China's ICBC says Goldman Sachs remains strategic partner

SHANGHAI: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China said Thursday its strategic partnership with Goldman Sachs remained unchanged after the US investment bank cut its stake to raise more than two billion dollars.

Goldman Sachs had sold about 23 percent of its holdings in the Chinese lender's Hong Kong-listed shares, the Beijing-based bank said.

The sale would bring Goldman's stake in ICBC down to 3.0 percent of China's largest bank by assets after it initially bought a 4.9 percent stake in 2006.

"Goldman Sachs indicated its strategic cooperation relations with us remains unchanged. It is still ICBC's strategic investor," an ICBC spokeswoman told AFP.

ICBC declined to provide the exact number of shares Goldman now owns or the price at which it sold the most recent batch when contacted by AFP.

Goldman Sachs held 3.9 percent, or 13.18 billion shares, in ICBC after reducing its holdings in June 2009 to pay back a massive US taxpayer bailout. Twenty-three percent of that would be 3.03 billion shares.

Dow Jones Newswires reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources, the New York-based investment bank raised 2.25 billion dollars by selling 3.04 billion shares in the Chinese lender at 5.74 Hong Kong dollar (74 US cents) each.

ICBC's Hong Kong-listed shares fell 3.2 percent to 5.78 Hong Kong dollars in the morning session, compared with a 0.28 percent dip in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.