Panel SA: Lawyers fear obstacles in reaching an agreement with creditors in the Americanas case

An agreement between Americanas’ creditors to better facilitate the judicial recovery may happen, according to specialists, however, lawyers raise warnings with reservations and possible obstacles in the process.

For lawyer Thomas Felsberg, who represents some unsecured creditors (those who do not have any type of guarantee), the fear is that there will be an imbalance in the judicial recovery plan, giving advantage to certain groups.

“My concern is that this agreement is made without taking into account the rights of debenture holders, bondholders and other creditors, which, strictly speaking, are the majority”, he says.

Felsberg argues that, for a fair recovery, the trio of billionaire reference shareholders offer a considerable contribution.

Lawyer Filipe Denki, a specialist in judicial recovery, says that he does not foresee a clash between creditors if Americanas obtains the necessary approval to proceed with the judicial recovery. However, he warns of attacks by banks that try to block resources in court.

“It is extremely important that the creditors, as a whole, cooperate in the judicial recovery process, under penalty of making the entire restructuring unfeasible. It is better to think of a way to support the recovery or nobody will receive anything”, he says.

Carolina Oliveira, partner at Campos e Antonioli Advogados Associados, says that not only the debtor –in this case, Americanas– can commit fraud, but also the creditors themselves. For it to be considered a crime, however, a disadvantage must be imposed on one creditor in favor of another, she says.

“Anyone who acts in bad faith with the intention of causing harm can effectively respond to an investigation”, says Oliveira.

Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Diego Felix