The Republic of Korea in U.S. $1 Billion & €750 Million Dual Tranche Notes Offering

Cleary Gottlieb represented The Republic of Korea (“ROK”) in its SEC-registered offering of $1 billion 2.125% notes due 2024 and €750 million 4.125% notes due 2044. The offering was a takedown from ROK’s shelf registration statement under Schedule B and closed on June 10.

The notes were listed on the Singapore Exchange and the Euro-denominated notes were also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan, KDB Bank and Samsung Securities were the joint bookrunnners for the offering.

The notes included Collective Action Clauses (“CACs”), which are designed to promote expeditious and orderly restructurings and workout procedures for sovereign debtors should a sovereign debt crisis ever occur. One of the most important CACs in the notes is a majority amendment clause, which allows the holders of 75% of the outstanding principal amount of the notes to approve changes to the payment terms and other key provisions of the notes.