Creditors of Brazilian telecom carrier Oi believe the ruling that declared the company bankrupt, published on Tuesday (25) by the Rio de Janeiro state court (TJRJ), strengthens the case questioning the responsibility of investment funds in the company's management, the Painel S.A. column of newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported on Thursday (27). The case targets the so-called Ad Hoc Group, a creditor group made up of Pimco, SC Lowy and Ashmore.
In the creditors' reading, the sentence reinforces the need to investigate possible irregularities. The challenge is led by Oi's former judicial administrator, which became the bankruptcy estate once the liquidation was confirmed, and asks how far the funds, which became shareholders during the company's second judicial reorganization (a court-supervised proceeding similar to Chapter 11 in the United States), answer for management decisions and for the carrier's debts.
The TJRJ's First Private Law Chamber upheld the bankruptcy unanimously, denying appeals by banks Bradesco and Itaú, according to telecom news site TELETIME. The court set aside a bankruptcy-law provision on asset depletion and preserved asset sales and guarantees signed during the second reorganization, with one exception: labor-related attachments and the effects of the liability action are not covered by that protection. Creditors see that carve-out as an open door against the funds.
Following the money
The Ad Hoc Group funds entered Oi's capital through a debt-for-equity conversion. Funds managed by Pimco alone held 36.5% of the company, a stake fully liquidated in November 2025, though the manager remains one of the largest creditors, per TELETIME. The hole left behind is large: in March this year, Oi told the court its negative net worth topped R$ 22.6 billion. When bankruptcy was first decreed, in November 2025, the debt was estimated at R$ 15 billion, according to newspaper Gazeta do Povo. In July, the judicial administrator warned that cash had fallen 78% and forecast a shutdown of operations starting in August.
The funds' defense
Pimco denies any responsibility. In a petition filed with Rio's 7th Business Court in December 2025, the manager said its funds "never performed any management act at Oi" and are mere investors and creditors, shielded by article 50 of Brazil's bankruptcy law, which protects creditors that convert debt into equity. In the filing, Pimco blamed V.tal, an infrastructure company controlled by investment bank BTG Pactual, for the narrative casting it as Oi's controller.
In practice, the dispute defines who picks up the bill. If the courts hold the funds liable, the bankruptcy estate gains a new target to rebuild its asset base and improve recovery for creditors waiting in line, from banks such as Bradesco and Itaú to the funds themselves. For workers and customers, the priorities differ: labor claims have legal preference in payment, and telecom regulator Anatel said, in a statement cited by TELETIME, that the court guaranteed the continuity of essential services during the transition.