Brazil's OAS creditors pass bankruptcy plan, Invepar deal, source says

SAO PAULO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Creditors of Grupo OAS
OAEP.UL , the Brazilian engineering firm under creditor
protection, agreed to sell a 24.4 percent stake in
infrastructure company Invepar to Brookfield Asset Management
Inc BAMa.TO for at least 1.35 billion reais ($346 million), a
source with knowledge of the matter said.
At a meeting that ended early Friday, creditors passed a
restructuring plan calling for bondholders and banks to get 20
percent of their debt repaid in almost 20 years, the source
said. Creditors also approved the sale of Grupo OAS's interests
in a waste management solutions firm and an oil and gas rig
building unit, the source added.
The creditors agreed to sell the Invepar stake if Brookfield
drops a plan to extend OAS a debtor-in-possession loan worth 800
million reais, said the source, who requested anonymity because
the transaction remains private.
Reuters on Nov. 10 reported the Invepar sale as part of
OAS's efforts to emerge from bankruptcy. OAS Investimentos, the
unit that managed the Invepar stake for OAS, hoped to fetch at
least 2.2 billion reais for the asset, Reuters reported in
August.
Under the restructuring plan, OAS was authorized by
creditors to keep 350 million reais from the Invepar stake sale
to finance operations, the source said.
The sale will take place at an auction next month, and
Brookfield secured the right to top any bid from rival parties
interested in the Invepar stake, the source added. The
bankruptcy plan, as well as the Invepar sale, requires approval
from bankruptcy court and three major pension funds that are
OAS's partners in Invepar.
Invepar is formally known as Investimentos e Participações
em Infraestrutura SA.
In March, Grupo OAS filed for bankruptcy protection in a São
Paulo court to facilitate the restructuring of 8 billion reais
in debt owed by nine units. The bankruptcy petition came after
Grupo OAS struggled with the impact of a corruption probe at
state-controlled oil producer Petróleo Brasileiro SA PETR4.SA
and other state companies that undercut access to financing.
($1 = 3.8990 Brazilian reais)