Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht SA yesterday filed for bankruptcy protection, aiming to restructure 51 billion reais ($13 billion) of debt in what would be one of Latin America’s largest-ever in-court debt restructurings, Reuters reported. The bankruptcy filing comes after years of struggles for Odebrecht, the biggest of the Brazilian engineering groups caught in a sweeping political corruption investigation that has rippled across Latin America. In the filing, the company asks the judge to bar the group’s seven largest creditors — six banks and an investment fund — from taking possession or selling shares in the group’s crown jewel, its controlling stake in petrochemical company Braskem SA. Shares in Braskem are pledged as collateral to the creditors. But Odebrecht says the Braskem stake is essential to its restructuring, as the petrochemical company was responsible for nearly 80 percent of the conglomerate’s revenues in 2018.
