Goldman sells $2.3bn ICBC stake to Temasek

Goldman Sachs (GS.NYSE) sold US$2.3 billion worth of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s (ICBC; 601398.SH, 1398.HKG) Hong Kong-listed shares to the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, Reuters reported. Goldman sold the shares to Temasek at a 3.1% discount to Friday’s closing price; about US$200 billion worth of shares were also sold to other investors. Temasek will now have a 1.3% stake in ICBC, the world’s largest bank by market value. Ding Wei, Temasek’s China head, said that the price was “reasonable” and that the fund was bullish on both ICBC and China’s prospects. The fund now owns stakes in three of China’s four largest banks, including China Construction Bank (601939.SH, 0939.HKG) and Bank of China (601988.SH, 3988.HKG). For its part, Goldman’s stake in ICBC will be reduced to around US$3 billion in shares. The investment bank has held a sizeable chunk of ICBC equity since its public floatation in 2006.