巴西中小微企业司法重整率翻倍，在巴中资应收款风险上升

Cláudio Damasceno Gabriel Reis/Valor Court-supervised reorganization is no longer a tool used primarily by Brazil’s largest companies. Between 2023 and the end of the first half of this year, the proportion of micro and small businesses undergoing court-supervised restructuring more than doubled, while the share of midsize companies increased 31%, according to the RGF BizDoc Monitor, reviewed exclusively by Valor. The survey now includes microenterprises. As a result, the entire historical database, compiled periodically using data from Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service, was revised upward, increasing the total number of companies under bankruptcy protection. Law firms staff up as court-supervised reorganizations rise Credit squeeze hits power traders amid restructuring filings Braskem moves closer to judicial reorganization as debt talks fail again Sugar-and-ethanol producer Itajobi tries to restructure R$3.76bn debt Ruiz Coffees negotiates debt restructuring with creditors At the end of the first half, there were 6,341 companies in court-supervised reorganization, up 6.2% from the second half of 2025. Although the total continued to rise, growth slowed: in the first half of 2025, the increase had been 7.3% from the previous period, followed by 14.1% in the second half. Over 12 months, the total stock grew 21.2%. The data also show two distinct phases during the semester. The number of companies under restructuring rose through May, reaching a record 6,513, before declining by 172 in June—the first significant drop since official records began. According to Cláudio Damasceno of RGF, however, the one-month decline should be interpreted cautiously, as it does not necessarily signal the beginning of a broader slowdown. What does appear to have become established is the migration of large corporations toward other reorganization mechanisms, particularly out-of-court restructuring agreements, helping explain the decline in court-supervised restructuring among large companies since 2023 and the growing participation of micro, small, and midsize businesses. Between the first quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2026, the rate of court-supervised restructuring among microenterprises rose 133%, from 0.03 to 0.07 companies per 1,000. Among small businesses, the rate increased 69%, from 0.52 to 0.87, while among midsize companies it rose 31%, from 1.01 to 1.32. By contrast, the rate for large companies fell 13%, from 16.6 to 14.4 per 1,000, and for very large companies declined 16%, from 20.8 to 17.4 per 1,000. “Large and very large companies already have proportionally much higher rates—14.4 and 17.4 per 1,000, respectively,” Damasceno said. “There are fewer companies of that size, and some are increasingly opting for out-of-court restructuring.” In the first half alone, three major companies chose out-of-court restructuring to renegotiate multibillion-real liabilities: Raízen (R$65 billion), GPA (R$4.6 billion), and Oncoclínicas (R$5.1 billion). The alternative is increasingly viewed as faster, less expensive, and less stigmatizing. Smaller companies, meanwhile, are beginning to include court-supervised restructuring into their survival strategies. “In other words, it’s becoming mainstream,” Damasceno said. Guilherme Rebello de Paiva of law firm Bortot Cesar Advogados attributes the shift to macroeconomic conditions. According to him, the prolonged cycle of high interest rates affects businesses differently. “Micro and small companies depend almost exclusively on bank credit, which is expensive, and they lack access to capital markets or sufficient cash reserves to withstand three years of interest rates at these levels,” he said. Broader access to restructuring mechanisms has also contributed to their wider adoption, he added. The trend, however, highlights a structural weakness in Brazil’s judicial system: the court-supervised restructuring process was originally designed for companies with larger liabilities. “For a microenterprise with debts of a few hundred thousand reais, the costs of the process—including court-appointed trustees, creditors’ meetings, expert reports, and specialized legal counsel—can easily consume the very business the restructuring is supposed to preserve. Or what may no longer exist, even over the long term.” He noted that the special restructuring procedure for micro and small businesses provided under Brazil’s Bankruptcy Law (Law No. 11,101) is rarely used because it is too rigid. “The system lacks a genuinely streamlined, inexpensive procedure for small debtors—almost like a small claims court for restructuring involving micro and small businesses and small farmers.” Among the sectors most affected, agribusiness remains the epicenter of restructurings, with 1,263 companies under court-supervised restructuring and 111 new filings in the second quarter. Retail continues to have the largest overall stock, with 1,649 companies (including 54 new filings), followed by industry with 1,455. At the other end of the spectrum, the energy sector recorded only one new filing during the second quarter, while utility Light exited court-supervised restructuring. “It’s a reminder that reorganization can fulfill its intended purpose when there is a regulated asset base and a committed primary shareholder,” Damasceno said. The study also found that court-supervised restructuring cases are becoming increasingly long-lasting. Companies that avoid bankruptcy remain under court supervision for an average of 4.2 years. Of the current stock, 1,537 companies entered restructuring in 2025, 1,189 in 2024, and 840 in 2023. Among companies already under restructuring at the beginning of 2023, 65% remain in the process, 26% have resumed operations without court supervision, and 3.2% have either entered bankruptcy or had their corporate registrations canceled. “Today’s record-high stock is the result of three years of elevated filings combined with very few exits,” the report concluded. According to André Aroldo Freitas de Moura, a professor at FGV EAESP specializing in management and accounting, lengthy restructuring proceedings create uncertainty not only for companies but especially for creditors, who remain unsure whether they will ultimately recover their claims. Looking ahead, specialists expect agribusiness to remain under pressure in the coming months. However, they believe the recently imposed tariffs on Brazilian exports to the U.S. will take time to affect restructuring activity. Some companies, they added, may avoid financial distress by redirecting exports to alternative markets such as China. Moura noted that companies that are highly leveraged and have previously attempted debt renegotiations are the most vulnerable. “Retail is a strong candidate for a wave of failures in the coming months, as companies take longer to turn over their inventories,” he said. Damasceno, however, believes the full impact of high interest rates has yet to emerge. Economic changes typically take two to three quarters to translate into bankruptcy protection filings, he noted. “If there are negative effects, we may begin to see them in the second half of this year, but especially in 2027. Today’s cash-flow squeeze creates short-term defaults, while court-supervised restructuring comes later.”