Soy Company Restructures Debt

Selecta Sementes, a Brazilian agriculture company specializing in soy and corn seeds, is restructuring some $500m in bank debt it has taken out with local and international banks, say people close to the company. Selecta was preparing to do an IPO earlier this year and had planned to use proceeds from the equity offering to pay down various kinds of debt taken out with a large number of banks. When the IPO did not materialize, the company was apparently stuck without funding, and defaulted on some of its debt, says a person close to the situation. The company’s finance director Hugo Braga has recently left and is in the process of being replaced, according to a Selecta official. The Goias-based company has hired Rothschild to advise the debt restructuring, seen lasting at least another 6 months.