Brazilian operator Oi continued to shed assets as part of a reorganisation designed to steer it out of troubled financial waters, closing a data centre deal with financial group Piemonte Holding worth BRL367 million ($65.3 million).

In a statement, Brazil-based Piemonte Holding said it acquired five data centres from Oi. The group paid BRL250 million in cash, with the remainder set to be paid in instalments.

It is the first of several sales Oi plans in the coming years.

Oi’s data centres join Piemonte Holding’s Titan Elea Digital unit, taking its share of Brazil’s colocation market to around 10 per cent.

Piemonte Holding CEO Alessandro Lombardi described Oi’s reorganisation as an “injection of optimism for Brazil”.

In its own statement, Oi said the sale was part of a transformation plan designed to reposition it as the “largest provider of telecommunications infrastructure” in Brazil.

Oi filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2016 with debt of BRL65.4 billion.

It agreed to sell its mobile operations to rivals Telefonica, Telecom Italia and Claro as part of its restructure.