Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., billionaire Li Ka-shing’s biggest company, plans to sell six- and 10-year bonds denominated in U.S. dollars as soon as today, according to a person familiar with the transaction. Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank AG, and HSBC Holdings Plc will manage the benchmark-size sale, said the person, who declined to be identified before a public announcement. A benchmark issue is typically at least $500 million. Hong Kong-based Hutchison is “a very well-known credit” and the sale “should go down well” with investors, said Brayan Lai, an analyst in Hong Kong at Calyon, the investment banking unit of France’s Credit Agricole SA. Hutchison, with operations spanning ports, property, energy and telecommunications in 54 countries, has 5.45 percent dollar bonds due to mature in November 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It agreed to buy back some of the notes at a premium in June after Finance Director Frank Sixt said in April that the company plans to reduce its net debt. Li, who predicted China’s stock-market bubble would burst in 2007, last month said the global economy won’t recover this year. Speaking after his companies announced earnings results, he also said the worst is over for containerized shipping. Shares of Hutchison, the world’s largest container port operator, climbed 42 percent in Hong Kong trading this year even as China’s exports dropped 22 percent in the first seven months. Investment-Grade Hutchison Whampoa Finance Ltd. will sell the dollar bonds and Hutchison Whampoa will guarantee them, the person said today. Company spokeswoman Laura Cheung declined to comment. Moody’s Investors Service ranks Hutchison’s debt at A3, its seventh-highest investment-grade rating. Standard & Poor’s grades the debt an equivalent A-. Hutchison sold dollar bonds in April, raising $1.5 billion from 7.625 percent notes due in 2019. The notes were priced to yield 475 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, Bloomberg data show.

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