BNY Mellon Crafts Innovative Debt-To-Equity Program For Oi Telecom In Largest-Ever Latin America Debt Restructuring

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Sep 19, 2018, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon has announced its appointment as Depositary, Trustee, Registrar, Transfer Agent, Paying Agent, and Settlement Agent for the conversion of US$20 billion of defaulted debt into new bonds and equities via American Depositary Receipts and American Depositary Warrants for Brazilian telecom company Oi S.A.

American Depositary Warrants are securities registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that trade in the U.S. The warrants in Oi S.A.'s restructuring program can be exercised for American Depositary Shares issued under its existing depositary receipts program. They give former bondholders additional flexibility in maintaining their interests in Oi S.A. securities without the need to establish or maintain local custody accounts in Brazil.

At the end of December 2017, Oi creditors approved a restructuring plan of outstanding debt. Oi approached BNY Mellon, as its incumbent depositary bank and as trustee and agent for its debt, to develop and implement the approach. Each bondholder was to receive a combination of bonds and securities. International bondholders needed the securities in depositary format to receive them in exchange for their stake in the underlying debt.

BNY Mellon convened a joint team across its Corporate Trust and Depositary Trust businesses and including transaction management and legal experts to execute on the planned conversion within eight months.

BNY Mellon worked closely with company counsel and regulators to set up the American Depositary Warrants. It also worked across DTC, Euroclear, and Clearstream to unwind the legacy bonds for Oi's debt with Oi's creditors.

"The ability to offer a joint solution across lines of business was a key driver for BNY Mellon's decision to bring Corporate Trust and Depositary Receipts under a single umbrella as Issuer Services," said Frank La Salla, Chief Executive Officer, Issuer Services, BNY Mellon. "When our corporate clients come to us with tough and large-scale challenges, we can bring decades' worth of experience to the table, connecting the needs of an issuer to the demands of brokers, other intermediaries, and end investors."

"We have worked with BNY Mellon for over twenty years in support of our equity and debt programs," added Carlos Augusto Brandão, Chief Financial Officer, Oi S.A. "We have counted on their expertise in order to support us through this complex restructuring and conversion of debt to equity."

To learn more about BNY Mellon, please visit our Corporate Trust and Depositary Receipts pages. Members of the media, contact Chris Fox ([email protected]).

ABOUT OI S.A.

Oi is one of Brazil's leading telecommunications service providers, with a fully integrated nationwide presence and a customer base of over 59.7 million as of 2017. The Company's purpose is to explore telecommunications services and undertake other activities necessary or useful for the execution of these services, in compliance with the concessions, authorizations and permissions granted. Oi offers fixed and mobile, broadband, pay TV, data transmission and internet provider services, in addition to other corporate and wholesale services, including transport network and international backbone services. Oi also offers more than two million public Wi-Fi hotspots in several places, e.g., airports and shopping malls.

ABOUT BNY MELLON

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries. As of June 30, 2018, BNY Mellon had $33.6 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.8 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.

SOURCE BNY Mellon