Key shareholders at Brazilian telecoms company Oi have accused former BES chief Ricardo Salgado of ‘distorting information’ and have demanded their own review and audit of the proposed merger between Oi and Portugal Telecom.
Oi shareholders accused the former president of BES of sending an email containing "false assertions about investments," referring to Portugal Telecom’s €897 million investment in BES Group’s subsidiary Rioforte.
Salgado allegedly sent an email to the two Brazilian directors on the PT board Andrade Gutierrez and Sergio Andrade in which he claims "falsely, that the investments made by Portugal Telecom in Rioforte were known to the Brazilian partners at Oi and that this investment supposedly was part of a cross-investment agreement."
Referring to an exchange of emails between Ricardo Salgado and Sergio Andrade, the former directors of Portugal Telecom (they resigned in disgust when the news came out about the €897 million) say they knew nothing of the €897 million and say that Salgado misled them deliberately.
Ricardo Salgado had refused to comment, saying that the emails should not have been published, but a Salgado acolyte confirmed that "there was an exchange of correspondence" between Salgado and Sergio Andrade.
In a statement on Friday the controlling shareholders of Oi said that the investment of €897 million by Portugal Telecom in Rioforte was totally unknown to the Brazilian partners at Oi and the news came to light only on June 27 when it was reported in the media."
The whopping loss by PT, as Rioforte is insolvent and is unable to pay back the €897 million it owes, has changed the balance of power in the proposed telecoms merger.
The Brazilians now are able pretty much to dictate terms for the merger and certainly will indemnify themselves against any further financial shocks from Portugal Telecom’s investment strategy, which in essence involved propping up its largest shareholder by lending it up to €1.2 billion in cash.
Oi will get the deal it wants, to the disbenefit of PT shareholders, or walk away but with PT's share price having recently halved the razor sharp Brazilians are in the driving seat.
