Spain has become the latest eurozone sovereign to launch a syndicated debt offering in 2002, in a bid to boost the performance of its long-term debt.

The sovereign said late last year that it would for the first time syndicate the initial tranche of a new sovereign bond this year, rather than selling the paper through an auction. On Friday, Spain appointed Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Crédit Agricole Indosuez, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Santander Central Hispano to share the books for the deal.