Cleary Gottlieb represented the Republic of Iraq in the offering of $1 billion 6.752 percent notes due 2023.
The notes, which have been admitted to the official list of the Irish Stock Exchange and are trading on its main securities market, were offered and sold within the United States to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A and outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S. Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, J.P. Morgan Securities plc and the Trade Bank of Iraq acted as managers.
The offering, which was announced on July 27, 2017, priced on August 2, 2017, and closed on August 9, 2017.
The issuance is Iraq’s first-ever standalone “new money” international debt offering. In 2006, Cleary represented Iraq in the issuance of notes in exchange for restructured pre-2003 commercial debt. In January 2017, Cleary represented Iraq in the issuance of $1 billion of notes backed by a full faith and credit guarantee of the U.S. Agency for International Development.