Banks Agree on $5bln Bailout of Sete Brasil
A group of five Brazilian lenders agreed to extend up to $5 billion in fresh financing for ailing rig producer Sete Brasil Participações SA, in a first step aimed at staving off bankruptcy, two sources with knowledge of the situation said opn Thursday.
State-controlled lenders Banco do Brasil SA and Caixa Econômica Federal, and private-sector lenders Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, Banco Bradesco SA (BBDO) and Banco Santander Brasil SA will provide the financing to Sete Brasil once their boards of directors approve the plan, said the sources, who asked for anonymity because of legal impediments to discussing the issue in public.
The five banks declined to comment. Sete Brasil said in a statement to Reuters that a rescue plan is being negotiated and could be finalized and announced by early July.
(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
