(MENAFN- AFP) Trading of shares of Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista's debt-ridden OSX shipbuilding unit was suspended on the Sao Paulo bourse Monday as the company prepared to file for bankruptcy protection.
"The suspension of trading is a normal process on the stock exchange," spokeswoman Roberta Brandao told AFP, adding the firm would make the filing in a Rio court "as soon as possible."
"As soon as the court gives notice of the filing, trading of the OSX stock will resume," she said.
On Friday, OSX announced that its board of directors had approved the recourse to bankruptcy protection, following the example of Batista's crippled oil firm OGX.
OGX, which has debts totalling $5.4 billion, did so late last month to avoid default after the failure of debt-restructuring talks with creditors.
OSX and OGX are part of Batista's collapsing EBX empire of energy, mining and logistics companies.
If the court accepts the request, OSX will have 60 days to come up with a restructuring plan for its $2.3 billion debt.
Friday, OSX also announced the ouster of its chief executive Marcelo Gomes who is being replaced by Ivo Dworshak.
It set a special meeting of its shareholders for November 28 and said it planned to change its name.
Last week, OSX said it reached agreement with state-run Caixa Economic Federal to refinance a $210 million loan for another year.
The loan, which was extended from October 19, was to finance construction of Batista's Acu Superport, located in Sao Joao da Barra, in the north of Rio de Janeiro state.
OSX said it also signed a contract guaranteeing the loan extension with Spanish banking giant Santander.
The decline of EBX began in the middle of last year, when OGX announced that its oil production would be a quarter of what it had promised.
In three years, EBX's worth has plummeted from $43.5 billion to less than $3 billion.
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