Goldman Sachs Group Inc spent HK$88 million (US$11.4 million) buying shares in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, according to a regulatory filing.

Goldman Sachs bought 20.5 million Hong Kong-traded shares of ICBC at an average price of HK$4.309, according to a filing with Hong Kong's stock exchange. The purchase was made on the open market on December 17 on behalf of a client. Goldman Sachs invested US$2.5 billion in ICBC before the Chinese bank went public in 2006, and agreed not to sell the holding until April 28, 2009. The value of the stake has more than tripled to US$8.9 billion as of Tuesday. The US firm now holds 16.616 billion shares, or 4.97 percent of ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, according to the latest filing.

(Shanghai Daily December 25, 2008)