By: Vitor Ferrari and Ivan Kubala

The Superior Court of Justice has suspended the sale of debentures from the bankrupt estate of the mining company MMX Sudeste, owned by businessman Eike Batista. As a result, the judicial recovery process, which seemed to be moving forward, has once again stalled, greatly worrying creditors who fear they will not receive their credits any time soon, since these assets were the only ones capable of covering the bankrupt estate's billion-dollar debt.

Although the sale of the assets was accepted by the Judicial Administrator and granted by the competent Court, the Superior Court of Justice decided to suspend the sale of the assets for an indefinite period due to the imbroglio surrounding the bankruptcies of the MMX group companies.

Currently, the bankruptcy of the company MMX Sudeste is being discussed in Belo Horizonte, while the bankruptcy of the company MMX Mineração e Metálicos is taking place in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In other words, these are separate processes for companies of the same economic group. The suspension was imposed by the STJ so that there can be a discussion about whether or not to unify the processes, since the ministerial understanding of the Court is not settled.

Those most affected by this imposition are, certainly, the creditors of the company MMX Sudeste, because, in addition to the stress and apprehension generated by the suspension of the sale of debentures, there is also the risk of the processes being effectively unified, which would require the division of the capital arising from the sale of the bonds with the creditors of the other company.

The debt amounts are also a source of concern for MMX Sudeste creditors: MMX Mineração e Metálicos' debt is around 3 billion reais, while its total credits are only 1.2 billion.

Furthermore, the order in which creditors are paid is determined by the type of credit present in the judicial recovery process. This aspect is another point of concern for the creditors of the first company, since the vast majority are unsecured creditors, who, by law, receive their credits only after payment of tax credits, which are the majority of the credits of the second company. Therefore, the creditors of MMX Sudeste fear not only the delay in receiving their credits, but also the discount that will be applied to them, since it is likely that there will not be enough credit to fulfill all obligations.

It should be noted that a petition was sent to the STJ on behalf of the creditors. Among the arguments are the facts that the companies' lawsuits have been taking place separately for years and that MMX Sudeste has even sold part of its assets separately with the other company.

The role of creditors is of utmost importance, as in the case at hand, which is why it is important for them to always be represented by law firms that have expertise in the area. Our professionals, with extensive experience in the area, stay up to date and are always ready to provide assistance to creditors, debtors and investors.

With the collaboration of Luis Felipe Simões