The Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ) informed this afternoon (19) that the request for judicial recovery presented by the Americanas Group was accepted. The decision was taken by Judge Paulo Assed Estefan, from the 4th Business Court in the capital. Last week, the discovery of accounting inconsistencies in the group’s fiscal balance sheet resulted in the resignation of president Sérgio Rial and investor relations director André Covre.
Both had been sworn in just over a week ago, but announced the decision to step down after estimating that there was a shortfall of BRL 20 billion. The news generated an immediate sudden drop of more than 70% in Americanas shares listed on the Stock Exchange. The announcement of the request for judicial recovery also impacted the assets, which today depreciated by almost 40%. In the petition presented to the TJRJ, the group calculates that the accounting inconsistencies should increase the debts to an amount of around R$ 40 billion.
Judicial recovery is requested when a company is in financial difficulties. With the application accepted, any judicial debt executions are paralyzed for 180 days and the company must present within 60 days a proposal that includes payment methods to creditors and an administrative reorganization, in order to prevent the situation from getting worse and reach a bankruptcy scenario. The complete list of over 16,000 creditors should be delivered within 48 hours.
The Americanas Group is made up of the companies Americanas SA, B2W Digital Lux and JSM Global. They are responsible for various brands that carry out retail and internet sales, such as Lojas Americanas, Americanas.com, Submarino, Shoptime, Hortifrutti, among others. According to the petition presented to the TJRJ, together they reach more than 50 million consumers.
The group maintained that it meets all the legal requirements of the Judicial Recovery Law and that the need to comply with the request to overcome its financial crisis and preserve its business activity is undeniable. It also informed that its board of directors has already created an independent committee made up of professionals, which will be responsible for investigating the scenario and presenting its conclusions to shareholders, the market and society in general.
“Due to the potential breach of ancillary contractual obligations, provided for in several of the contracts entered into with its creditors, including foreign ones, the risk of declaring the early and immediate maturity of all its billionaire obligations has become imminent”, registers the request.
Announcement to the market
Earlier, Grupo Americanas had already admitted, in a notice to the market, the possibility of filing for judicial recovery. At the time, a cash position of R$ 800 million was informed and that a portion was unavailable for handling.
In a new statement released to the market to confirm the request for judicial recovery, the Americanas Group affirmed confidence in the maintenance of its operations and informed that the company’s group of reference shareholders – which is formed by 3G Capital Partners of the partners Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Hermann Telles – stated that it intends to maintain its liquidity at levels that allow all stores to function properly.
“The company will maintain its efforts in the search for a solution with its creditors, to maintain its commitment as a generator of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, broad social impact, source of production and stimulus to economic activity, in addition to being a relevant payer of taxes”, adds the text.
Administrative procedures
The Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), an authority that oversees the Brazilian capital market, published a note this evening informing that a task force promoted the initiation of seven administrative proceedings to investigate the situation involving the Americanas Group. Among several issues, complaints of irregularities related to accounting information, disclosure of material facts and communications, negotiations involving assets issued by the company, conduct of reference shareholders and performance of credit risk rating agencies will be investigated.
“In the event that illicit acts or infractions are formally characterized, each of those responsible may be duly held accountable with the rigor of the law and to the extent applicable”, records the text. The CVM also informed that it works in cooperation with the Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) and that it is in constant dialogue with the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) to coordinate a possible joint action in court. In addition, a headline was created on the cover of his electronic portal to receive new complaints related to recent facts.
Article published at 8:34 pm to add a note from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
