Exclusive: Brazil's Odebrecht to propose bondholder losses of over 70 percent - sources

By Tatiana Bautzer

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht SA next week will ask its bondholders to accept losses of more than 70 percent from their bonds' face value as part of a restructuring, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Around $3 billion in outstanding Odebrecht Finance Ltd bonds will be affected, the sources added, asking for anonymity to disclose private plans.

The exact size of the haircut is still undefined, but the person said it could be between 70 percent and 80 percent of the bonds' value.

The restructuring proposal, which will also include a grace period for payments and extension of maturities on the bonds, will be presented by Odebrecht's advisers, U.S. investment bank Moelis & Co and law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, in a meeting in New York next week.

Moelis and Cleary Gottlieb press representatives did not immediately reply to requests for comment. In a statement, Odebrecht said it "is keeping constructive talks with bondholders" and declined to comment further on the specifics of the restructuring proposal.

The corruption-ensnared conglomerate, best known as a provider of engineering and infrastructure, decided not to pay $11.5 million in interest on the 2025 bonds that were due last November. The bonds, related to the conglomerate's construction unit known as OEC, were traded at 12.25 cents to the dollar this week, according to Refinitiv data..

The proposal to bondholders is being drafted as part of a larger renegotiation of the conglomerate's 70 billion reais ($18.83 billion) in debt. Odebrecht also wants to extend maturities in its debt with local banks, a source with knowledge of the matter said last month.

Odebrecht proposed in January that its local creditors in Brazil take over its sugar and ethanol unit, Atvos Agroindustrial Participacoes SA, in exchange for reducing the company's 12 billion reais in debt, Reuters reported.

(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Tom Brown)