North Rhine-Westphalia Hires Banks For 5-Year Euro Benchmark Bond

21st Jun 2010 09:42

LONDON (Dow Jones)--The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has hired Barclays PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, UniCredit SpA, and WestLB AG as joint-lead managers on its planned five-year, euro-denominated, benchmark bond, one of the banks said Monday. Price guidance has been set in the area of two basis points over midswaps, another of the banks said. The transaction will be launched in the near future subject to market conditions. The issuer is rated Aa1 by Moody's Investors Service Inc., AA- by Standard & Poor's Corp. and AAA by Fitch Ratings. -By Mark Brown, Dow Jones Newswires; + 44 (0)207 842 9485; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 21, 2010 04:42 ET (08:42 GMT)