UPDATE 1-S.Korea's GS Caltex to sell dollar bonds-source
(Updates with details, background)
HONG KONG, June 17 (Reuters) - GS Caltex Corp, South Korea's second-biggest oil refiner, will meet global investors this week to market a dollar bond sale, a source with direct knowledge of the plans said on Tuesday.
The bond sale would be the latest from an Asian issuer as more stable debt markets are bringing forward transactions that had been put on hold during the height of a global credit crisis in the first quarter.
Indonesia, South Korean retailer Shinsegae Co (004170.KS), Indian mining group Vedanta Resources (VED.L), and Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia are currently in various stages for dollar bond transactions.
GS Caltex, a joint venture between South Korea's GS Holdings Corp (078930.KS) and U.S. oil company Chevron Corp (CVX.N) will meet investors in London and Singapore on Thursday and in New York and Hong Kong on Friday, the source said.
The deal may be followed by a dollar bond sale, depending on market conditions, the source added, asking not to be identified because he is not authorised to talk publicly about the transaction.
He did not give an indication of the size or the tenor being sought.
The oil refiner said last month it planned to invest 2.94 trillion won ($2.82 billion) between 2008 to 2010 to upgrade a unit of hydrocracker, which refines heavy fuel oil into more expensive lighter products.
GS Caltex had appointed Barclays Capital, Citigroup (C.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Merrill Lynch MER.N for the bond transaction, the source said.
The refiner is rated Baa1 by Moody's and BBB-plus by Standard & Poor's, both seven notches below the top investment grade. (Reporting by Rafael Nam; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
