UPDATE 2-Equal maker Merisant emerges from bankruptcy

* Restructuring allows company to cut debt by 74 percent

* Paul Block remains president and CEO (Rewrites first paragraph to show company also makes PureVia sweetener, adds company no-comment on plans for possible share float)

By Chelsea Emery

NEW YORK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Merisant Co [MERWOM.UL], the maker of low-calorie tabletop sweeteners such as Equal and PureVia, said on Monday that it had cut debt by 74 percent and emerged from Chapter 11 one year after it filed for bankruptcy.

A Delaware bankruptcy judge approved the company's restructuring plan, which included reducing debt to about $147 million. Private investment funds managed by Wayzata Investment Partners LLC have become the majority shareholders and appointed five of the seven members of the new board.

Paul Block will remain president and chief executive officer, roles he has held since 2004.

"Merisant has an enviable portfolio of sweeteners and considerable opportunity in the natural sweetener category," Block said in a statement. "We are now better equipped to capitalize on these assets."

A spokeswoman said the company had no comment on whether it was considering trading as a public company.

Merisant and its U.S. subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 protection on Jan. 9, 2009, weighed down by unsustainable debt payments and competition from rival sweeteners such as Tate & Lyle Plc's (TATE.L) Splenda.

Under the plan, the company will cut its annual cash interest expense to $11 million from about $36 million.

Merisant developed stevia-based PureVia with PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N) as an alternative to aspartame-based sweeteners like Equal.

The case is In re Merisant Worldwide Inc, United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 09-10059. (Reporting by Chelsea Emery; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)