Braskem, one of the world’s ten largest petrochemical companies, filed Monday (24) for court approval of an out-of-court restructuring aimed at overhauling $10.9 billion in financial debt, equivalent to R$56.5 billion at current exchange rates.

Talks between the company and creditors stretched into Sunday night as a 60-day injunction protecting Braskem from debt collection and enforcement actions approached its expiration. The filing gives the petrochemical producer more time to develop a plan capable of winning support from a majority of the claims included in the restructuring.

Braskem has secured backing from holders of 39.6% of the financial debt covered by the proceeding, although that does not mean creditors have agreed to all terms of a potential restructuring. As Valor reported, there is still no formal written plan, despite progress on some issues. The company will use the next 90 days to flesh out the proposal and seek the required support of more than 50% of the claims.

Although the out-of-court restructuring filing had been widely expected, Braskem shares fell 6.7% on B3 to R$4.73 on Monday, their lowest level in 17 years. Following the filing, B3 removed the stock from its indices.

Capital options

One of the commitments reached so far calls for controlling shareholders IG4 Capital and state-controlled oil company Petrobras to provide funding if certain milestones are not met.

In that context, one option under discussion is for Braskem to tap the capital markets in the future if its financial metrics deteriorate, people familiar with the negotiations said. A follow-on share offering, potentially open to the controlling and minority shareholders as well, is the majority shareholders’ preferred route for raising capital.

A group of creditors, however, continues to press for a direct capital injection from Petrobras and IG4, which would provide funds more quickly.

The shareholders’ agreement between the asset manager and oil giant calls for Braskem eventually to become a widely held corporation with no defined controlling shareholder, with its shares listed on B3’s Novo Mercado, a stricter corporate-governance listing segment.

Debt terms

The out-of-court restructuring gives Braskem another 90-day standstill on payments of financial obligations. During that period, the company is expected to submit its operational turnaround plan and provide further details on the financial restructuring.

The basic terms agreed with creditors call for extending debt maturities and introducing a grace period for interest payments, although the parties have yet to settle the length of the extensions, interest rates or any potential haircut. The original proposal envisaged a five-year grace period on principal payments and 2.5 years on interest.

In return, creditors have requested guardrails that could include restrictions on dividend payments and limits on mergers and acquisitions and asset sales. The terms of those restrictions and how long they would remain in force are also still being negotiated.

Court protection

Braskem turned to an out-of-court restructuring after the injunction shielding it from enforcement actions for 60 days expired Monday.

The plan covers only unsecured financial claims and excludes obligations to customers, suppliers, distributors and other commercial partners. The company said the measure is intended to ensure consistent treatment of financial liabilities and prevent individual creditors from being paid on terms different from those established under the restructuring.

The proceeding includes Braskem and five overseas entities used by the group for funding and financial management: Braskem Netherlands, Braskem Netherlands Inc., Braskem Trading & Shipping, Braskem Netherlands Finance and Braskem America Finance.

The proceeding has been assigned a value of R$187.07 billion, although most of that amount consists of obligations among companies within the group. Intercompany claims total R$130.6 billion. They will be restructured but will not count toward the approval threshold.

Braskem has also asked the court to prevent banks from setting off claims covered by the restructuring against funds the company holds in bank accounts. Contractual provisions could allow banks to seize more than R$400 million, the company said.

In its filing, Braskem said such a withdrawal would “irreversibly” undermine its restructuring efforts and deprive it of funds needed to pay employees, suppliers and other essential expenses.

Liquidity needs

Braskem’s assessment is that it does not currently need to take on new debt, but rather extend the maturities of its existing obligations, people familiar with the matter said.

The company views its financial problem as being concentrated more in the timing of debt payments than in any immediate need to add new borrowing to its capital structure.

Negotiations are being conducted with the support of Makalu and Lazard, which advise Braskem. Petrobras is advised by BR Partners and became more directly involved in the talks during the final stages. IG4 is advised by RK Partners.

Commercial support

Petrobras is also discussing ways to provide commercial support to Braskem. One possibility would be to give the petrochemical company more time to pay for naphtha and natural gas supplied by Petrobras, which Braskem currently purchases for immediate payment.

Suppliers in the Middle East, for example, accept letter-of-credit arrangements that can defer the actual cash outflow by as much as six months.

Braskem said Monday that it is negotiating with Petrobras to increase a R$2.35 billion credit limit. The facility is intended for raw-material purchases and provides 30-day payment terms.

Financial pressure

Braskem’s financial deterioration stems mainly from the combination of heavy spending to address the geological damage linked to its former rock-salt mining operations in Maceió, capital of Alagoas state, and the prolonged downturn in the global petrochemical industry.

Including funds already spent and amounts provisioned, the Maceió-related bill is around R$20 billion.

At the same time, the global petrochemical slump has persisted amid excess supply, particularly from China and the United States.

IG4 and Braskem declined to comment. Petrobras did not immediately respond to requests for an interview.

(Felipe Laurence and Adriana Peraita contributed reporting.)

*By Stella Fontes and Fernanda Guimarães — São Paulo

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/