China Merchants sets guidance on bond sale-source

HONG KONG, June 4 (Reuters) - Port operator China Merchants Holdings (0144.HK) set guidance for its dual-tranche dollar bond sale, said a source involved in the deal on Wednesday.

China Merchants is selling a five-year bond tranche at around 200 basis points over midswaps, while selling a 10-year bond tranche at 237.5-250 basis points over midswaps, said the source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to talk publicly about the transaction.

The port operator is rated Baa2 by Moody's and BBB by Standard & Poor's, both eight notches below the top investment-grade.

Merrill Lynch MER.N is the sole bookrunner for the issuer, with ING Bank, part of ING Groep (ING.AS), acting as joint lead manager. (Reporting by Rafael Nam; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)