BHP Billiton, the world's largest diversified mining group, has defied turbulent conditions in the corporate bond markets to launch a debut benchmark bond that was oversubscribed and increased.

BHP Billiton launched a €500m ($493.7m) five-year bond via lead managers Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank on Tuesday, and a strong response from European investors left the deal almost twice oversubscribed and enabled the company to raise an extra €250m.