By Claire Ruckin
LONDON (Reuters) - Zurich Insurance (VX:ZURN) is lining up an around 5.5 billion pound ($8.46 billion) bridge loan to back its proposed 5.6 billion pound acquisition of British rival RSA (L:RSA), banking sources said on Tuesday.
Zurich Insurance declined to comment.
Banks involved include Citigroup (NYSE:C), Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn), HSBC Bank, Lloyds Banking Group (LONDON:LLOY), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and UBS. The financing may involve other banks, one of the sources said.
The bridge loan is expected to be refinanced in the bond market, the sources said.
($1 = 0.6500 pounds)