Light files for judicial recovery and estimates debts of R$11 billion

The company Light SA announced this Friday (12) the filing of a request for judicial recovery. The debt estimate presented was R$ 11 billion. Consisting of companies that operate in the generation, distribution, commercialization and solutions of electric energy, the company operates in more than 30 municipalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

According to a communiqué released by Light to the market, the request was submitted to the 3rd Business Court of the Judicial District of the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice (TJRJ).

“The company, together with its financial and legal advisors, has been evaluating alternatives and making efforts to seek to resolve its own financial obligations and others for which it is also co-obligated, including through negotiations with certain creditors within the scope of a duly initiated mediation procedure and in progress on the present date.”

Judicial recovery is requested when a company is in financial difficulties. If the request is accepted by the Court, any debt executions are paralyzed and the company has a deadline to prepare a proposal that includes payment methods to creditors and an administrative reorganization, to prevent the situation from getting worse and reaching a bankruptcy scenario.

In the communiqué, Light also states that, despite the efforts undertaken in recent months, the economic and financial situation has been worsening, which required the urgent adoption of new measures to guarantee the services provided under the concessions of its ownership and the continuity the fulfillment of its obligations.

“The company maintains and reaffirms its confidence in its operational and commercial capacity for negotiating and approving a recovery plan that will allow it to implement the intended equation and, with that, restore its economic-financial balance.”

Distributor

On its website, the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) released a clarification note. According to the text, the request was filed by Light SA and not by Light Serviços de Eletricidade SA, the subsidiary responsible for energy distribution in Rio de Janeiro. According to Aneel, the legislation establishes that the judicial and extrajudicial recovery regimes do not apply to concessionaires of public electric energy services.

“We inform you that no intrasectoral obligation had its payments suspended or postponed, which includes the distributor’s contracts with generators, transmission companies and the payment of sectorial charges. The obligations with suppliers of services, equipment, labor and employees are also fully preserved”, record the note.

Also according to Aneel, the distribution company is being monitored under a differentiated regime for monitoring its economic and financial indicators, through a plan agreed with Light in which necessary actions were defined to ensure the sustainability of the concession.

The current concession contract is in force until June 2026. An application for renewal of the concession must be submitted 36 months before its expiration. Thus, Light has until June of this year to express interest in remaining at the forefront of the service after 2026.