OSX, by Eike Batista, requests 2nd judicial recovery – 01/21/2024 – Market

OSX filed a request with the Rio de Janeiro Court for a second judicial recovery. In the petition, filed on Saturday (20), Eike Batista’s shipbuilding company claims to have approximately R$7.9 billion in debt.

The company’s first RJ took place between 2013 and 2020, when the debt was R$5.3 billion. When contacted, OSX said it would not comment.

The company is one of the last in group X that is still under Eike’s command. Now, it suffers from demands from its “former sisters”, companies that were once part of the list of Batista’s companies.

One of its biggest creditors is Prumo (former LLX). Without receiving payment, the logistics company files for bankruptcy from OSX, which is trying to resist with a new judicial recovery.

In addition to stopping the collection of liabilities, OSX also requests the suspension of the clause in the contract with Porto do Açu (in Rio, controlled by Prumo) relating to Prumo’s exclusivity to prospect those interested in exploring the OSX area.

The company’s creditors also include Caixa Econômica Federal, Banco Votorantim and Banco Santander Brasil. RJ’s new request has not yet been analyzed by the Rio Courts.

“The company is closely monitoring the matter, and will keep the market duly informed about any update, in accordance with current regulations”, says OSX in a statement to the market this Sunday (21).

According to the company, its operations in Porto do Açu, in the north of Rio de Janeiro, consist of renting and developing projects in lots of areas in its complex, offering licensed spaces with basic implementation infrastructure such as energy, water, sewage, road access, security and offices.

WHO IS EIKE BATISTA

Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva, 67, from Minas Gerais, was considered the seventh richest man in the world in 2012 by Forbes magazine with an estimated fortune of US$34.5 billion.

The then owner of the EBX conglomerate, which brought together six mining, oil, energy, real estate, logistics and tourism companies listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, saw his reign begin to crumble when he was accused of overestimating data from his companies that explored oil.

The problems in the businessman’s life began in 2012 when he received authorization from the Brazilian government and decided to invest in pre-salt exploration basins.

At the time, the company announced that the oil flow in the first wells drilled by the company in the Campos basin field was only a third of what the market expected, causing the shares to fall successively.

With the company losing market value and unable to honor its debts, the businessman filed a request for judicial recovery. And OGX’s performance ended up affecting the other companies in the EBX group.

In 2015, he had his assets and those of his family blocked by the courts. In 2017, the businessman was arrested after two money changers claimed that he paid bribes to former governor Sérgio Cabral in exchange for contracts between his companies and the government of Rio de Janeiro. He was released after three months after making a plea bargain that was approved by the STF (Supreme Federal Court) in 2020.

Eike was convicted twice by the CVM (Securities Commission) for using privileged information to profit from the stock market when he was the controlling shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações SA and when he was the majority shareholder of the company OSX.