Altán Redes leaves bankruptcy

The network of networks, the company Altán Redes, the first private company that the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador rescues, formally, left yesterday the commercial bankruptcy process in which it was.

It achieved the validation of a commercial agreement for the restructuring of its debt of almost 30 billion pesos with 120 creditors.

The Mexican government bailed out a private company. And based on this commercial agreement, a public-private company emerges, in which an administration appointed by the government temporarily takes the lead. In this way, the official bet is twofold.

On the one hand, with the rescue and control of the company, it seeks to reduce the high exposure reached by Nafin, Bancomext and Banobras as creditors of the telecommunications company.

And on the other hand, it aspires to make the presidential promise of offering internet to all Mexicans a reality.

To help it out of bankruptcy, the Mexican government granted it an additional credit for 161 million of the total of 388 million dollars contributed by suppliers and shareholders.

Nafin and Bancomext, the two development banking institutions directed by Luis Antonio Ramírez Pineda and Banobras, granted 41% of the resources. The remaining 59% was provided by suppliers: 166.6 million; shareholders: 50.5 million and; customers, 10 million.

For the 161 million dollars, Nafin contributes new capital for 40 million dollars, Bancomext for 45.5 million dollars and Banobras 75.5 million dollars.

Altán’s previous debt with these institutions is 4 thousand 231.9 million pesos, from Nafin; 3 thousand 271.2 million pesos from Bancomext and 6 thousand 155.5 million pesos from Banobras. for a total of 13 thousand 658.6 million pesos. The bankruptcy agreement was approved by 94% of the creditors.

The new resources will make it possible to invest in the Red Compartida, give continuity to the business and support the generation of future flows that make the company viable.

That is the expectation of the company itself, now headed by Anthony McCarthy Sandland, as the company’s new president and Carlos Lerma Cotera as general director.

Both appointed by the federal government that temporarily assumed the largest shareholding in the operator of the Red Compartida de Internet.

McCarthy and Lerma are a hybrid duo. The first is a private banker with extensive experience in very prestigious firms and the second with a long career spanning more than two decades in development banking.

The lopezobradorista government has high expectations regarding this rescued company.

A couple of months ago, the President of the Republic said that his government will extend the coverage of Altán Redes telecommunications services, by installing 5,000 antennas in different parts of the country, with the purpose of bringing internet to the most remote communities. .

He reported that this objective will be achieved through the joint work of Altán Redes and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), through its subsidiary CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos (CFE Teit).

Lerma recently warned of the need to promote a legal reform that allows the company to directly market internet service to end users, mainly in locations where there are no providers for consumers.

Altán Redes also has a new board of directors, whose members are: Blanca Treviño, Héctor Toledo, Raúl Lucido, Carlos Robles Gil, Héctor Velarde, Yacine Saidji, Johan Pfeiffer, Laura Vila and Mohsin Sohani. We will see if Altán Redes manages to consolidate its plan of restructuring and finds the way to economic viability while fulfilling its social objective.

glimpses

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai urged in her first virtual meeting with Mexican Economy Secretary Raquel Buenrostro to quickly address problems in Mexico’s energy sector that the United States identified in its July 20 request for consultations. of 2022 under the USMCA, the importance of avoiding a disruption in US corn exports and returning to a science-based regulatory approval process around agricultural biotech products in Mexico.

The version of the meeting, according to the official statement from Mexico, is that it was a first rapprochement meeting in which they decided to maintain permanent communication on the issues on the bilateral agenda.

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