Cleary Gottlieb represented the Dominican Republic in a 144A/Reg. S $2.5 billion offering of two series of new bonds, which was a record in aggregate amount issued by the Dominican Republic, including $1.0 billion of its 5.500% Bonds due 2025 and $1.5 billion of its 6.850% Bonds due 2045. The initial purchasers of the bonds were J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. Additionally, BanReservas acted as co-manager with respect to the bonds. The transaction priced on January 20, 2015, and closed on January 27, 2015.
The offering marked the eight time the Dominican Republic has tapped the international debt markets during the last five years. Cleary Gottlieb has represented the sovereign in connection with each offering.
In addition, Cleary Gottlieb advised the Dominican Republic in connection with the bilateral renegotiation and cancellation of approximately 98% of debt in an amount of $4.027 billion owed to PDVSA Petróleo, arising from shipments of oil and derivative products sold by PDVSA within the framework of the Acuerdo para la Cooperación Energética de Petrocaribe between the Dominican Republic and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The Dominican Republic used part of the net proceeds from the sale of the bonds in connection with the cancellation of the Petrocaribe debt, and the balance will be used for general purposes of the Government, including the partial financing of the 2015 budget.