(Bloomberg) -- Lenders Banco do Brasil SA and Citigroup Inc are among the largest creditors of AgroGalaxy Participacoes SA, the latest Brazilian agriculture company to file for bankruptcy protection.
AgroGalaxy listed debts of about 3.8 billion reais ($693 million) in local currency and another $160 million, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. The company, which sells crop inputs to farmers, sought protection from creditors on Wednesday ahead of looming maturities and amid a mass resignation of several of its top executives.
Securitization firm Vert Companhia Secruritizadora is among the largest creditors, owed some 516 million reais. Securitization firms are responsible for the structuring of agribusiness receivables certificates, or CRAs, a class of relatively new fixed-income securities used to finance the sector that has helped fund Brazil’s agriculture boom.
State-run Banco do Brasil, with 391 million reais and about $600,000, and Citibank, with 107 million reais and $32 million, are also among the names in a 65-page document. Debts with Banco Santander SA amount to 278 million reais, according to the documents, which were reported earlier by local media.
AgroGalaxy also has several crop inputs companies among its creditors. Fertilizer provider Mosaic is owed just under 120 million reais and $18.2 million, while Basf is owed 40 million reais and a little over half a million dollars.
Mosaic said in a statement that it’s open to negotiating with AgroGalaxy and that specific amounts owed will be dealt with in the judicial recovery process, adding that it has a “rigorous” risk management policy.
Vert did not immediately return requests for comment. Basf and AgroGalaxy declined to comment, as did Bradesco, Citibank, Banco do Brasil and Santander.
The Aqua Capital-backed company said in February it was seeking a covenant waiver after its leverage rose above the level agreed with debt holders. The company said “external events” hindered its ability to generate cash and honor its obligations, according to court filings.
Shares of AgroGalaxy are down 42% this week, pushing yearly losses to 82%. The mix of lower commodity prices, higher interest rates, “adverse climate events” and increasing production costs boosted delinquency rates among the farmers it sells crop inputs to, hitting its liquidity, the company said when it filed for bankruptcy protection.
--With assistance from Raphael Almeida Dos Santos.
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