Six Flags Brazil (Hopi Hari)

[Medusa42]

If I am understanding this article correctly, both proposals end up with Six Flags managing the park after negotiations with creditors are complete.

 

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http://exmpartners.com.br/exmnews/diretoria-e-dono-do-hopi-hari-disputam-plano/

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Hopi Hari director and owner dispute plan

APRIL 2, 2018 BY EXM PARTNERS · 0 COMMENTS

 

By Valor Econômico

Hopi Hari, the owner of the amusement park and its board of directors, is facing a dispute over which proposal will be presented on 5 December. The assembly has already been postponed three times lack of quorum.

 

José David Xavier, president of Hopi Hari, told Valor that the company's intention is to reduce on average 45% of the R $ 400 million debt that is part of the recovery process. The proposed repayment term is between 12 and 21 years. "Considering the talks with the creditors last week, we have a positive scenario for the approval of the plan that will be presented by the company," said the executive.

 

The controlling shareholder's plan, José Luiz Abdalla, estimates the total debt value at R $ 800 million; the discount to be offered to creditors would be 29% and the payment term would reach 14 years.

 

Like Abdalla, Xavier says he talks to a US park operator to run the venture. On Friday, Jay Thomas, international vice president of US-based park operator Six Flags, visited Hopi Hari, located in Vinhedo (SP), with four of its executives.

 

Xavier has said he has had talks with Six Flags since last August and Abdalla tries to interfere with the talks. During the Easter holiday, Abdalla tried to enter the park, accompanied by investors, but was harassed by officials. Investors, who would be part of Brazil Team Park (BTP), a US-based company with the goal of providing resources to Hopi Hari, visited the park. Abdalla, no.

 

The entrepreneur has 99% of the shares of the park. He had told Valor that he would forward his proposal to creditors last week, but it is not ready yet and has not been forwarded. His proposal, if passed, provides that Six Flags will manage the park. Still according to the plan, BTP, which has a Brazilian real estate entrepreneur among the partners, would have committed to make an additional investment of US $ 70 million in ten years, being US $ 10 million in the first three years. In the future, Six Flags would have an option to purchase the complex.

 

The president of Hopi Hari said that the plan to be presented by Abdalla is "pirate" and that the "real" is being negotiated by the executives of the company.

 

Luiz Donelli, a partner at Rayes & Fagundes Advogados Associados, a shareholder representative, said that "in the event of bankruptcy, all assets will be liquidated. Abdalla is the one who will assume the labor, financial and tax debts, which add up to around R $ 800 million, if the board is not condemned. The directors do not meet the determination to show the company's financial statements. "

 

In late 2017, Abdalla filed a petition in court to get Xavier out of the park's presidency. Abdalla claims that he does not have access to the company's financial information and that he was only able to enter the park after an incident report. Xavier, in turn, accuses the shareholder of blackmailing him.

 

Judicial administrator Gilberto Giansante, the main partner of the Giansante Advogados office, told the e-mail that Abdalla can attach to the process his proposal to negotiate with the creditors.Giansante said he had not received Abdalla's plan and only heard "a few things over the phone."He added that the plan submitted by the company may undergo changes proposed by creditors, according to legislation, and that everything is right for the meeting scheduled for the 5th.

 

Regarding the operation of the park, the trustee said that the current situation of the company is much better when compared to the time that Hopi Hari filed the application for judicial recovery two years ago.

 

"We reach the balance point of the box. Since the reopening of the park [in August 2017], we have received 170 thousand visitors, the average ticket was R $ 80 and food and beverages reached R $ 35. Last year was complicated because we were closed for three months, "he said. Xavier, who took command of the park in June last year. There are 416 direct employees, but in the reopening in August 2017, there were 163. At the peak of the operation, in 2008, there were 1,100 workers.

 

Hopi Hari's troubles began on February 24, 2012 after a fatal accident with a visitor to the La Tour Eiffel. The public shrank, compromising operational results. Data from the Association of Enterprises of Amusement Parks in Brazil (Adibra) indicate that the sector moves annually about R $ 1 billion.

