SAO PAULO: The judge overseeing phone carrier Oi SA’s bankruptcy case agreed on Friday to give creditors and the company more time to reconcile competing restructuring proposals, 16 months into Brazil’s largest in-court reorganisation.

The judge, Fernando Viana, acted on a request filed on Thursday by several creditor groups including state-owned banks and bondholders, court documents showed.

A creditors’ meeting to vote on a Oi restructuring plan had been scheduled for Monday, but Viana postponed it until Nov 6. If the quorum is insufficient on that date, the meeting will be rescheduled for Nov 27, according to the documents.

The International Bond­holders Committee was among those who asked the delay. Others, all holding claims on debt-laden Oi, included the Ad Hoc Group of Oi Bondholders, Banco do Brasil , state development bank BNDES and Caixa Economica Federal.

Oi Chief Executive Offi­­cer Marco Schroeder told journalists in Brasilia the carrier would take advantage of any additional time to continue negotiations.

Oi wants to restructure 65.4 billion reais in debt by offering bondholders a 25pc equity stake, a move that would imply a 73pc haircut for creditors, according to an independent analysis by Banco Itau BBA.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2017