Brazil’s Odebrecht creditors have delayed the vote on the conglomerate’s new bankruptcy plan to Dec. 19, according to representatives for the conglomerate, Reuters reported. The company said in a statement that 20 of the 21 subsidiaries have agreed to delay the vote on the restructuring to Dec. 19. Creditors of one last subsidiary, Atvos Investments, are still discussing the delay. Odebrecht presented the new restructuring plan to creditors yesterday.
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A Brazilian bankruptcy judge has pushed back the sale of two soy crushing plants after U.S-based grain trader Bunge Ltd alleged the seller provided insufficient information about the assets, according to court filings seen by Reuters on Friday. The auction of the two plants by privately owned Imcopa group, rescheduled to Feb. 17 from Dec. 4, is part of the seller’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Imcopa and a court-appointed judicial administrator agreed to cancel this week’s auction of the two strategic plants in Paraná state, court documents showed.

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Creditors for Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht SA decided on Wednesday to postpone a vote on the company’s bankruptcy restructuring proposal to Dec. 10, until after it submits a revised restructuring plan, Reuters reported. Reuters reported earlier this week that Odebrecht and its larger creditors, local lenders, are close to reaching an agreement on a revised plan. Odebrecht lawyer Eduardo Munhoz said he expects to deliver the revised plan before Dec. 10.

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Brazil’s largest airline, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, on Thursday reported a 242 million reais ($60.69 million) third-quarter loss, hit by problems affecting its Boeing 737 planes, Reuters reported. Gol flies Boeing 737 planes exclusively, a strategy which can help to reduce costs. But this year it has exposed the company to Boeing’s woes, including the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, following two deadly crashes. The carrier says it expects its seven MAX planes will receive regulatory approval to resume flights in December, based on the guidance it has received from Boeing.

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Brazil’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for a third straight meeting following on the passing of a key reform that spurred hopes of a recovery in the country’s sluggish economy amid low inflation, the Financial Times reported. The Selic rate hit a new low of 5 per cent on Wednesday after the monetary policy committee, known as “Copom”, approved a cut of 50 basis points following their first cut in over a year in July, on the day the US Federal Reserve also eased its monetary policy.

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Brazilian carriers Telefonica Brasil and TIM Participações will consider acquiring assets from struggling rival Oi SA if they are put up for sale, executives from both companies said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. In September, Reuters reported that Oi was in talks with the local subsidiaries of Spain’s Telefonica SA and Telecom Italia SpA to sell assets and avoid insolvency.

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Brazil’s top banking executives were unanimous in cheering the approval of a long-delayed pension overhaul -- and quick to line up what they think should be the government’s next priority, Bloomberg News reported. With the top item on their wish list now crossed off after years of debates, bankers from Itau Unibanco Holding SA to Banco BTG Pactual SA are now championing reforms to the rules governing civil servants’ costly benefits, including changes to compensation, productivity metrics and dismissal policies.

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Samarco, a joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Group, on Friday won permission to resume operations at their Germano iron ore mine, the environmental regulator of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais said, roughly four years after a fatal dam collapse there, Reuters reported. Vale said in a separate release that it expected production at the joint venture, which is trying to restructure $3.8 billion in debt it defaulted on about a year after the accident, to resume toward the end of 2020.

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At least three potential bidders have expressed an interest in buying two soy processing plants put up for sale by Brazilian grain crusher Imcopa Importação, Exportação e Indústria de Óleos SA, two sources familiar with the bidding process told Reuters. The bidders are U.S.-based Bunge Inc; CJ Selecta, owned by South Korea’s CJ Cheiljedang; and the local unit of Russia’s Sodrugestvo, according to the sources, who requested anonymity this week to discuss the confidential process, Reuters reported.

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A bankruptcy court in Paraná state has scheduled an auction to sell two plants belonging to Brazilian soy processor Imcopa International SA on Dec. 4, the company said on Friday, Reuters reported. Imcopa, one of the largest non-genetically modified soy crushers in Brazil, said the sale of the plants in the towns of Araucária and Cambé was foreseen in its reorganization plan approved by creditors in 2017. In a statement, privately owned Imcopa said the ruling was handed down on Thursday by Judge Mariana Gusso. The company declined to comment further.

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