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UPDATE 1-Lucchini owners, creditors reach debt deal -sources

* Debt deal to ease the way for Lucchini sale (Adds details, background)MILAN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Shareholders and creditor banks of Italian steel maker Lucchini have reached a preliminary deal to restructure the group's 700 million euro ($970 million) debt, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday."An outline agreement has been reached," said one source, adding that "nothing has been signed yet".As part of the preliminary deal, creditor banks have agreed to accept 100 million euros in partial debt repayment, which is less than the 180 million euros they expected earlier, another source said.The sources would not be drawn on full details of the deal.Lucchini, owned by Russian steel tycoon Alexei Mordashov and his steel group Severstal , declined to comment on the matter.Lucchini has been locked for more than a year in talks to restructure its 712 million euro debt pile with Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo , UniCredit , Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and French lender BNP Paribas .The final debt agreement, which is pending approval by boards of creditor banks, would ease the way for Lucchini's shareholders to sell the group.Mordashov, who bought a majority stake in Lucchini from Severstal for 1 euro in 2010, said in June a long-term solution for the debt-laden group would involve a strategic owner but the buyer was yet to be found. ($1 = 0.721 Euros)