Temasek buys $2.9b of ICBC shares from Goldman

Temasek Holdings has agreed to buy US$2.3 billion (2.9 billion) worth of shares in China’s Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398.HK), the Singapore state investor said on Monday, giving it a 5.3%stake in the world’s largest bank by market value.

Goldman Sachs sold the US$2.5 billion block of shares, continuing with its plan to reduce its stake in the bank. After the sale, Goldman will have roughly US$3 billion of ICBC shares remaining.

Goldman sold the Hong Kong traded shares of ICBC at HK$5.05 each, or a 3.1%discount to Friday’s closing price. The other, roughly US$200 million worth of shares were sold to other institutional investors, according to a source.

Temasek’s purchase of the stake gives the US$160 billion state investor exposure to three of China’s Big Four banks.