BNP, Bradesco, Rabobank Named Among Raízen Top Creditors
(Bloomberg) — Portuguese Leia
BNP Paribas, Banco Bradesco SA and Coöperatieve Rabobank are among the largest creditors of Brazilian sugar and ethanol company Raizen SA, which is seeking to restructure its approximately $12.6 billion debt out of court.
Disclosures by Raizen showed that Paris-based BNP owes 4.2 billion reais ($810 million) when the value of the debt is converted into local currency, according to company documents published on Wednesday. Banco Bradesco, Banco Santander SA, Coöperatieve Rabobank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. each have debts of about 2 billion reais, also on a currency-converted basis, while Itau Unibanco Holding SA has an exposure of more than 1 billion reais to the company.
Raizen, owned by Shell Plc and Cosan SA, agreed to begin an out-of-court restructuring of its 65 billion reais debt, suspending payments and giving it 90 days to get support from creditors for a more comprehensive plan. This may include additional capital contributions from owners, conversion of some debt into equity, or sale of assets.
The documents show that the Trustees Bank of New York Mellon owes the equivalent of approximately 26 billion reais.
Securitization company True Securitizadora is also among the largest creditors, with debts of approximately 6.4 billion reais. Securitization firms are responsible for structuring agribusiness receivable certificates, or CRAs, a relatively new class of fixed-income securities used to finance the industry that helped finance Brazil’s agricultural boom.
Spokespeople for Bradesco, Sumitomo and Opea, the controller of True Securitizadora, declined to comment, while Rabobank said it did not comment on market transactions. A representative for Itau Unibanco said it did not comment on specific customers. BNP, Santander and BNY Mellon did not immediately return requests for comment.
Raizen, once Brazil’s leading biofuel producer, has been hurt by high interest rates, poor harvests and heavy investments that have yet to pay off.
The price of dollar-denominated bonds has fallen to levels that indicate a company is in trouble. Its ratings fell to the junk level as concerns about the debt burden increased and rescue talks with the main shareholders were prolonged.
(Updates with Sumitomo, Opea and Itau responding to requests in sixth paragraph.)
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