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LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler North America Holding Corp., a unit of German auto giant DaimlerChrysler AG , sold a one billion euro, three-year bond on Friday, lead managers for the deal said.
The bond carries a coupon of 3.75 percent and was priced at 99.791 percent of face value to give a spread of 97.7 basis points over the OBL 138 German government bond, or 83 basis points over mid-swaps, the banks said.
It matures on October 2, 2006.
The spread offered on the bond tightened during the marketing process to 83 basis points over swaps from 85 basis points, a sign of strong demand, and the issue was at the top end of the initial size range of 750 million to one billion euros.
Commerzbank, HypoVereinsbank and Royal Bank of Scotland managed the sale.
DaimlerChrysler last sold a fixed-rate bond in euros in December 2002, although the car company has been active in the floating-rate market throughout 2003, last selling a 750 million euro two-year note in July.
DaimlerChrysler is rated A3 by Moody's Investors Service, which affirmed its rating on the company overnight, and BBB+ by Standard & Poor's.