Bank of Ireland is planning its first unsecured senior bond sale in more than two and half years. The bank hired Deutsche Bank AG, BNP Paribas SA, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc to handle the three-year notes, which it expects to sell “in the near future, subject to market conditions,” said Anne Mathews, a spokeswoman in Dublin.

It’s the first senior unsecured bond sale since October and the first senior unsecured and unguaranteed issuance since September 2009, she said.

“We expect the bank to sell about €500 million of bonds,” said Cathal O’Leary, head of fixed income at Investec Ireland in Dublin.

“As Bank of Ireland is very well funded, it wants to make a statement with this transaction and achieve favourable pricing by attracting strong demand. It’s not looking to carry out a monster trade.” – (Bloomberg)