By Brazil Stock Guide – Assaí (B3: ASAI3) has filed a lawsuit against Casino Guichard Perrachon S.A. and Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição – GPA (B3: PCAR3), requesting precautionary measures to shield itself from potential tax liabilities tied to GPA.
The request, filed on Wednesday, seeks to freeze GPA shares held by Casino or, alternatively, to make any future sale conditional on a court-ordered deposit or equivalent guarantee. Assaí is also asking GPA to provide sufficient assurances to cover potential tax contingencies predating the corporate spin-off completed on December 31, 2020.
The initiative comes after Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service opened an Administrative Procedure for Recognition of Liability (PARR) worth about 36 million reais ($6.5 million), which marks the beginning of an attempt to assign joint responsibility to Assaí for GPA’s tax debts. The case also follows moves by the Office of the Attorney General of the National Treasury to pursue Assaí for liabilities tied to GPA.
Assaí said the 2020 spin-off agreements explicitly ruled out any joint liability for obligations incurred before the separation, under Article 233 of Brazil’s Corporations Law. The company stressed it will continue to pursue administrative and judicial measures to challenge attempts to impose GPA’s debts on it.
For now, the retailer said there are no material operational or financial impacts stemming from the dispute, which is proceeding under judicial secrecy.
Leave a Reply