Inco seeks May bond sale: Source

Inco seeks May bond sale: Source

SINGAPORE: International Nickel Indonesia, a 61 percent-owned subsidiary of Canada's Inco Ltd., is seeking to sell a maiden U.S. dollar-denominated bond and has mandated JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley to help it do so, a person familiar with the deal said on Tuesday.

The deal, which could be for about $300 million, is expected to surface later this month, once the borrower has received ratings.

Inco is one of the world's leading mining and metals companies and the world's second largest producer of nickel.

The overseas parentage of the firm should help International Nickel Indonesia in a marketplace that has been leery of Indonesian credits since the mid-April sale of $1 billion of sovereign bonds that fared badly in the secondary market.

Moody's Investors Service rates Inco at Baa3 while Standard & Poor's Ratings Service rates it BBB-.

The deal is expected to be targeted at both Asian and U.S. investors. -- Dow Jones