SÃO PAULO – Oi is not selling assets in Brazil as it continues to work on a restructuring plan, CEO Marco Norci Schroeder told journalists at the Futurecom event, held last week in São Paulo. “We don’t intend to sell assets in Brazil, but we can consider selling assets in Africa,” he noted, explaining there is no negation in course and that Oi considers Brazilian assets strategic to the company.
The question came up after local media published that America Movil CEO would be happy to buy the assets. During Futurecom, José Felix, the president of the group in Brazil, said the company could be interested if Oi’s assets were for sale.
On the other side, CEOs of Vivo and TIM both said they are not interested in acquiring the telecom company’s assets, noting they prefer the carrier to succeed on its recovery plan. They noted Oi is an important player in the Brazilian telecom sector.
Indeed, Oi holds the largest backbone in the country, which is strategic not only for itself, but for competitors and small and local internet service providers that buy traffic capacity from the carrier.
Oi filed for Brazil’s largest bankruptcy protection request in June. The total claims of persons not controlled by Oi listed in documents filed with the request for judicial reorganization total, by that date, approximately 65.4 billion reals ($20.9 billion). According to the company, the request for judicial recovery was another step toward its financial restructuring.
In September, Oi proposed a restructuring plan to creditors, and Schroeder said it has 120 days to work on it. “We are negotiating our debts with creditors. There’s a plan on the table and it does not mean it won’t have adjustments,” he noted. “There is no intention to use public money in the reorganization plan. Oi has a cash flow of around 5 billion reals.”
Schroeder also said the company is increasing investments in Brazil, but he didn’t give any specific numbers on the matter.
