Brazil

Brazilian entrepreneur Eike Batista’s financial collapse is being reflected on the balance sheets of global suppliers to his oil company, Bloomberg reported. OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA, controlled by the former billionaire, said in a statement today that it has cut payments to all but “critical” suppliers to its most promising field. Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., Ensco Plc and Schlumberger Ltd. are among those paying the price.

Attempts to save Eike Batista's flagship oil company, the business most responsible for the meltdown of his once high-flying industrial empire, have been hampered by internal conflict and unpredictable decisions by the Brazilian tycoon, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters. The difficulty of reading Batista, who less than 18 months ago owned the world's seventh-largest fortune, and mixed signals from advisers and managers to his companies have disrupted attempts to renegotiate about $5 billion of bond and bank debts at OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações SA.

Investors who bet on Eike Batista have lost billions over the past year as the Brazilian's ephemeral business empire imploded. But they haven't been the only losers - the onetime Amazon gold trader and former speedboat racer's hometown of Rio de Janeiro has also been shaken by his rapid decline, Reuters reported in an insight. Beginning in 2006, Batista floated a series of mining, energy and shipping companies through share offers that by 2012 made him the world's seventh richest man, valued by Forbes magazine at $30 billion.

Cash-strapped Brazilian oil company OGX Petróleo e Gás Participaçãoes SA may get to keep its oil exploration blocks even if it files for bankruptcy protection, the head of Brazil's petroleum regulator, the ANP, said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Keeping those blocks though will depend on the company, part of Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista's EBX Group, meeting all the conditions of its current concession contracts, Magda Chambriard, the ANP's general director told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista sold 0.66 percent of his stock in OSX Brasil SA, a shipbuilder and shipleaser, the company said in a securities filing on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Batista sold 2.07 million shares of Rio de Janeiro-based OSX for 0.7073 reais a share raising 1.47 million reais ($665,158) on Sept. 2, the statement said. OSX gets most of its business from Batista's troubled oil company OGX Petróleo e Gás SA. OSX shares have lost more than 90 percent of their value in the last year. Read more.

OSX Brasil SA bank creditors are considering taking possession of two vessels used as collateral on loans to Eike Batista’s shipbuilding company, according to six people with direct knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported. Banks are talking to advisers and OSX officials to evaluate whether they should execute guarantees if the oil-producing sister company goes into default, which would trigger cross-default clauses on OSX debt, said the people, asking not to be named as discussions are private.

Brazilian oil producer OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações SA is meeting with U.S. creditors in New York on Monday in a bid to jump-start rescue talks while banks scamper to arrange an emergency loan for the company if no deal is reached, sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. Creditors were set to meet with a new advisory team for controlling shareholder Eike Batista aimed at averting a bankruptcy filing that could come as soon as this month, the sources said. OGX said last week that management is considering all measures to protect assets and stay in business.

OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA, the oil company controlled by former billionaire Eike Batista, is considering filing for bankruptcy protection in about a month, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported. The filing would be done in Rio de Janeiro, said the people, asking not to be identified as discussions are private. While Batista is negotiating with creditors to avoid the same process for shipbuilder OSX Brasil SA, the most likely outcome is that both companies will seek legal protection, they said.

Brazilian oil producer OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações SA is on track to forego a $44.5 million interest payment due on Tuesday, two sources with knowledge of the plans said, moving the company closer to the largest Latin American corporate debt default ever, Reuters reported. Should the company decide to miss the coupon payment, an announcement will be made within a few days, said one of the sources. The other said OGX wants to use a 30-day grace period that starts when the company misses the payment to conclude debt restructuring talks with bondholders.

OGX Petróleo e Gás SA and OSX Brasil SA, the oil company and the shipbuilder controlled by Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista, will seek court protection within a couple of weeks, Veja magazine reported on Saturday without saying how it obtained the information, Reuters reported. Efforts to reach spokeswomen at OGX and EBX, the parent company of Batista's crumbling empire, were unsuccessful. A spokeswoman at OSX did not have an immediate comment on the report.