Brazilian court clears US$980mn sale of Oi’s fiber assets to V.tal

The corporate court in Rio de Janeiro that is overseeing Oi’s second judicial reorganization approved the sale of the operator’s ClientCo fiber client unit to V.tal for 5.68bn reais (US$988mn).

The green light came after the deal was given the go-ahead by the public prosecutor’s office and Oi’s judicial administration. However, the deal still requires clearance from antitrust regulator Cade.

In September, V.tal won the second round of the judicial auction for ClientCo.

V.tal is controlled by funds linked to local investment bank BTG Pactual and was the only bidder authorized to participate in that round.

The 5.6bn-real deal does not involve any direct cash payment, but rather a transfer of shares and a debt waiver.

Oi’s fiber customer base comprised nearly 4.6mn accesses at end-September, accounting for 9% of the total in Brazil.

Capital increase

In related news, telecoms regulator Anatel granted prior approval for Oi to increase its capital by 1.3bn reais with the acquisition of equity participation in the company resulting from the subscription of new shares in exchange for the capitalization of credits held against the company.

The transaction had previously been approved by Cade. 

The three main new shareholders are investment funds PIMCO, SC Lowy and Ashmore.

When compliance with the established conditions is certified, the company will take the necessary measures to implement the capital increase and transfer of control, it said in a release.

"The approval... represents the completion of another important step in the Judicial Recovery Plan of the Company and its subsidiaries undergoing judicial recovery," Oi added.