Goldman exits China's ICBC, seven years and billions later

Goldman Sachs launched on Monday the sale of about USD 1.1 billion worth of Hong Kong-traded shares in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, offering to sell its entire remaining stake in the world's biggest bank by market value.

The sale by Goldman would be the final chapter in the Wall Street bank's investment into China's ICBC. Prior to its 2006 IPO, ICBC was a technically insolvent state institution, reeling from the bad loans that saddled China's financial industry. Also read: Wall Street Wk Ahead: Correction forgotten as rally goes on
ICBC's fortunes turned after it went public, and it grew along with China's economic boom. The bank's USD 240 billion market value is just shy of the combined worth of JP Morgan and Barclays. Goldman offered the shares in ICBC in a range of HKdollar 5.47 to HK dollar 5.50, equivalent to a discount of up to three percent to Monday's close of HK dollar 5.64, according to a term sheet. The sale would be Goldman's third in about a year. The New York-based investment bank raised USD 2.5 billion from a partial selldown of ICBC in April 2012, most of which was bought by Singapore state investor Temasek, and another in January 2013 worth USD one billion. Since 2009, Goldman has sold down its stake in ICBC six times. If Goldman is able to sell the final stake for USD 1.1 billion, that would make total gross proceeds from the sales worth USD 10.1 billion.