THE News Corporation has announced the successful sale of US$500 million of medium-term senior debt securities due on March 1, 2000 with an interest rate of 7.5 per cent.

The securities were underwritten by Merrill Lynch, which acted as lead manager, Citicorp Securities Markets, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities and J.P. Morgan Securities.

The securities are expected to be rated BBB-minus by Standard & Poor's and Ba2 by Moody's Investors Service. The proceeds will be used primarily to repay bank debt.