- This is the second voluntary prepayment of Brazilian debentures made by the company in the last four months

- The prepayment is part of its ongoing accelerated pay-down program and stated capital allocation strategy

- Atento made a previous $30.0 million voluntary prepayment on its Brazilian debt on December 26, 2016

NEW YORK, April 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Atento S.A. (NYSE: ATTO), the leading provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services (CRM BPO) in Latin America, and one of the top three providers worldwide, today announced that on April 27^th, 2017, it made a $26.7 million (R$84.7 million) voluntary principal prepayment on its Brazilian debentures. The debt prepayment reduces the outstanding principal amount of the Brazilian debentures to $134.9 million (R$428.4 million) as of April 27, 2017.

This is the second voluntary prepayment made by the company as part of its accelerated debt pay-down program and stated capital allocation strategy. The prepayment follows a first voluntary amortization of $30.0 million (R$100 million) Brazilian debentures made in December 26, 2016.

Mauricio Montilha, Atento's Chief Financial Officer, commented, "As we highlighted during our March earnings call, we continue to accelerate the pay-down of our higher-cost Brazilian debentures, reinforcing our commitment to strengthen our balance sheet and our cost of capital, and to enhance our financial flexibility. The second prepayment of our higher-cost Brazilian debentures was made possible by our commitment to disciplined capital allocation and strict working capital management to improve free cash flow before net interest."

Montilha continued, "In addition, we are pleased that Moody's Investors Service has reaffirmed its ratings for Atento Luxco ('Ba3'/Stable) on March 27, recognizing Atento's efforts to maintain its stable credit metrics despite the macroeconomic headwinds in Brazil and other operating markets. Moody's also acknowledged our company´s leadership position in its markets, long-term service contracts and our initiatives to diversify revenues, reducing Telefónica concentration, and reduce costs, which includes the rationalization of headcount and the site relocation program."

A copy of Moody's press release can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-affirms-Atentos-Ba3-rating-outlook-stable--PR_364319

About Atento
Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing (CRM BPO) services in Latin America, and among the top three providers globally, based on revenues. Atento is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM/BPO services to companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the Company has developed its business model in 13 countries where it employs 150,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail and public administrations, among others. Atento´s shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2016, Atento was named one of the World´s 25 Best Multinational Workplaces by Great Place to Work® for a fourth consecutive year. For more information visit www.atento.com

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "intends," "continue" or similar terminology. These statements reflect only Atento's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance or results. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, competition in Atento's highly competitive industries; increases in the cost of voice and data services or significant interruptions in these services; Atento's ability to keep pace with its clients' needs for rapid technological change and systems availability; the continued deployment and adoption of emerging technologies; the loss, financial difficulties or bankruptcy of any key clients; the effects of global economic trends on the businesses of Atento's clients; the non-exclusive nature of Atento's client contracts and the absence of revenue commitments; security and privacy breaches of the systems Atento uses to protect personal data; the cost of pending and future litigation; the cost of defending Atento against intellectual property infringement claims; extensive regulation affecting many of Atento's businesses; Atento's ability to protect its proprietary information or technology; service interruptions to Atento's data and operation centers; Atento's ability to retain key personnel and attract a sufficient number of qualified employees; increases in labor costs and turnover rates; the political, economic and other conditions in the countries where Atento operates; changes in foreign exchange rates; Atento's ability to complete future acquisitions and integrate or achieve the objectives of its recent and future acquisitions; future impairments of our substantial goodwill, intangible assets, or other long-lived assets; and Atento's ability to recover consumer receivables on behalf of its clients. In addition, Atento is subject to risks related to its level of indebtedness. Such risks include Atento's ability to generate sufficient cash to service its indebtedness and fund its other liquidity needs; Atento's ability to comply with covenants contained in its debt instruments; the ability to obtain additional financing; the incurrence of significant additional indebtedness by Atento and its subsidiaries; and the ability of Atento's lenders to fulfill their lending commitments. Atento is also subject to other risk factors described in documents filed by the company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the statements were made. Atento undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Related Links

http://www.atento.com

SOURCE Atento S.A.