Batista Shipbuilder Proposes 25-Year Payback Plan

OSX Brasil SA, the troubled shipbuilder controlled by former Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, proposed a 25-year plan to pay back creditors to a Rio de Janeiro bankruptcy court, the company said on Friday in a statement.

The proposal includes an initial three-year relief period before OSX would have to start making the payments. The shipbuilder also said it could seek to secure additional financing and make changes to its shareholding structure.

OSX filed for bankruptcy protection in November, as part of the unraveling of the once high-flying empire of energy, logistics and commodities that Batista assembled during an economic boom in Brazil that fizzled in 2011.

At the time of its bankruptcy filing, OSX sought to restructure a debt burden of 5.34 billion reais ($2.42 billion).

(Reporting by Juliana Schincariol; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

($1 = 2.12 Brazilian reais