RLPC-Russian Railways $1 bln loan in syndication

LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - State-owned Russian Railways' (RZhD) $1 billion loan has launched to syndication, the arranging banks announced in a statement on Thursday.

Bookrunners and initial mandated lead arrangers are BBVA, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays, BNP Paribas, ING, UniCredit Group and WestLB.

The term loan, which will be used for general corporate purposes, is split equally between a tranche of three years and one day and a five-year tranche.

A bank presentation has been scheduled for Feb. 19 in London, the statement added.

As previously reported, banking sources told Reuters Loan Pricing Corp the shorter tranche carries a margin of 55 basis points (bps) over LIBOR and the five-year tranche pays 75 bps.

Another banker said on Thursday four tickets are on offer in syndication, with banks invited to commit $70 million for an upfront fee of 75 bps, $50 million for 65 bps, $30 million for 55 bps or $15 million for 45 bps.

The borrower's previous deal -- a debut $600 million loan signed in 2005 -- paid a margin of 75 bps on a three-year facility and 90 bps on a five-year facility.

RZhD is rated BBB+ by S&P and Fitch, and A3 by Moody's. (Reporting by Christopher Mangham; Editing by Quentin Bryar)