Companies vote against Americanas recovery plan – 12/23/2023 – Market

They form a group of 156 companies, including big names in the food, footwear, paper and cellulose, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, financial services, energy and refrigeration markets. But medium-sized companies are also present, with brands with strong regional appeal.

These are the companies that voted against Americanas’ judicial recovery plan during a meeting held last Tuesday (19). Among them, BRF, Suzano, Sanofi, L’Oréal, Boticário, Grendene, Neoenergia, Tirolez and Wickbold. In total, the companies that said “no” to the plan had more than R$1 billion to receive, but their votes were defeated. Now, they will see their debt receive a discount of up to 80% and be paid in installments.

In the opinion of experts consulted by Sheetcompanies have good reasons to reject the plan, which ended up being approved by the majority of creditors, who agreed with Americanas’ demand not to sue the company in court.

“I consider this clause illegal”, says lawyer specializing in judicial recovery Filipe Denki, from Lara Martins Advogados. “The right to defense is constitutional, no one can stop it.”

André Pimentel, partner at the consultancy firm Performa Partners, agrees and also highlights the payment conditions. “If the creditors are suppliers to Americanas, they were doubly harmed, because the company always had a more aggressive retail stance in terms of price, squeezing manufacturers and importers as much as possible,” he says. In other words, on the original amount that suppliers had to receive, a discount greater than the retail average was already included, he says.

In a statement, Americanas stated that “the plan construction process created new bases for operational and financial reorganization, with the renewal of the relationship and trust of these suppliers in the company and its upliftment, which generates gains for everyone.” According to the retailer, the judicial recovery plan “is feasible and was well accepted between parties”.

According to documents made available by the judicial administrator, among 1,860 voters, 100 abstained, 156 voted against and 1,604 said yes to the judicial recovery plan.

Check below the list of 20 large companies that voted “no” to Americanas’ judicial recovery plan, selected from the group of 156 companies that expressed this vote:

A Sheet contacted 11 of the 20 creditors on this list. Only Boticário and Neoenergia responded by note. L’Oréal, Grendene, Wickbold, BRF and Vortx declined to comment. Tirolez, Metalfrio, Vale D’ouro and Gelopar did not respond until the publication of this report.

“Grupo Boticário informs that it is dealing with the matter in the judicial sphere and that, after analyzing the proposal offered, the company chose not to adhere to the payment plan that was included in the judicial recovery plan”, informed the perfume and cosmetics manufacturer, which owns brands such as Eudora, Quem Disse, Berenice? and Vult.

“Neoenergia informs that its statement at the Americanas judicial recovery meeting occurred due to a discrepancy in the values ​​of the credits qualified for one of its distributors, as well as the extension of the payment deadline,” said the company.

The company’s largest creditors, banks Bradesco, Santander, Itaú, BTG, Safra and Banco do Brasil, which alone have around R$20 billion to receive, said yes to the plan, which foresees that the majority of the financial institution’s debts are converted into Americanas shares.

Other creditors can decide whether they want to participate in a reverse auction of their debt – whoever offers the biggest discount, at least 70%, wins. In this case, payment will only be made in 2039, with interest calculated by the TR. Anyone who does not want to participate in the auction will only receive it in 2044, with an 80% discount on their debt, also corrected by the TR.

There is also the possibility of creditors paying off your debt for R$12,000, in cash.

Technology creditors – essential for the company to maintain operations in the marketplace and even in physical stores – will be paid in a single installment, but must commit to providing the same deadlines as in 2022 or even better for Americanas.

Collaborating suppliers, in turn, who supply the retailer with products, who have submitted themselves to the reverse auction, can receive R$1 million if they repay their debt.

Anyone who is a supplier creditor, but neither a collaborator nor a technology creditor, will have a 50% discount on their debt, with the balance divided into 48 installments, or four years.

(Contributed by Júlia Moura, from São Paulo)