Opportunity filed a complaint in the United States court against a proposed US$3 million (16 million reais) financing from Ambipar for its American subsidiary, Ambipar Emergency Response. In the document, the manager accuses the holding company of continuing to drain the company’s liquidity to this day.
The content of the request was anticipated by the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo and confirmed by Leafwho had access to the document.
Opportunity’s statement was made as part of Ambipar Emergency Response’s Chapter 11 recovery process in the Texas courts. The manager owns 21% of the company.
In the court filing, Opportunity indicates that, shortly before the restructuring process in the United States, Ambipar transferred almost all of the liquidity of the American subsidiary to the holding company – a process which, according to the manager, is still continuing today.
“Therefore, approval of the financing agreement, in this context, would risk legitimizing the misconduct itself (including Ambipar’s undue cash grabs) which should, instead, be the subject of a broad independent investigation and recovery measures,” Opportunity representatives argue in the document.
When contacted, Ambipar indicated that it would not make any comment. Opportunity did not respond to the request for the report until this text was published.
Ambipar, a waste management and sustainability solutions company, is going through a financial and confidence crisis. In October, the company saw its request for judicial recovery approved by the Rio de Janeiro court, a measure which, according to the company, aims to guarantee the continuity of operations, the maintenance of jobs and the services provided.
The company is seeking to recover from a 10 billion reais financial loss, which has involved disputes with creditors and accusations of market manipulation.
In parallel with Ambipar’s legal recovery action in Brazil, the American subsidiary filed a Chapter 11 action in the United States for the same reasons.
In November, Ambipar Emergency Response applied to the US Court for US$3 million in non-refundable funding from its parent company to cover all costs and expenses of the process.
Opportunity’s request is that the resource transfer not be released. The document calls the deal a “Trojan horse” and claims it hides substantial damages from creditors, serving only to legitimize Ambipar’s questionable actions.
The document mentions that as of December 2024, Ambipar Emergency Response had more than BRL 358 million in consolidated cash and that the “emergency response” segment is profitable, unlike the “ESG” segment which would be in financial difficulty.
“The financing request does not explain why the obligor (the Ambipar subsidiary) does not have adequate funds today, why resource limitations and termination events are appropriate, and whether it has sought or considered alternative financing arrangements,” the document states.
According to Opportunity, the main disputes in the legal recovery process in the United States relate to the alleged misconduct of Ambipar in orchestrating “cash sweeps” of its subsidiaries in the periods before and after the request.
About The Author
