Shareholder Lawsuit Against Petrobras to Proceed

Energy

Published: July 10, 2015 12:05 pm

Petrobras, the Brazilian oil giant officially known as Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), said Friday morning that a federal judge in New York dismissed some but not all the claims in a bribery lawsuit and that the trial will begin no later than February 1, 2016. The two sides have until July 15 to present their proposed plans for the discovery phase of the trial.

The lawsuit stems from the bribery and corruption scandal that hit Petrobras last year and that has cost the company more than $2 billion in write-downs and other charges so far. Plaintiffs claim that Petrobras did not tell the truth regarding the scope and scale of the corruption scheme.

The New York court rejected Petrobras’s argument that the company was the victim of a conspiracy of contractors, corrupt politicians and a few bad apples in the company itself. Petrobras maintains that because the cash to pay the bribes came from company coffers, Petrobras is a victim of the scheme as well.

The company did get some relief, however. The court ruled that a public debt offering in 2012 could not be included in plaintiff’s case and that claims based on Brazilian law are subject to resolution by arbitration, according to a statement from Petrobras.

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Petrobras stock traded up by about 1.8% at one point Friday morning, at $8.43 in a 52-week range of $4.90 to $20.94. Anything that happens in the lawsuit that reduces the risk that Petrobras will have to pay out even more money is good for the company’s shareholders, and the company’s stock price.

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