BTG and Americanas reach an agreement and suspend 7 appeals – 03/20/2023 – Market

One of Americanas’ strongest creditors, André Esteves’ bank BTG Pactual, began to lay down its arms. A peace gesture was sealed on Thursday (16), with the request for suspension in the processing of seven appeals (five grievances, a writ of mandamus and an injunction) in progress in the Justice of Rio de Janeiro against the retailer.

The agreement took place just four days before the delivery of the judicial recovery plan, scheduled for this Monday (20). In this first version of the document, considered a mere formality, Americanas must present a request for an 80% discount on debts and a period of 15 years to pay.

Creditors, in turn, will have up to 30 days to file objections to the plan. If there are complaints, a general meeting of creditors will be convened, which will vote for the approval, rejection or modification of the plan.

All petitions relating to proceedings involving BTG and Americanas, to which the Sheet had access, were signed by the newsstands that defend the bank and the retail group. From the financial institution are Galdino, Coelho, Pimenta, Takemi, Ayoub; Ferro, Castro Neves, Daltro and Gomide; and Mudroviscth. At the forefront of the retailer’s defense are Basilio Advogados and Salomão Kaiuca Abrahão Raposo Cotta.

“In view of the recent and relevant decisions handed down (…), the parties postulate Your Excellency to suspend this process and the deadlines, in progress, for a period of 30 days, so that they can assess the impact of such decisions and consider possible alternatives “, says the text of the request, sent by the lawyers of BTG and Americanas, to each of the instances.

By “recent and relevant decisions”, found the Sheet together with a source who follows the dispute in court, the trio of billionaires would be willing to invest more than R$ 10 billion in Americanas. The figure was on the retailer’s meeting agenda with financial institutions on March 6th and 7th.

This disposition increased the “optimism” of the financial institution in relation to the negotiations with the Americanas command, hence the suspension of the processes, as a way of demonstrating goodwill.

But this provision is not unanimous among banks. On Bradesco’s side, for example, there is no similar armistice being put together so far, said a source who follows the case.

The bank, attended by Warde Advogados, continues to insist on access to the emails of Americanas directors. The decision is with Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

Americanas’ biggest debt is in the hands of private banks (R$19.5 billion), with Bradesco the main creditor (R$5.1 billion). The list continues with Santander (R$ 3.6 billion), BTG (R$ 3.5 billion), Itaú Unibanco (R$ 2.7 billion) and Safra (R$ 2.5 billion). Public banks Banco do Brasil (R$ 1.6 billion) and Caixa (R$ 500 million) are also part of the list of creditors.

The fight between BTG and Americanas, since the accounting scandal came to light, was one of the most intense in the case. André Esteves’ bank was the only one able to block the retailer’s resources, in the order of R$ 1.2 billion, in an account managed by the financial institution, and maintain this amount until today.

The legal battle began on January 13, when the chain of stores obtained an injunction that prevented the collection of debts by creditors for a period of 30 days. Soon after, the bank filed a request to block BRL 1.2 billion in deposits made by Americanas, whose main shareholders are the trio of billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira.

In the petition, with expressions of indignation, the bank’s defense went so far as to call the trio of billionaires a “fraudster who acts crazy”. “The three richest men in Brazil (with assets valued at BRL 180 billion), anointed as a kind of demigods of ‘good’ world capitalism, are caught with their hands in the cash register of what, since 1982, has been one of the main companies of the trio”, says the document.

“Two days later, they have the nerve to come to court to ask for a precautionary measure, preparatory to a judicial recovery, to prevent creditors from legitimately protecting their assets in light of the biggest corporate fraud that has been reported in the history of the country. the fraudster asking the bars of Justice for protection ‘against’ his own fraud”, says the text of the petition.

BTG’s defense argued that it was a “fraudster fulfilling his own prophecy, truly ‘acting crazy so these guys know it’s for real.’ kill his father and mother, asks the jury for clemency for being an orphan.”

The bank obtained a writ of mandamus to block the resources on January 18, which hastened Americanas’ request for judicial recovery, made the following day.