By Ana Mano and Tatiana Bautzer
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A
minority investor in Oi SA, Brazil's largest fixed-line phone carrier,
has called for the replacement of most of its board after the company
filed for the country's biggest-ever bankruptcy protection.
Nelson
Tanure, a Brazilian investor with a contentious track record, has been
buying up shares through a fund controlled by Bridge Administradora de
Recursos Ltda, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
In
a late Thursday filing, Oi said Bridge, acting on behalf of a fund
holding 6.6 percent of Oi's capital, had given eight days to call a
shareholder meeting to replace board members. The company said it was
reviewing the request.
A Bridge representative declined to identify investors in the fund or to answer other questions about plans for Oi.
A
source close to Tanure said he was the main investor and chief
representative of the fund. The source said he had traveled to New York
and met with representatives of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan,
which owned nearly 6 percent of Oi's common shares in June, in a bid to
organize an investor group.
Tanure, through representatives,
declined to comment on the matter. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan did
not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The common
shares, which have doubled in value since the company's bankruptcy
filing nearly three weeks ago, were little changed in Friday trading.
Tanure
last made news in Brazil's telecommunications industry with a lawsuit
against the controlling shareholder of Oi's rival, TIM Participações SA,
in 2012.
Through another investment vehicle, Tanure accused Telecom Italia (MI:TLIT)
SpA of abusing its control of TIM by appointing a chief executive the
company knew was a target of an Italian investigation into irregular SIM
card activations.
Tanure, who made a fortune buying
troubled shipyards in the 1990s, entered the telecom sector through
long-distance operator Intelig Telecom, which was acquired by TIM in
2009.