 

 

[DropDeadFuzy]

I would love to see this happen

[Lemur]

Yup, both the creditors committee and the largest shareholder want to turn park ops over to Six Flags.  

[Coaster Justin]

Hmmmm.... Interesting.

[ericthewanderer]

If SF does take over,they could change the company to Six Flags Across North & South America!

[Pineracer]

11 hours ago, ericthewanderer said:

If SF does take over,they could change the company to Six Flags Across North & South America!

It would be across the America's, but the again you have the Chinese Market as well, but would Jim Reid-Anderson count them as being apart of the chain?

[Medusa42]

12 hours ago, ericthewanderer said:

If SF does take over,they could change the company to Six Flags Across North & South America!

 

1 hour ago, Pineracer said:

It would be across the America's, but the again you have the Chinese Market as well, but would Jim Reid-Anderson count them as being apart of the chain?

Neither of these posts make any sense to me.  The company and the brand is Six Flags.  Of course the parks in China are considered part of the chain, they are being licensed, designed, and managed by Six Flags.

 

[Pineracer]

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Neither of these posts make any sense to me.  The company and the brand is Six Flags.  Of course the parks in China are considered part of the chain, they are being licensed, designed, and managed by Six Flags.

 

Thanks for the clarification on the latter because licensing can get pretty complex about what is what, etc, etc, etc.

[Medusa42]

What a complicated mess.

 

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=https://www.seudinheiro.com/hopi-hari-deixou-os-bancos-de-fora-da-recuperacao-judicial-e-eles-foram-para-briga/&prev=search

 

https://www.seudinheiro.com/hopi-hari-deixou-os-bancos-de-fora-da-recuperacao-judicial-e-eles-foram-para-briga/

 

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IT WAS TO BE 'THE WORLD'S MOST HAPPY PLACE'

Hopi Hari left most lenders out of court recovery - and BNDES set out to fight to sell everything at the amusement park

Process only contemplates labor creditors and all others move parallel actions against the park to recover values.  BNDES is the largest lender and secured the TJSP's guarantee to auction assets of the park

 

Ana Paula Ragazzi * seudinheiro@seudinheiro.com
February 6, 2019 5:30 AM - Updated at 9:04 am

 

Two and a half years after seeking a bailout, the Hopi Hari amusement park is conducting the process in such a peculiar way that it runs the risk of having its bankruptcy decreed.  This is because renegotiation with creditors practically did not exist.

 

The plan, approved in April 2018, involved only labor claims, which accounted for about 10% of its debt, estimated at that time at R $ 400 million.  The big lenders were simply left out of the plan and without negotiation.

 

Now they contest the decision of the park's controllers in court, in a flood of lawsuits that run parallel to the judicial recovery.

 

In mid-January, the main creditor, the National Economic Development Bank ( BNDES ), obtained a court decision that released the execution of the credit of about R $ 230 million that it has against the park.

 

The Court of Justice of São Paulo understood that, as it was not contemplated in the plan, the protection that judicial recovery gives to this type of collection of creditors does not apply to it.

 

The BNDES then asked for an immediate auction of Hopi Hari assets, which includes the land where the park is and all its attractions.  The question is, if the auction is actually carried forward, Hopi Hari will lose its assets and will no longer have to continue trading, which makes it unfeasible and may lead to bankruptcy.

 

Sergio Emerenciano, Hopi Hari's lawyer, says court disputes are a natural part of this type of lawsuit.  But he points out that BNDES needs to decide whether to go into the recovery plan or whether to execute the debt.  "At the moment, he has actions in the Justice that wave for the two measures, which is not reasonable," he says.

 

Searching for Your Money , the BNDES said only that "it will continue with the judicial collection of its credit".

 

Process Rain

 

In addition to the BNDES, which accounts for almost 60% of total park debt, the second most important creditor is the pension fund of employees of the former National Housing Bank (Prevhab), with R $ 85 million;  complete the list, with smaller values some investor funds.

 

As they were not included in the recovery plan they also went to court to question the legality of the plan.  In December, the São Paulo court also found that the creditors were right, that the plan was not legally conducted and gave 30 days for Hopi Hari to submit a new one.  Emerenciano says that the park appealed the decision.

