UPDATE 2-Indonesia Bakrie to settle up to $725 mln debt

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JAKARTA, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia's heavily indebted Bakrie & Brothers (BNBR.JK) said it had found buyers for as much as $725 million of its debt, exchanging part of that sum for shares in its coal mining unit Bumi Resources (BUMI.JK).

The politically connected Bakrie group, which has interests in telecoms, property, palm oil and energy, has been hammered by investors' concerns over its ability to repay a mountain of debt that was taken on to fund its aggressive expansion.

Bakrie & Brothers said hedge fund Brentwood Ventures Ltd has paid off a group debt of $150 million to Indian lender ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO) in exchange for shares in Bumi Resources.

Another creditor, Oddickson Finance, has agreed to sell $575 million of Bakrie debt to Indonesian private equity firm Northstar Pacific, Bakrie officials told a news conference.

Northstar, which had wanted to take over some Bakrie debt in exchange for Bumi shares, could not be reached for comment.

"We paid ICICI through Brentwood. The debt has been settled and we are giving up the shares we are pledging," said Ari Hudaya, a director of Bakrie & Brothers, adding that 1.3 billion shares in Bumi (BUMI.JK) had been pledged against the $150 million loan.

Bumi shares traded at 930 rupiah on Wednesday, valuing the 1.3 billion Bumi shares at 1.2 trillion rupiah ($110 million). ($1=10,900 Rupiah) (Reporting by Fitri Wulandari; editing by Sara Webb & Ian Geoghegan)