Goldman dilutes stake in ICBC for $1.1b

Goldman Sachs bought a 4.9% stake in ICBC for $2.58 billion in 2006, before the Beijing-based bank launched its $21.9 billion IPO. Goldman continues to hold a 2.4% stake in ICBC following the latest sell-down.

According to Dow Jones, Goldman sold more than 1.75 billion ICBC shares at HK$4.88 apiece, which represented a 6% discount to Wednesday's closing price. Goldman had originally planned to sell 2.4 billion shares at a range of HK$4.88-HK$5.0 each, a term sheet indicated, but the divestment was scaled back due to market volatility.

Goldman's last sell-down came little more than a year ago, in which it divested 0.9% of its holding to raise an estimated $2.25 billion. In June 2009, the US investment bank sold 1% of its shareholding.

The news comes weeks after Goldman reported its second quarterly loss since its 1999 float. It partially attributed these depressed results to a $1 billion writedown of its ICBC shares, due to a dip in the bank's market value. Goldman valued its investment in ICBC at about $5 billion by the end of September, compared to $7.59 billion in December 2010.

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• Topics
• Financing
• Exits
• Greater China
• Goldman Sachs
• Financial Services
• Exit
• China