Americanas: Sicupira is re-elected to the board and restructuring gets the go-ahead At its first general meeting since the crisis erupted in January, minority shareholders succeeded in getting lawyer Pierre Moreau on the board Physical stores of Americanas: the impact of the crisis since January and the closure of some stores has not yet been revealed by the company Physical stores of Americanas: the impact of the crisis since January and the closure of some stores has not yet been revealed by the company(Disclosure/Americanas) By Daniel Cancel April 30, 2023 | 08:13 AMER3 1.03 Bloomberg - Shareholders of Brazilian retailer Americanas (AMER3) voted to ratify most of the names proposed for its board of directors, after the company went into receivership in January following the revelation of a major accounting error in the order of R$20 billion. At a general meeting held on Saturday (29), Carlos Alberto Sicupira, one of the billionaire founders of 3G Capital who is also among Americanas' largest shareholders, was re-elected to the board. Sicupira, Americanas' billionaire, accumulates losses with retailer and Lightdfd Investor bet on the energy company in 2020, without long-time partners 3G, but has accumulated losses of 86% since then; Americanas remains in judicial reorganization The minority shareholders managed to elect Pierre Moreau, an experienced lawyer and founding partner of Moreau e Valverde Advogados. He was proposed by Bonsucex Holding, Silvio Tini de Araujo, EWZ Brasil Fundo de Investimentos de Ações and EWZ Investments LLC, who together hold more than 5% of the shares. The company's restructuring plan was also ratified, according to the minutes of the meeting, although the agreement with the main creditors - some of the largest banks in the country - has not been reached. ADVERTISEMENT Americanas shocked investors and creditors in January when its then new CEO, Sergio Rial, resigned nine days after the discovery of a R$20 billion (US$4 billion) accounting hole that doubled the company's debt. Americanas is negotiating with Brazilian banks and a deal could be reached in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The proposal includes a capital injection of R$10 billion, with the potential for R$2 billion of additional cash later, from its main shareholders, depending on a series of financial factors. The billionaire founders of 3G, Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Sicupira, have already injected at least R$2 billion into Americanas to ensure the continuity of operations during the judicial recovery process, which has been going on for more than three months. The trio said in a statement earlier this year that they were unaware of the company's accounting problems. ADVERTISEMENT Although the crisis has reduced the value of their holdings in Americanas, it has not damaged their fortunes as a whole. But their reputations as some of Brazil's most respected business executives have taken a hit, with some banks and investors calling the Americanas debacle the biggest fraud in the country's corporate history. Americanas has avoided mass layoffs and widespread store closures since the crisis began, but sales through its online platform have fallen, according to a report released in March. There have been eviction orders from some malls that have been left without rent payments. The Rio de Janeiro-based retailer has promised to sell assets, including a chain of natural food supermarkets and other retail brands, as well as an executive jet. At least R$2 billion of the proceeds would be used to pay off debts, the company said in its restructuring proposal. - With the collaboration of Danielle Chaves.