Odebrecht Begins to Change Company Names to Attract New Partners

11/23/2017 - 12h54

Brazilian construction company Odebrecht decided to change the name of the companies that comprise its group to make it easier for new partners to enter these businesses and dodge associations of the group's name and corruption.

The first company to remove the name Odebrecht as well as the color red from its logo was Realizações Imobiliárias, which decided to return to its previous name, OR, with a grayish green logo next to an orange arrow. In August Braskem, Odebrecht's company in partnership with Petrobras, had already removed the red from its logo.

In January, Folha disclosed that the group was looking into the possibility of changing the name of its companies to avoid becoming known as the world's dirtiest company. Odebrecht received this reputation after paying the biggest fine to date in agreements to close investigations on bribes amounting to R$ 8.4 billion (US$ 2.6 billion).

Although its businesses are in the private market, OR also became involved in cases of corruption. Executives said that one of OR's projects, the Parque da Cidade em São Paulo, paid R$ 6 million (US$ 1.8 million) in bribes to obtain licenses.

The next companies likely to change their names include Odebrecht Óleo e Gás and Odebrecht Agroindustrial. Both companies used to have partners who left the businesses after the Federal Police's Lava Jato operation. There are no plans to change the holding's name (Odebrecht S.A.) or the well-known Construtora Norberto Odebrecht.

	Carlos Jasso/Reuters
	The corporate logo of Odebrecht

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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