The president of Banco Nación (BNA), Silvina Batakis, stated yesterday that the entity is “working” on a proposal to acquire shares of the agro-exporting cereal company Vicentin, which owes almost US$1.5 billion.
Batakis clarified that the offer that the bank will make could be “associated” with some other State entity, and that “it would not be for 100%” of the shares. “We have been working. This week we are going to be full on that. I wouldn’t like to anticipate anything because we have to technically see all the possibilities we have, but what we definitely don’t want is for the company to be scrapped,” Batakis said this morning in dialogue with Radio 10.
Last Friday, the civil and commercial judge of the second nomination of the Santa Fe city of Reconquista, Fabián Lorenzini, signed the resolution that rejects the approval of the agreement presented by Vicentin to exit the preventive contest. As part of the ruling, Lorenzini ordered the opening of the competition period, also known as ‘cramdown’ or bailout, which began to take effect from yesterday until the end of this month and which opens the possibility of submitting offers from those interested in managing the company. .
Vicentin, the main agro-exporting company with Argentine capital, went into default in December 2019 and the following March requested its preventive bankruptcy, with verified credits for almost US$1.5 billion. “It was a huge scam for Banco Nación. The previous management, knowing that Vicentin was going bankrupt, lent him US$300 million,” Batakis recalled. The firm’s proposal to BNA, the main creditor, was not satisfactory since it contemplated a payment “over 56 years with a capital reduction and no interest,” the official said.
“The judge said that this offer is not good and now the exclusivity period ends, that is, in the first part only the company could make an offer (to manage it) and now it is no longer exclusive. The State and other private companies can make offers to keep the company and take care of its debts,” he explained.
Batakis highlighted the need to rescue Vicentin due to the large number of “direct and indirect workers” it has, as well as the fact that it is “a flagship of Argentina and our agricultural sector.”
Furthermore, he did not rule out that it fulfills, in the hands of the State, a function as a witness company, but clarified that this will depend on how the share package turns out. In any case, beyond the BNA, he said that “there are other companies worldwide that want to stay with the firm and will make proposals.”
And he also recalled that there were “informal offers” previously that “wanted to keep a small part of the company, sending the rest to be scrapped.” “If none of the proposals are accepted, the bankruptcy will continue, which would be a shame for everyone,” Batakis warned.
Source: Ambito
