BHP Billiton bond order book seen at A$700 mln-plus -investors

SYDNEY, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The order book of global mining giant BHP Billiton's five-year bond offer is at least A$700 million and is being marketed at 95 basis points over the Australian bank bill swap rate, two fund managers looking at the offer said on Tuesday.

The issue, launched earlier in the day, is the first Australian dollar bond offered primarily to Australian investors for BHP in 11 years, according to one of the fund managers. The borrower is rated A+ by Standard & Poor's and A1 by Moody's.

Joint lead managers Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Commonwealth Bank of Australia declined to comment or were not available to comment.

(Reporting by Cecile Lefort)

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Keywords: BHP/BONDORDERBOOK