Tidewater Inc: amends BNDES loans and assumes guarantees

What happened

• Tidewater Inc filed an 8-K reporting that, following its Aug 31, 2026 closing of the acquisition of Wilson, Sons Ultratug Participações S.A. and Atlantic Offshore Services S.A., it entered into a Guarantee Agreement with BNDES on Sep 21, 2026 and, effective Oct 1, 2026, the BNDES construction loans were amended to terminate the prior parent company guarantees and substitute Tidewater as guarantor.
• The company, Wilson Sons and Remolcadores delivered joint notices to cancel bank guarantees procured from DNB Bank ASA (the Replacement LCs), and the cancellations became effective Oct 2, 2026.

Key details

• The Replacement LCs from DNB Bank ASA were unsecured and not to exceed $170,458,000.
• The amended BNDES construction loans raised interest rates to 3.21% for Credit Facility Agreements Nos. 07.2.0417.1, 07.2.0418.1, 12.2.0433.1 and 12.2.0434.1, and to 3.77% for Credit Facility Agreement No. 10.2.1621.1; collateral coverage ratio increased to 130%.
• The Amended & Restated Sale and Purchase Agreement dated Aug 25, 2026 requires the Tidewater Parties to use best endeavors to replace the sellers’ guarantees or repay the loans and to terminate those guarantees by Dec 31, 2026.
• The amendments updated acceleration provisions, including BNDES’s right to accelerate for events such as certain labor or environmental judgments, bankruptcy, change in control without lender consent, use of proceeds for unallowed purposes, and other listed triggers; copies of the BNDES loan agreements will be filed with Tidewater’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sep 30, 2026.

Why it may matter

• Item 1.01 (entry into a material definitive agreement) reports that Tidewater agreed to guarantee and be substituted as guarantor under the BNDES construction loans and that prior parent company guarantees were terminated.
• Item 2.03 (creation of a direct financial obligation) reports that Tidewater’s Guarantee Agreement with BNDES creates a direct obligation to guarantee the borrower’s repayment of those loans.
• The filing does not show why the company acted.