BASIS POINT-S'pore's NOL mandates 11 for Hapag loan

SINGAPORE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Neptune Orient Lines (NEPS.SI) has mandated 11 banks to arrange $6 billion in bridge, loans which would help finance its bid for Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, banking sources said.

The banks are Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (8306.T), Citigroup (C.N), HSBC (HSBA.L), Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), JPMorgan (JPM.N), the corporate banking unit of Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T), Natixis (CNAT.PA), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC.SI), Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), banking unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial (8316.T) and United Overseas Bank (UOBH.SI), bankers told Reuters Basis Point.

NOL, which is 66 percent owned by Singapore sovereign fund Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL], has made the shortlist in the bidding for bigger rival Hapag-Lloyd. NOL said earlier this month it plans to combine its APL unit with Hapag-Lloyd, a unit of Germany's TUI (TUIGn.DE), to form the world's third largest container shipping company and benefit from increased economies of scale of synergies. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Louise Heavens)