit value of R$ 1 million each, totaling R$ 2 billion.
The totality of the debentures that will support the credit, according to the decision, will be offered to the company’s creditors, “contemplating the possibility of presenting more advantageous proposals to be considered by the company’s management, and under the supervision of the Judicial Administration and the Judgment.”
The decision highlights that, according to the proposal, the inflow of resources would take place in two stages. First, the amount of BRL 1 billion for emergency and immediate disbursement, subscribed by a “reference shareholder”, if there are no other creditors of the Debtors interested in participating in the DIP Financing.
DIP financing is a type of loan granted by firms specializing in companies undergoing judicial recovery. With authorization from the Court, this money is used for the company to continue operating and has preference in receiving over other creditors when the company returns to pay its debts.
“If there are qualified interested parties, the “reference shareholder” undertakes to assign, in whole or in part, the DIP Debentures subscribed under the Emergency Disbursement, upon receipt of the corresponding amount within 10 (ten) days from the respective manifestation of interest.”
In a communication to the market, the retailer said that DIP financing aims to help the company maintain the normal course of its business, its cash flow and reinforce its liquidity.
“Together with other sources of funds that are being explored by the company, including the release of amounts retained by certain creditors, it will allow to maintain investments in working capital and finance obligations such as payment to suppliers, employees and partners”, he informs.
Also according to Americanas, the approved financing does not have guarantees and should have remuneration equivalent to the company’s average financing cost before the request for Judicial Recovery (about 128% of the CDI).
Judicial recovery
The company faces a crisis since, on January 11, it communicated to the market accounting inconsistencies around R$ 20 billion, leading the retailer to file a request for judicial recovery days later, which was accepted by the Justice.
The company disclosed debts of BRL 42 billion and 7,720 official creditors, as requested by the Justice of Rio de Janeiro. The process became the 4th largest judicial recovery in Brazil.
More than half of the company’s debt is with the largest Brazilian banks. There are more than R$ 22 billion divided among just nine banks. Deutsche Bank accounts for the largest exposure to the retailer, of US$ 1 billion dollars (R$ 5.2 billion).
In addition to banks, there are even technology companies such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The document disclosed also contains debts with carriers, airlines, smaller service companies and thousands of individuals. Among the creditors to be received, there is even the Brazilian Ambev, which belongs to the same reference shareholders of Americanas: Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira.
Diapers, shampoo, chocolate and gummy candies in the shape of dentures that cost a few reais add up to a millionaire debt with all the company’s major suppliers. Among the big brands, one of the debts that draws the most attention is with the South Korean Samsung, which has R$ 1.209 billion to receive from Americanas.
The tax debt, according to the Attorney General of the National Treasury, Anelize Almeida, is R$ 657 million.
The retailer also filed a request for recognition of the judicial recovery process in the United States, known as “Chapter 15”, which works with protective effects (notably the suspension of payments to creditors) ensured in its judicial recovery process in Brazil.
The retailer hired Alvarez & Marsal to help coordinate the bankruptcy process.
This Tuesday, around 50 outsourced employees of Americanas were dismissed. The layoffs took place in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), São Paulo (SP) and Porto Alegre (RS).
Today, the company also filed a request in court to obtain the maintenance of electricity, water and sewage services in the process that deals with its judicial recovery.
On Friday (27), the trade union centrals filed a lawsuit in court to protect the labor rights of the approximately 44,000 employees of Americanas. For this, the action asks that the Justice extend the responsibilities for the crisis in the retailer to the main partners and requests the blocking of BRL 1.53 billion of the assets of Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles for eventual payment in shares labor.
On Thursday (26), the Justice of São Paulo authorized the search and seizure of e-mails of directors and members of the Board of Directors and Audit of Americanas of the last ten years. The decision is a response to a request made by Bradesco.
The B3, the Brazilian stock exchange, excluded Americanas bonds (AMER3) from all its indices since Monday (23). In its last trading session listed on the Ibovespa, the company’s shares closed the day at R$0.71. In the trading session prior to the Material Fact of January 11, the quotation was R$ 12.
Source: CNN Brasil
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