Correios Owes Approximately R$ 328 Million to Tellus Rio Bravo REIT for Contagem Logistics Center

TBRL11 remains in legal dispute to recover unpaid leases and termination penalties from Correios

Felipe Ribeiro, Real Estate Manager at Rio Bravo

By: SiiLA News

08/21/2025

Tellus Rio Bravo Renda Logística REIT (TBRL11) announced on Wednesday (20) that it has fully regained possession of its asset, the Contagem Logistics Center, after Correios returned the keys on August 18.

The move occurred amid allegations by the state-owned company regarding unstable conditions at the warehouse. However, Tellus continues to pursue legal action, claiming the property was duly regularized, in order to recover unpaid leases and the termination penalty owed by Correios. The company has since relocated to a smaller property in the same region, Bresco Contagem.

“With possession of the property restored, we can now fully dedicate efforts to re-leasing the asset, which has prime technical specifications and is located in one of the country’s most relevant logistics hubs, a market with extremely low vacancy and strong demand,” said Felipe Ribeiro, Real Estate Manager at Rio Bravo.

Ribeiro stated that the estimated debt amounts to approximately R$ 328 million, corresponding to 100% of the leases due through the end of the original contract, scheduled to run until 2034.

In a press release, the company highlighted that Correios’ decision to terminate an atypical contract—with strict clauses—and move to a cheaper, more flexible property in the same area gave the market the impression that the company was seeking to free itself from financial obligations amid its ongoing crisis.

“We have full confidence in our contractual rights and continue to pursue a legal strategy to secure all amounts owed, from overdue leases to the penalty for the early rescission of the lease agreement. Atypical contracts must be honored, and we will ensure that through every necessary measure,” Ribeiro added.

The fund manager also reassured investors regarding Rio Bravo’s financial stability: “The Correios contract was significant, but TBRL11’s portfolio is robust enough to ensure safe income. Our leverage structure was preserved, which in many cases does not happen when a lease of this magnitude is lost.”

Next Steps

Speaking to SiiLA, Ribeiro also outlined the leasing strategy for the property:

“Now that possession has been regained, the fund is already working with commercial partners to lease the asset as soon as possible, with solid expectations, considering that there are no usage restrictions and that the property has modern technical specifications and is located in a traditional logistics hub with very low vacancy.”

Contagem Logistics Center

By SiiLA

Located between the Juscelino Kubitschek and Fernão Dias highways and close to Confins Airport, the A+ rated development has a total area of 121,749 m². Just 11.7 km from downtown Belo Horizonte, with parking, 88 docks, and a warehouse, the asset represents a highly strategic point for logistics distribution.

Dispute Background

The dispute dates back to October 2024, when the fund, following an inspection, reported the partial interdiction of the Contagem Logistics Center due to structural damages that posed risks to the property. At the time, TBRL11 stated that only 6% of the structure was restricted, which would not prevent the warehouse’s use. Correios, however, reported having already vacated the property preventively due to heavy rainfall in the area, asserting that its operations would not be affected.

Later that year, Correios announced the administrative process to terminate its 15-year lease agreement with the fund. The contract had begun in 2020 when the property was delivered as a build-to-suit (BTS) facility for the state-owned company.

The announcement came just one day after news outlet Poder 360 revealed documents showing Correios had incurred a R$ 1.81 billion loss. This marked the beginning of the dispute between the REIT and the company. Sources told RESource that Correios may have used the warehouse’s structural issues as a pretext to initiate termination.

Another aggravating factor was the discrepancy between the Civil Defense of Contagem’s assessment and three technical reports commissioned by the property owner, which concluded that the risk of collapse was not as immediate as the municipality had indicated. Meanwhile, the company was fully mobilized to complete the necessary repairs.

With the works completed, Correios failed to pay the December 2024 lease installment (due in January 2025), claiming it had already requested contract termination months earlier and that the repairs were insufficient to sustain occupancy. The monthly lease value was R$ 2.7 million, and the state-owned company represented around 46% of the fund’s total revenue at the time.

In March 2025, Correios formalized the unilateral termination, with key delivery scheduled for August 18, 2025. Shortly thereafter, the company relocated to a smaller warehouse at Bresco Contagem. By then, the state-owned company had accumulated losses of R$ 2.6 billion.

Updated on August 22

SiiLA contacted Correios for a statement, and the state-owned company responded:

“Regarding the termination of the lease agreement with TRBL11, motivated by structural issues in the property that housed Correios’ Mail and Parcel Processing Center in Contagem/MG, the company confirms the return of the warehouse keys, owned by the landlord Fundo Tellus Rio Bravo. The handover of keys is a contractual procedure in the event of termination, as is the case here.”

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