BRASILIA, April 29 (Reuters) - Canada's Brookfield Asset
Management Inc BAMa.TO is in advanced talks to buy a
controlling stake in the water and sewage unit of Brazilian
engineering conglomerate Grupo Odebrecht ODBES.UL for up to 6
billion reais ($1.72 billion), newspaper Valor Econômico said on
Friday.
Valor, citing sources with knowledge of the talks, said the
unit also attracted interest from several French groups.
Odebrecht and Brookfield representatives did not immediately
respond to requests for comments.
Grupo Odebrecht, the largest of local engineering firms
implicated in a sweeping corruption probe at oil producer
Petróleo Brasileiro SA PETR4.SA and other state companies,
wants to sell 12 billion reais in assets to reduce debt.
The scandal, which sent the family member who ran Grupo
Odebrecht to prison, has curtailed access to capital markets and
loan funding for the company's 15 subsidiaries.
Odebrecht owns 70 percent of the unit, known as Odebrecht
Ambiental, with a fund managed by state lender Caixa Econômica
Federal CEF.UL owning the remaining 30 percent.
($1 = 3.4842 Brazilian reais)