BNP Paribas has announced a tender offer for €550 million of Bord Gais Eireann's notes as part of a refinancing of the utility's debt.

"The purpose of the offer is to take advantage of currently favourable market conditions to lengthen and smooth the debt maturity profile of the company," a statement said.

The 5.75 per cent notes are due June 16th, 2014.

The company has also announced its intention to issue a series of new euro-denominated fixed rate notes under its euro medium term note programme.

"Bord Gais is hoping to tap into some of the same investor demand seen last week when the ESB issued an earlier bond, '' said Ryan McGrath, an analyst at Dolmen Securities in Dublin, in a note today before the statement was released.

The bond issuance may be as early as today, he said.

Bloomberg