The surprising announcement that Brazil chicken producer BRF SA is in talks to take over beef giant Marfrig Global Foods SA was met with mixed responses from analysts. Investors didn’t seem too excited either, with moves on the stocks somewhat muted as the expected reduction in the debt burden at the resulting company is met with uncertainties about scale gains and corporate governance, Bloomberg News reported. BRF fell 1.2% at 11:23 a.m. in Sao Paulo, while Marfrig rose 3.1%. Competitor JBS SA dropped 2.8%.

A Brazilian judge has named restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal as judicial administrator of ethanol company Atvos’ in-court restructuring, according to a document seen by Reuters. Atvos, a unit of industrial conglomerate Odebrecht SA, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after creditor Lone Star Funds got a court decision blocking its cash position, Reuters reported. The company, which has nearly 12 billion reais ($3 billion) in debt, had offered creditors a debt-for-equity swap in the beginning of the year, but failed to reach an agreement.

Latin America is on the verge of suffering another lost decade. The region, still struggling to cope with the end of the commodities boom, has expanded only 0.7% a year on average during the past few years, Bloomberg News reported. That’s hardly enough to keep up with population growth, meaning that people are poorer today than they were in 2012, according to the International Monetary Fund. Now its biggest economies -- Brazil, Mexico and Argentina -- have contracted simultaneously for the second time in just over three years, causing yet another headache for policy makers.

Brazil’s civil aviation regulator ANAC said on Friday it had suspended all flights and operations of carrier Avianca Brasil in the country as a precautionary measure, following the company’s filing for bankruptcy late last year, Reuters reported. “All the flights are suspended until the company proves it has the capacity to maintain operations safely,” ANAC said in a statement. Avianca Brasil has filed for bankruptcy protection and lost most of its fleet after lessors obtained favorable court decisions to take aircraft back for lack of payments.

Samarco Mineracao SA, the Brazilian mining venture that hasn’t operated since a deadly dam collapse in 2015, is postponing restructuring talks for $3.8 billion of debt until at least November, according to three people with knowledge of the plan, Bloomberg News reported. Creditors of the company’s $2.2 billion in defaulted bonds and $1.6 billion in loans and other obligations are agreeing to the delay given the uncertainty around liabilities and fines the company may be subject to, said the people, who asked not to be named as talks are private.

A spate of farmer defaults in Brazil’s top grain-producing state is creating headaches for global traders who are among their main creditors and posing challenges to the widespread use of barter in the world’s largest soybean exporter, Reuters reported. The battles in Mato Grosso bankruptcy courts pit farmers against international trading houses, such as France’s Louis Dreyfus Corp (LDC) and U.S.-based Bunge Ltd, which have been lending aggressively to producers through Brazil’s unique barter system to protect profit margins from newer traders in China.

Brazilian telecommunications firm Oi SA reported a first-quarter net profit of 679 million reais ($170 million), in a quarter its revenue continued to fall, Reuters reported. This compares to a profit of 30.5 billion reais in the first quarter of 2018 after Oi reached an agreement with creditors in an in-court debt reorganization of the company. A debt for equity swap and a new capital injection were approved last year. The capital raise was completed in January.

Brazilian airline Azul SA on Monday made a new attempt to purchase some of bankrupt airline Avianca Brasil’s most coveted routes, offering $145 million and reversing a decision not to participate, Reuters reported. Avianca Brasil filed for bankruptcy protection in December, setting off a fierce battle for its airport slots, the rights to land and depart in crowded airports, which were expected to be sold at a bankruptcy auction that was suspended indefinitely.

Brazilian airline Azul SA has registered to participate in a bankruptcy auction for the assets of struggling carrier Avianca Brasil scheduled for next week, potentially walking back a previous decision not to participate, Reuters reported. The airline confirmed through a representative that they had registered, although he said no decision had been made whether to actually place a bid. The bankruptcy auction is set for Tuesday.

SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to invest about $230 million in Brazilian online lender Creditas as the firm expands investments in Latin America, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. SoftBank is planning to do the deal via a joint investment from its Vision Fund and newly created Innovation Fund, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the details aren’t public. No final decisions have been made, and SoftBank may still decide against the transaction, they said. SoftBank and Creditas declined to comment.