Banco do Brasil expects to reach a deal over Sete Brasil by year end
Banco do Brasil says it expects to reach an agreement, along with other creditors, with struggling offshore drillship builder and leaser, Sete Brasil, over its outstanding debts, of around $3.6bn, by the end of the year.  

Banco do Brasil’s CEO said on Monday the state-led bank expects to come to terms with Sete Brasil by year’s end on outstanding debts of the company which builds and leases out drill rigs, according to Reuters.

Bank CEO Alexandre Abreu also expects Sete Brasil’s other creditors to reach a deal on the debts of around $3.6bn.

His announcements comes as Banco do Brasil is looking to restart a loan programme for suppliers of Brazil’s scandal-plagued state oil firm Petrobras, which has been at the hub of a huge bribes-for-contracts corruption web that has implicated domestic and foreign construction and engineering firms, top politicians and several of its own executives.

Sete Brasil makes and charters out rigs for use in deepwater prospects offshore Brazil and has been closely associated with Petrobras.

It was founded in 2010 by eight Brazilian pension funds, banks and Petrobras, and was contracted to build 29 offshore drilling platforms for leasing to Petrobras.

Since the corruption scandal broke that number of rigs was scaled back drastically.