UPDATE 2-Colonial hopes for debt deal with banks in days

* Says reaches pre-agreement over debt with banks

* Hopes to sign deal within days

* Riofisa sale canned for now - CEO

* Shares up 0.7 pct

By Ben Harding

BARCELONA, June 30 (Reuters) - Spanish property company Colonial (COL.MC) should sign a new agreement with creditors within days that will guarantee its financial stability, Chief Executive Officer Pere Vinolas said on Tuesday.

Vinolas told journalists that the market had weakened badly in the nine months since Colonial and the bank syndicate signed an earlier debt refinancing deal hence the need to renegotiate conditions.

That includes abandoning the sale of shopping centre unit Riofisa, for which he said Colonial could not secure a good price in current market conditions.

Its sale had been a pre-condition of Colonial's refinancing but Vinolas said it was only one small reason for the renegotiation.

"We have reached a pre-agreement, about to be signed, with the banks to guarantee the viability of the company in the short, medium and long term, which seeks a series of aims, the first being the recapitalisation of the company," he told Reuters after a news conference, adding that it was a matter of days before the two sides put pen to paper.

He added that the deal would ensure the company could meet repayments on 6.57 billion euros ($9.28 billion) of debt (as of end-March) and have enough money to operate as a major player in prime office markets in France and Spain.

A spokesman said later that the company had cut debt by some 2.3 billion euros in the 12 months to June.

Banks in the syndicate -- Calyon, Eurohypo, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) -- are owed around 4.12 billion euros.

Vinolas told Reuters that Riofisa's sale for a reasonable price was extremely difficult in the current environment because it was a business that was cash absorbent and there were not many bidders around with spare cash.

"It is a very valuable business but with little attraction in the current market," he said.