Viracopos Airport in Campinas Seeks for Bankruptcy Protection

05/08/2018 - 11h49

If the request for Bankruptcy protection filed on Monday (the 7th) by the Viracopos (Campinas, SP) airport concessionaire is granted, the partners could get relief from their payment obligations for concession granting fees already due for 2017 and those that come due at the end of the month.

The Courts have 30 days to review the solicitation by the concessionaire to suspend suits and legal actions already under way.

	Divulgação
	Viracopos Airport in Campinas

The amount of debt to be restructured exceeds R$ 2.8 billion (US$ 790 million), beyond the granting fees themselves, whose amounts are being contested by the operator. The granting fees are a type of rent that the concessionaire pays for having won the granting auction.

BNDES (Brazilian National Development Bank), the Campinas Airport's largest creditor was taken by surprise by the announcement seeking bankruptcy protection and is trying to circumvent the concessionaire's decision to seek court protection to prevent insolvency.

Viracopos owes the bank R$ 2.6 billion (US$ 732 million), 25% of it in debentures that it acquired from BNDESPar, an investment arm that injected resources into the concession to put it on its feet financially.

The bank issued a statement informing that it has set aside provisions for the total amount of its exposure at Viracopos. The granting fees already due for 2017 represent approximately R$ 220 million (US$ 62 million) and amounts coming due add up to a similar amount, with a maturity date between the end of May and July, totaling around R$ 440 million (US$ 124 million).

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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