Greece sets price guidance at 5% area on new five-year

By Helene Durand

LONDON, April 10 (IFR) - Greece has set final price guidance on its first international benchmark bond issue since 2010 at 5% area according to sources.

The order book on the five-year issue is in excess of 17.5bn with more than 450 orders. The transaction will be priced later today within a range of plus or minus 5bp around 5%.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are arranging the sale.

Greece is rated nine notches below investment grade at Caa3 by Moody's. Standard and Poor's and Fitch rank Greece six notches below investment grade at B-.

(Reporting by Helene Durand; editing by Alex Chambers)