Americans prepare for recovery in court, Microsoft plans layoffs and what matters in the market

ANDsta is the edition of newsletterr FolhaMercado this Wednesday (18). want to receive it from monday to Friday at 7 am In your email? Sign up below:

American prepares request for judicial recovery

Americanas is expected to file a recovery request in court in the coming days in the amount of approximately R$ 20 billion. The amount is needed to get the company back on track, in XP’s accounts.

The creditor banks expected that the trio of billionaires from 3G Capital, by 2021 the company’s controlling shareholders and today the company’s reference shareholders, would take the R$ 20 billion out of their pocket, but they would accept a maximum of R$ 6 billion. The way out, then, must be judicial recovery (RJ).

Understand: during the process, a judge starts to manage the negotiation of the company’s debts, while a restructuring plan is put together and voted on by a meeting of creditors.

• It is common for creditors to offer a discount and extend the payment period for the company’s debt, in addition to the fact that, during the process, the company does not have to pay any debt.

The company already has a precautionary decision, with a period of 30 days, which frees it from the early maturity of debts and prevents its assets from being blocked. This week, it failed to pay interest on one of its debenture issues (corporate debt).

• The court’s decision was very bad with the banks, and BTG even tried to reverse the decision, but had an appeal denied.

• This Tuesday, the bank started arbitration proceedings against Americanas in São Paulo and intends to file a new appeal, even in the case of a request by RJ.

Other news about the Americanas case:

• Sergio Rial, the CEO who held the position at the company for nine days until he exposed the “inconsistencies” of R$ 20 billion, reaffirmed in a post that he did not know in advance about the accounting breach.

• The company has hired Camille Loyo Faria as the company’s financial and investor relations director. The executive participated in part of Oi’s judicial recovery process, one of the largest in Brazilian history.

Layoffs come to Microsoft

After Meta, Twitter, Amazon, Salesforce and many others, it’s Microsoft’s turn. Big tech plans to lay off thousands of employees, according to information published by vehicles this Tuesday (17).

In numbers: the cut would reach 5% of the staff, or about 11 thousand employeesaccording to British television channel Sky News.

• Bloomberg said the layoffs were expected to involve a range of engineering divisions, while Insider reported that up to a third of the human resources team could be cut.

Leads of layoffs: if confirmed, the cuts at Microsoft would be the second biggest in technology this year. In the first days of January, Amazon confirmed that it will lay off more than 18 thousand workers.

• Days later, it was Salesforce’s turn to expose its plans to fire 7,000 employees. “We hire too much,” admitted the company’s CEO.

Which explains: in common, technology companies are suffering from the rise in interest rates in the US and the global slowdown that should follow.

DiCaprio and Bezos Funds Wave to Brazil

Brazil has received signals from the foundations of actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to receive around US$ 100 million each for environmental protection, said Minister Marina Silva (Environment) in Davos this Tuesday.

• The minister has been sought out by investors interested in putting money into preservation projects in the country.

• Today (18), she is due to meet John Kerry, the US government’s envoy for climate change, in a bilateral meeting.

Representatives of the Lula government at the World Economic Forum, Marina and the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, have been reinforcing the defense of some themes in the panels:

• The strength of Brazilian democracy after the coup attacks on the 8th;

• The country’s commitment to environmental protection and the economic agenda, especially related to fiscal responsibility.

Haddad and China cheer up the Stock Exchange

Signals given by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, in Davos, and the performance of China’s GDP in the last quarter of 2022 above expectations encouraged the Brazilian financial market this Tuesday.

In numbers: the Ibovespa closed at a high of 2.04%, to 111,439 points, while the dollar retreated 0.79%at BRL 5.10.

Which explains: Haddad’s statement at the economic forum echoed well among analysts that the government expects to present the new fiscal framework, which will replace the spending ceiling, by April.

• Another piece of news that pleased was the minister’s report to interlocutors that he does not intend to interfere in the future appointments of the Central Bank board, as published by CNN Brasil.

China: The country reported on Monday night that its economy grew 3% in 2022, below the target of 5.5%, but the performance of the indicator in the last quarter of the year positively surprised analysts.

• The result boosted commodity prices and reflected in the shares of companies on the Exchange. Petrobras’ preferred shares rose 6.15%, giving strength to the Ibovespa.