Goldman sells $2.5 billion of ICBC shares; Temasek main buyer

A reverse inquiry from Temasek Holdings over the weekend prompted Goldman Sachs to sell close to half its remaining stake in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ICBC before the opening of Hong Kong trading yesterday. The self-led deal was done at a fixed price and saw the US bank raise about $2.5 billion.

Temasek bought $2.3 billion worth of the shares, and with that type of high-quality anchor order, Goldman had no problems selling the remaining $200 million worth of shares to other investors even though the deal came at a tight discount, launched at 7am Hong Kong time and was open for only one hour. It also helped...