President Leonel Fernandez himself announced the country completed yesterday a successful sovereign debt exchange. The country needed an 85% participation rate and obtained 93%.
On Wednesday, the DR launched its offer to swap US$1.1 billion in sovereign bonds issued in 2001 (US$500 million in 9.5% bonds due 2006 extended to 2011) and 2003 (US$600 million in 9.04% bonds due 2013 to expire in 2018) to give the debt-burdened economy a breather.
Morgan Stanley and UBS assisted in the restructuring, while operations took place through the Bank of New York.
President Fernandez says that the operation complies with the Paris Club’s requirement that the government seek comparability with private creditors. He said that to complete the restructuring, the country only has pending the restructuring with private banking for around US$60 million.
Franco Uccelli of Bear Stearns said that “the high rate of investor participation is a testament to the government’s success in convincing the market that the restructuring offer was indeed a market-friendly one and that, given the consolidation of the country’s economic recover, the Dominican Republic would be a better credit post-exchange and therefore would offer upside to tendering bondholders.”
Uccelli forecast that “the success of the exchange operation should pave the way for spread compression in the near term, making the Dominican Republic’s new bonds an attractive investment.”