Goldman to raise 1bn by selling part of ICBC stake
GOLDMAN Sachs is selling up to about $1.9bn (£1.15bn) worth of shares in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China at a discount of between four and six per cent to the Chinese lender’s losing price yesterday.
The shares represent nearly 20 per cent of Goldman’s 4.93 per cent stake in the Chinese bank, which is the world’s biggest lender by market value.
Goldman pledged earlier this year to keep 80 per cent of its holding in ICBC until April 2010.
Under an earlier lock-up agreement, Goldman would have been permitted to sell half of its stake in the state-controlled bank this April and the rest in October.
The Wall Street bank sold 3.03bn shares at HK$4.80-HK$4.90 each, according to a term sheet.
ICBC’s Hong Kong shares rose 4.7 per cent to close at HK$5.11 yesterday. Goldman Sachs, which was managing its own sale, declined to comment.
ICBC’s Hong Kong-listed shares have jumped nearly 43 per cent since Goldman announced plans to extend its investment in the bank, which was also the day ICBC posted flat fourth-quarter profits.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index has risen nearly 39 per cent over the same period, including a 3.95 per cent surge yesterday.
Battered western banks including Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS have sold stakes in big Chinese banks in recent months in order to raise capital.