Dominican Republic in Inaugural Sovereign Green Bond Offering

Cleary Gottlieb represented the Dominican Republic in its Rule 144A/Reg S offerings of $500 million 7.05% bonds due 2031, $750 million 6.6% bonds due 2036, and DOP105 billion 10.75% bonds due 2036.

The offering was launched and priced on June 25, 2024, and closed on July 1, 2024.

The offering of the U.S. dollar bonds due 2036 marked the inaugural issuance of green bonds under the Dominican Republic’s green, social, and sustainability bond framework published on June 17, 2024. In line with such framework, the Dominican Republic announced that it intends to invest an amount equal to the net proceeds from the sale of the U.S. dollar bonds due 2036 into projects that qualify as “eligible green expenditures” under the framework, which includes clean urban public transport with no direct emissions, fiscal incentives for the development and implementation of renewable energy generation projects, efficient and resilient water and wastewater management, and efficient and climate-resilient natural resource management, among others. The demand for such bonds was oversubscribed six times.

The offering of the bonds was made concurrently with an offer to purchase for cash a series of outstanding global U.S. dollar-denominated bonds with maturity in 2025. A total of $1.01 billion principal amount of such outstanding bonds were tendered and repurchased as part of the tender offer, which launched on June 17, 2024, expired on June 25, 2024, and settled on July 1, 2024. The Dominican Republic used a portion of the net proceeds of the sale of the new bonds to pay the purchase price of outstanding bonds accepted in the tender offer.

The transaction marked the 25th time the Dominican Republic has tapped the international debt markets. Cleary has represented the sovereign in connection with each offering.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as initial purchasers for the new money offering and as joint dealer managers for the tender offer.