Samarco Said to Reboot Creditor Talks After Vale Dam Disaster
- Creditors with $6 billion of claims looking for an accord
- Distressed-debt hedge funds have joined creditors’ side
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Samarco Mineracao SA, the Brazilian mining venture that hasn’t operated since a deadly dam collapse in 2015, will seek to reboot talks with creditors after one of its parent companies suffered an even worse disaster at its own site, according to people involved in the discussions.
Last month’s deadly accident at a Vale SA tailings dam in Minas Gerais state has upended the outlook for Samarco, which is jointly owned by Vale and BHP Group Ltd. While Samarco and debtholders had been in discussions since late November, those talks were scrapped and negotiations will restart from scratch, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.