Americanas Shares Sink 50% as Lock-Up Agreement Ends

Americanas SA, the Brazilian retailer that was rocked by a massive accounting fraud and sunk into bankruptcy protection, saw its shares slump after a lock-up period ended for most creditors following its debt restructuring.

The stock dropped as much as 73% Thursday in Sao Paulo on heavy volume before paring losses to trade at 0.16 reais per share. Its market capitalization, which had briefly swelled to 15 billion reais ($2.7 billion) following a capital injection, is now back down to 3.2 billion reais.

“The initial lock-up (approximately 73%) of the new shares received by creditors who adhered to Payment ...