 

"These debts are from past management, it has nothing to do with current management.  First you have to recover the business, which is already happening, and then see how it could be negotiated, "he says.  The lawyer ruled out the possibility of a possible auction of assets requested by the BNDES to prevent the continuity of the operation of the park, leading to bankruptcy.  "There is no such risk."

 

Emerenciano states that the debt with BNDES is old, almost ten years ago, and there is even a questioning about the current value of the bank's credit.  "There have already been some payments and renegotiations and calculations are needed to identify the exact size.  It is a situation that has been dragging since 2010, 2011, "he says.

 

Asked about the usefulness of the recovery for the park, since, as it was done, it is not protecting the company from judicial foreclosures of its debts, Emerenciano disagrees that the recovery process is directed only to the negotiation with the creditors .  "The process is done to get new money for the business or to organize an asset sale, which for us is out of the question," he says.

 

If you can not sell assets because you live by your attractions, finding a new investor will not be an easy task, too, in the face of imbroglios with creditors.  In addition, because it failed to provide information to investors, the park had its registration as a publicly-held company canceled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) last year, which prevents access to the capital market.

 

According to lawyers consulted by the report, there is nothing in the law of judicial recovery that says that after the request, or even under a new control, the company can choose to stop paying creditors, saying that it will resume a negotiation after healing the company .

 

Hopi Hari's recovery has been so upset that even the law firm Ferro, Castro Neves, Daltro & Gomide went to court to receive $ 2.4 million (corrected amounts) in fees owed to him by the park, but which have not been paid since 2015. The office was searched but did not give an interview.

 

In the piece sent to Justice, lawyers claim that the park is making a profit.  According to data from the trustee report, since April 2018, the revenues outweigh the expenses at Hopi Hari.  Only they are decreasing.  In April, the profit was R $ 360 thousand.  In May, R $ 235 thousand.

 

In June and July, colder months, but also with school holidays, the positive result was just over R $ 100 thousand.  And in August, the last available data, reached R $ 43 thousand.  Revenues from the park were R $ 5.5 million.  The office asks to block the receivables in the park so that they can receive their fees.

 

Emerenciano claims that the taxes are being paid and again minimizes judicial foreclosures.  "There must be others that we are not yet aware of.  This is normal in the process, "he said.  When it requested a judicial recovery, the Hopi Hari had tributary debts and accumulated with the Union a debit close to R $ 350 million, that also was outside the judicial recovery plan.  Emerenciano informs that the park is now paying taxes.

 

Hopi Hari, according to him, is running 100% of the attractions and recovering.  In the last year, received 500 thousand visitors, which guaranteed the positive result.  The plan approved in April 2018 is also being fulfilled.

 

Complicated history

 

The Hopi Hari came in 1999 with the proposal to make an amusement park near São Paulo, to face the public that went to Santa Catarina to visit Beto Carrero and who dreamed of Disney.  The slogan was "the happiest place in the world".  Only not for its shareholders.

 

It was built with funds from private equity manager GP Investimentos and 4 pension funds - Previ, Funcef, Petros and Sistel.  They failed to attract enough audience to close the accounts and the funds and the GP went the business forward.  But the situation complicated even from 2012 when the death of a teenager in one of the toys drove the public away from the park.

 

Located about an hour from São Paulo, it is in a region that houses an outlet and a water park that work with some success.  For this reason, despite all the recent problems, many investors closely follow the events.

 

At the end of the day, information about the interest of investing groups to transform the region into a tourist pole in São Paulo - but for that, the gray cloud that has been forming above the park for years has disappeared.  If the BNDES auction goes ahead, involving attractions and terrain, it should attract interested parties.

 

The confusion in Hopi Hari is also in the control block.  After the request for recovery, in 2017, a new investor appeared in the Hopi Hari, the businessman José Luiz Abdalla.  Months later, he closed a negotiation of sale of park control to another entrepreneur, Mario Cuesta.  At the time of the ordeal, in early 2018, the two were at war.

 

Abdalla was against the plan that was presented and claims that Cuestas would not have fulfilled the conditions of the agreement for the sale of the company.  He wants the park back.  Instability in control and relationship with lenders are now new challenges to the business.