DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland plans to issue a new 2050 bond via a syndicated sale in the near future, its debt agency said on Tuesday, with a source indicating a size of around 3 billion euros (2.57 billion pounds).
Ireland has already raised over 5.5 billion euros of a planned 14-18 billion euros of long-term debt issuance this year.
The bond "is expected to be launched and priced in the near future subject to market conditions", the agency said in a statement, indicating a sale was likely this week.
The agency said it was cancelling a bond auction that had been scheduled for Thursday.
It is unusual for Ireland to cancel an auction in favour of a syndicated deal but the move comes after Cyprus's recent first 30-year bond sale was overloaded with orders.
Ireland usually sells only around 1 billion euros of bonds per auction, more often than not a mix of short- and long-dated paper.
High demand for such long maturities -- with Ireland an active seller in recent years -- shows just how much Europe's bond market is adjusting to expectations of persistently low interest rates and central bank stimulus.
Barclays, BNP Paribas, Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland Ltd, Danske Bank, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs have been appointed as joint lead managers for the transaction, the debt agency said.
(Reporting by Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin; Editing by Catherine Evans)
