TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp (>> Marubeni Corp) said it will cut Gavilon's energy business out of its planned takeover of the U.S. commodity merchant, reducing the size of the transaction to $2.6 billion plus debt.

The trading company said in a statement on Monday it had modified the terms of the acquisition which was originally valued at a $5.6 billion acquisition, including $2 billion of debt.

"Marubeni will acquire all of the assets and businesses of Gavilon except the energy business," the statement said.

The statement didn't give details of the amount of debt being assumed in the revised transaction, but said the sellers would receive $2.6 billion in cash while retaining the energy business.

The move confirms a Reuters report on Friday.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Gavilon's shareholders include investor George Soros, Dwight Anderson's Ospraie hedge fund, and Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries (>> Orascom Construction Industries SAE).

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick)

Stocks treated in this article : Marubeni Corp, Orascom Construction Industries SAE