By Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian waste management firm Ambipar has hired financial institution BR Partners as an adviser, it said on Tuesday, amid growing concerns about the company’s leverage ratio.
Ambipar did not give additional information about its motive in hiring BR Partners, which declined to comment. A source with knowledge of the matter said that the company is looking to renegotiate its outstanding debt and avoid bankruptcy proceedings.
Shares in Ambipar sank more than 18% on Tuesday, bringing their year-to-date decline to nearly 33%.
The announcement came days after a Rio de Janeiro court issued a preliminary injunction, upheld on Tuesday, temporarily preventing the accelerated maturity of its debt.
The injunction was granted as part of a suit filed by Deutsche Bank, which had demanded additional guarantees for loans to Ambipar.
Ambipar told the court that some financial institutions had already started moving up the firm’s debt payments and argued that, without an injunction, it would be out millions of dollars.
(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes; Editing by Mark Porter)
