UCB raises 750 mln euro from bond offer - paper

BRUSSELS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Belgian pharmaceutical group UCB (UCB.BR) has raised as much as 750 million euros ($1.13 billion) through a bond offering it launched on Monday, Belgian daily De Tijd reported on Tuesday.

The group was not immediately available for comment.

UCB said on Friday it would offer a minimum of 150 million euros in five-year, fixed bonds via a retail public offering in Belgium and Luxembourg. The subscription period would run from Oct. 26 to Nov. 25, it said.

But De Tijd, citing sources close to the transaction, said demand for the bond was so great that the group had raised some 750 million euros within two hours of launching the offer.

"150 million euros was a worst-case scenario," De Tijd cited a source as saying. On Oct. 1, the group exercised a 50 million euro over-allotment option after it successfully raised 450 million euros from a six-year convertible bond offer, increasing the total amount to 500 million euros.

UCB said it would use the net proceeds from the issue for general corporate purposes and to diversify its funding.

The issue price was set at 101.875 percent of the nominal value of each bond with a coupon of 5.75 percent per year and a gross yield of 5.31 per year, UCB said on Friday.

BNP Paribas Fortis (BNPP.PA), ING (ING.AS) and KBC Bank (KBC.BR) are lead managers for the transaction. ($1=.6650 Euro) (Reporting by Antonia van de Velde; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)