BlackRock Dodges Pimco Losses in Abandoning OGX: Brazil Credit

BlackRock Inc.’s sale of about 70 percent of its holdings in bonds from billionaire Eike Batista’s oil producer is helping the largest asset manager avoid the losses suffered by Pacific Investment Management Co.

While Pimco, the manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, kept buying in the six months through March as the selloff intensified in bonds issued by OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA, BlackRock’s most recent regulatory filings show it cut its holdings to $69 million. Prices on OGX’s $2.56 billion of 2018 bonds have sunk to a record low 16 cents on the dollar from 77.6 cents at the end of March and 89.7 cents in September, making them the worst-performing dollar debt in emerging markets.