Sydney, Oct 20 - Australian dairy cooperative Murray Goulburn has set the terms on a US$150 million private placement in the United States, a source who has seen the terms said on Tuesday.
The four-tranche issue offered five-, seven- and 10-year notes at 250 basis points over U.S. Treasury (UST), and a 12-year tranche at 265 bps over UST.
National Australia Bank, which arranged the offer, declined to comment.
The company also declined to comment.
It is the second U.S. bond issue for Murray Goulburn after it raised US$120 million of notes in 2003 with ABN AMRO.
It is also the second U.S. private placement by an Australian firm in a month, with electricity distributor Powercor setting the terms of a US$275 million bond issue.
The U.S. private placement market has been a popular source of funds for Australian companies looking for long-dated debt, with eight companies raising nearly US$2 billion there in 2008.
But since the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers a year ago, borrowers worldwide have been facing higher debt costs and total issuance had dropped to just over US$10 billion in June, its lowest level since 2001, according to industry statistics.
Typical buyers of U.S. traditional private placements are "buy and hold" U.S. insurance companies keen on long-dated paper to match their assets.