Suppliers go to court to charge delays from Americanas – 04/16/2024 – Market

Small suppliers went to court to charge Americanas. They claim that the retailer did not make payments stipulated within the judicial recovery plan.

The actions, to which the Sheet had access, were filed in Rio de Janeiro. According to two processes in the 4th Business Court, Americanas did not pay around R$2.5 million to the plaintiffs.

When contacted, the company said that payment to creditors is made in accordance with the judicial recovery plan and that the amounts questioned “are residual”.

The company would have to complete the first stage of payments — which includes labor creditors, micro and small entrepreneurs and suppliers — by March 28th.

Creditors with credits listed in the judicial recovery plan of up to R$12,000 or who agreed to pay within this ceiling would also have to be covered.

The delay worries small suppliers. A representative of these businesspeople who preferred to remain anonymous said that the money is important due to the size of the companies that did not receive payment.

According to him, many of those affected by non-payment have a large percentage of sales dependent on Americanas. In some cases, it reaches 80%.

In a statement, Americanas stated that to date more than R$4 billion in credits have been paid to labor creditors, micro and small entrepreneurs and suppliers.

“Americanas expects most of the plan to be implemented and executed by the end of the first half of the year,” said the company.

The retailer acknowledged the lack of payments from these classes of creditors, but said that “they are residual within the total volume of payments and that the negotiations have already been addressed, either by adjusting the registration data of the creditors listed or by not qualifying, in a specific case, to the requirements set out in the recovery plan for the assignment of credits”, stated Americanas.

In judicial recovery since January 19, 2023 after accounting fraud, Americanas managed to approve its recovery plan exactly 11 months later.

According to the company, in February 2023, it had already paid approximately R$115 million to workers and micro and small entrepreneurs, who were prioritized by the retailer in the judicial recovery plan.

The action, however, was suspended by the courts at the time, at the request of a creditor financial institution.

After the publication of the approval of the plan on February 27th of this year in the Rio Court, Americanas resumed payments, and paid off another R$100 million.

For suppliers, there were R$3.9 billion in debt, with R$3.7 billion allocated to the first installment and up to R$300 million in additional installments.

Americanas says that the approximately 500 suppliers included in this first stage of payments, which ended on March 28, represented 70% of sales in the chain’s physical stores in 2023.

According to the proposal, they received their credits without a discount, unless they decided to settle for less than the face value.

The retailer also stated that, of the R$3.7 billion in resources for the single installment from collaborating suppliers, R$3.5 billion refers to the new financing carried out by the company’s reference shareholders at the beginning of March this year.