Atlântico Sul Shipyard Launches Labor Credit Mediation Campaign

Reconciliation Campaign Will Enable Partial Debt Payments Before Assembly, In A Judicial Recovery Process Of R$ 2.4 Billion

Last week, the notice for the debt reconciliation campaign with 700 labor creditors was published, in the judicial recovery process of Estaleiro Atlântico Sul (EAS), in Pernambuco. The measure, authorized by the 1st Civil Court of Ipojuca, will allow partial payment of amounts before the general creditors’ assembly, which involves a total liability of R$ 2.4 billion.

With this, creditors will be called to negotiate the credits, which are the lowest value in the entire process. The oversight of the procedure will be by the Medeiros & Medeiros Judicial Administration office, which was appointed judicial administrator of the Shipyard in February.

“Extrajudicial mediation is a new and very positive tool for the recovery process. It allows smaller creditors to receive a good portion of their credits, mitigating the impacts for workers and companies. Furthermore, it resolves conflicts and prevents other actions from being filed”, explains João Medeiros Fernandes Jr., a partner at the firm.

Controlled by the Queiroz Galvão and Camargo Corrêa groups, Estaleiro Atlântico Sul is among the 20 largest judicial recoveries underway in the country. EAS has a processing capacity of 160 thousand tons of steel per year and once employed more than six thousand staff. In January 2020, the company filed for recovery due to the economic crisis, mainly in the shipbuilding sector.

The situation is similar to that of Ecovix, which had its judicial recovery plan approved in 2018, in a process also managed by the Medeiros & Medeiros office. The company, owner of the Estaleiro Rio Grande, joined forces with the Chilean group Asmar to present a proposal for the production of an Antarctic ship for the Navy in July.