Justice authorizes Paper Excellence to finish the acquisition of Eldorado

Paper Excellence obtained a favorable court decision to complete the acquisition of Eldorado Brasil Celulose from J&F Investimentos, according to documents seen by Reuters.

Second instance judge JB Franco de Godoi overturned an earlier injunction that prohibited Paper Excellence from taking control of Eldorado.

Paper Excellence won an arbitration process against the current controllers of Eldorado, the holding company J&F Investimentos, owned by brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista, who is also a major shareholder in the protein producer JBS. But J&F went to the common court and had obtained an injunction to prevent compliance with the arbitration decision, now overturned.

The CEO of Paper Excellence in Brazil, Claudio Cotrim, said in a statement that he now intends to focus on concluding the deal and starting the operation of the factory in Mato Grosso do Sul. Then he will consider when he could build a second unit, with an estimated investment of 10 billion reais.

J&F said it will appeal the decision, arguing that the arbitration was not valid due to alleged corruption of judges.

The 15 billion reais deal, signed in September 2017, was never concluded due to a disagreement between the parties.

Source: Reuters