Brazil’s Light Strikes Preliminary Agreement with Creditors

Light SA will receive fresh cash and convert debt to equity under a preliminary restructuring deal it reached with creditors.

Author of the article:

Bloomberg News

Giovanna Bellotti Azevedo

Published Apr 16, 2024 • 1 minute read

Public works employees labor at a construction site in front a Light SA electricity substation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014. Brazil’s electrical grid will be able to cope with hosting the soccer World Cup as temperatures and consumption diminish by the time the tournament begins, the government’s deputy energy minister said last week after a blackout affected 6 million people. Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Light SA will receive fresh cash and convert debt to equity under a preliminary restructuring deal it reached with creditors.

The troubled Rio de Janeiro utility said in a filing released Monday the agreement in principal includes a capital injection of as much as 1.5 billion reais, the issuance of new notes and converting as much as 2.2 billion reais of existing debt into equity.

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The new capital is likely to come from major shareholders, Nelson Tanure, Ronaldo Cezar Coelho and Carlos Alberto Da Veiga Sicupira, who own a combined 65% of the company, Bloomberg News previously reported, citing people familiar with the negotiations.

Light, which has about 11 billion reais ($2.2 billion) in total debt, filed for bankruptcy protection last year, after warning that government regulators weren’t authorizing it to charge customers enough to pay its obligations. The company blamed energy theft and high delinquency rates for its deteriorating revenue. More than one-quarter of the power it was sending out on the grid was being lost to theft, costing the company around $200 million a year.

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Under the agreement, at least 35% of adjusted credits will be converted equity — a total of as much as 2.2 billion reais. The conversion will take place within 90 days after Light renews its concession with the government.

The deal also includes the issuance of new securities. The first, for a maximum of 4.1 billion reais, would mature in eight years and pay inflation plus 5%. The second has a 13- year maturity and pays inflation plus 3%. The amount was not disclosed.

A third note, to be issued to local creditors of subsidiary Light Sesa, will have a maximum amount of 670 million reais, with a 10-year maturity, and will pay CDI benchmark plus 0.5%.

The binding agreement will go to creditors for approval at a general meeting before becoming a full restructuring plan.

—With assistance from Vinícius Andrade.

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