William França, Director of Industrial Processes and Products at Petrobras, stated on Thursday that Petrobras, as a shareholder in Braskem, believes a consensus will be reached with Braskem's creditors in the ongoing extrajudicial recovery process. França emphasized the goal is to ensure a capital structuring plan within the extrajudicial recovery that allows Braskem to become operationally and financially sound. When asked about potential capital injections from Petrobras, França indicated that "nothing has been decided yet."
This statement comes amidst ongoing and tense negotiations between Braskem and its bondholders over the restructuring of approximately $11 billion in debt. Braskem's initial restructuring proposal, which included a reduction in interest rates on international bonds and a mechanism for the company to repurchase $1.25 billion of debt at a 50% discount, was rejected by creditors. Creditors had previously demanded a $3 billion capital injection from Petrobras and IG4 Capital Group, which Braskem rejected.
Braskem is preparing a new counterproposal for its board to approve, which will include a commitment from shareholders to capitalize the company if certain financial metrics are not met after five years, with a 2.5-year grace period for interest payments. This version does not include a firm commitment from Petrobras for an immediate capital injection but implies a commitment from IG4. Petrobras has indicated it is willing to support Braskem financially under a healthy capital structure, contingent on an prior debt restructuring agreement. The deadline for reaching an agreement on a preliminary proposal is October 9, with a final plan due by November 22 to avoid court-supervised reorganization.
