The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Financial decision · 2015–2025
Vicentin was Argentina’s largest grain exporter — then its debt caught up with it
Argentina’s biggest grain exporter, founded 1929, defaulted on US$1.35B in 2019. The government failed to expropriate it, and a cramdown gave it to rivals.
Vicentin · 2019-12
What happened
Vicentin was Argentina’s largest agricultural exporter, founded in 1929 in the province of Santa Fe. For nine decades, it was one of the country’s most important grain companies, processing soybeans, corn, and wheat and exporting them to markets around the world. It was a pillar of Argentina’s agricultural economy.
The company entered default in December 2019, citing a situation of “financial stress.” It had accumulated US$1.35 billion in debt, including irregular loans from Argentina’s state-owned Banco Nación worth 18 billion pesos during the administration of President Mauricio Macri. The default triggered a creditor protection process.
The government of Alberto Fernández initially proposed expropriating the company, but the plan was withdrawn. After a lengthy cramdown process, Vicentin was acquired by Grassi SA in December 2025, which operates it alongside global agricultural giants Cargill and Bunge. Over 1,000 workers were affected when plants were closed during the restructuring.
Why it happened
- Vicentin took on excessive debt, including irregular loans from Banco Nación worth 18 billion pesos. When the company could not service its obligations, it defaulted on US$1.35 billion.
- Argentina’s economic crisis in 2018–2019, with hyperinflation and currency devaluation, made it impossible for Vicentin to service dollar-denominated debt from peso-denominated revenue.
- Vicentin had no restructuring plan before the default. When financial stress hit, there was no way to avoid creditor protection, and the 96-year-old company was taken over by its competitors.
The lesson
State-bank loans do not make a viable business — they only buy time. Vicentin’s irregular borrowings delayed the default, but the debt was always due, and when it came due, the company was gone.
Sources
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