Brazil's Oleo e Gas seeks $579 mln debt-for-equity swap

SAO PAULO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Óleo e Gás Participações SA , the oil firm founded by Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista now operating under bankruptcy court supervision, has proposed a debt-for-equity swap after a slump in oil prices compromised its financial health.

In a Friday securities filing, the company said it proposed the plan to lenders owed 1.85 billion reais ($5a79 million) in debt, including a loan provided to help the firm emerge from bankruptcy, called a debtor-in-possession (DIP) facility.

The DIP creditors would become the largest group of Óleo e Gás shareholders under the proposal, with a 46.92 stake in the company, the statement said.

Due to low oil prices, Óleo e Gás Participações SA and operating subsidiary OGX Petróleo e Gás SA are facing financial problems, leading to their struggles "to pay or refinance the debt," the statement said. The obligations affected by the plan include debt owed to OSX-3 Leasing BV under a leasing contract, and creditors who participated in an export pre-payment loan.

Founded by fallen billionaire entrepreneur Batista in 2007, OGX was the oil arm of a vast industrial conglomerate dismantled because of a dearth of cash, high debt and a loss of investor confidence three years ago.

Under the plan unveiled on Friday, OGX is also willing to transfer 33.33 percent of the shares it owns in power generation company Eneva SA to OSX-3 Leasing BV, 25.02 percent to DIP creditors and 8.31 percent to the creditors of the export pre-payment loan.

($1 = 3.1978 reais) (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Bernard Orr)