2023-07-29 18:15:43
© Reuters. Samarco building in Mariana, Minas Gerais 11/11/2015 REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
SÃO PAULO (Reuters) – Samarco on Friday filed a consensual judicial recovery plan together with some of its creditors with the intention of implementing transactions contemplated in a previous agreement that established a discount on the value of the mining company’s debt, the company said. in this Saturday.
On May 31, Samarco, a joint venture between Vale (BVMF:) and BHP, had closed an agreement with most of the financial creditors that provided for a 25% discount on the value of the debt held by them, a step that was considered important for the company to proceed with its judicial recovery process.
The reorganization plan was filed with the Second Corporate Court of the Judicial District of Belo Horizonte, where it will be considered without the need for a general meeting of creditors and, if confirmed, will require recognition by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to the company, Samarco will issue up to US$3.566 billion in new notes due in June 2031 to financial creditors who choose to receive these notes in exchange for canceling their credits. These notes will pay interest from 9% to 9.5% per annum and will not be secured.
Samarco may choose to capitalize the interest to the principal debt amount in full until 2025 and partially in 2026 and 2027, according to the mining company. Thereafter, all interest will be paid in cash.
Financial creditors can also opt for an alternative treatment that swaps their existing credit for a new debt instrument due in 2035.
Creditors from the working class with claims of up to R$1.50 million will be paid in full by Samarco, in accordance with the court-supervised reorganization plan, as well as micro and small business creditors and strategic suppliers who hold unsecured claims.
The plan also provides that any agreements with Brazilian public authorities related to the remediation and repair of accidents by Samarco must be preserved.
In this way, between 2024 and the full payment of the new notes due in 2031, the shareholders will finance Samarco in relation to its indemnity obligations, including payments to Fundação Renova (BVMF:) — responsible for mobilizing to repair the damage caused by the rupture of the Fundão dam, in Mariana (MG) — in excess of 1 billion dollars, informed the mining company.
According to Samarco, the company’s shareholders are supporting the judicial recovery plan.
The mining company resumed activities at the end of 2020 after five years of stoppage due to the rupture of the Fundão dam, in November 2015, which released a wave of mud that killed 19 people and destroyed communities. The collapse is also considered the biggest environmental disaster in the country’s history, contaminating the Doce River for hundreds of kilometers to the ocean.
(By Luana Maria Benedito)
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