Marcela Villar.
The Rio de Janeiro courts have just approved Americanas’ request for judicial reorganization (RJ). The decision was issued by Judge Paulo Assed Estefan, of the 4th Business Court of the Capital District of the State of Rio de Janeiro. The retailer filed for RJ earlier this afternoon, as Broadcast reported first hand.
With the approval of the request, the company will have 60 days to send the recovery plan to the Rio de Janeiro courts. During this process, “all existing lawsuits and executions against the group” are suspended, explains lawyer Fernando Brandariz, a specialist in judicial recovery and partner at Mingrone e Brandariz.
The judge chose lawyers Bruno Rezende and Sergio Zveiter as the judicial administrators of the action. The administrator is a kind of advisor to the judge in these proceedings. They also seek to understand the company’s fiscal situation and list all the creditors. According to Americanas, there are approximately 16,300 creditors. It asked the Rio de Janeiro court for a 48-hour deadline to deliver the list with the CNPJ names of all of them.
When accepting the request for recovery, the judge said that Americanas’ case “is one of the largest and most relevant judicial recoveries filed so far in the country”. This is not only because of its liabilities, but because of all the repercussions for the market, the “social aspect involved, given the large number of creditors, direct and indirect employees”, as well as the significant volume of wealth and taxes generated”.
A possible bankruptcy of the company “could lead to the collapse of Brazil’s production chain”. The judge also said that the recovery process should not be confused with the “allegations of fraud and bad faith” against the managers.
“One cannot confuse in these proceedings possible responsibilities and acts practiced by managers and/or controllers with the necessary protection of business economic activity, which aims to guarantee the maintenance of the source of production, the tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and, of course, the very interest of creditors, preserving the company, its social function and stimulating productive economic activity.”
The plan to be presented in two months does not have to be final. “This plan is draft zero, it can be changed several times and, in theory, approval of the plan has to be completed within 180 days of the filing, which can be extended by another 180 days,” says lawyer Jayme Petra de Mello Neto, legal coordinator at Marcos Martins Advogados.
It is also possible that the judge will order the release of BTG’s R$1.2 billion, which was obtained through an injunction.
“With the process in place, there is an idea that the reorganization court’s rationale for judicial reorganization prevails, in other words, the judge can say that this amount is essential for the company to survive during this period, and this will void the discussion of BTG’s claim,” says lawyer Marcos Martins, founding partner of Marcos Martins Advogados.
There is no time limit for the duration of the judicial recovery process. In theory, it should be completed within two years of the plan being approved at a meeting (which can be held in several sessions). Lawyers cite recovery cases that last from five to fifteen years.
