Last Friday, the 29th, Judge Renata Maciel, from the 2nd Business Court and Arbitration Conflicts, upheld the arbitration decision that obliges J&F to transfer 100% of the capital of Eldorado Brasil to Paper Excellence (PE). With this, the company, which already held 49.41% of the pulp producer’s shares, assumes full control of one of the largest companies in the segment in the country.
The legal dispute lasted four years, having been conducted between 2018 and 2021, when the R$15 billion deal was not finalized. Now PE will be able to proceed with the transfer of the remaining shares and it is still expected that it will start another arbitration process to define losses and damages to be compensated.
Having overcome the legal issues, “our focus will now be on integrating and operating Paper Excellence’s new Brazilian unit. Subsequently, we will assess the appropriate time for the expansion of the plant”, declared Cláudio Cotrim, the company’s CEO in Brazil.
J&F said, in a note, that it was surprised by the publication of the sentence, since the action would be “suspended by decision of the Court of Justice”. “If it were not null, the sentence would be reversed in a higher court, since it ignores evidence produced in the records themselves”, said the holding of the Batista brothers.
“In addition to the juggling act to avoid evidence, the sentence rewards the opposing party’s lawyers with R$ 600 million in succumbence fees, an amount higher than what they themselves requested. J&F is confident that the Brazilian justice system will not condone such violations of the law”, he added.
J&F can still appeal the ruling.
The PE also took a position, claiming that J&F’s statement of nullity of the sentence is a demonstration of lack of respect. “We regret that J&F, after maliciously violating the Eldorado sales contract and failing to comply with the arbitration award, attacks the sentence handed down by the Brazilian Justice. It is evident that J&F changes its targets according to its defeats”, said the company.
“The lawsuits pending in the 2nd Business Court of São Paulo are not and never have been suspended and this fact was analyzed by Judge Renata Maciel in her sentence”, concluded Paper Excellence.
