Temasek looks to sell off BOC shares
27 November 2007
Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singapore government, wants to sell off as much as US$565 million of its shares in Bank of China due to concerns over the bank's exposure to the subprime mortgage crisis, the South China Morning Post reported. Temasek has hired Morgan Stanley to arrange the sale of 1.082 billion shares priced at HK$4.09-4.12 (US$0.526-0.529), which represents a discount of 2.83% to 3.54% on Bank of China's closing price on Monday. The shares are part of a 4.8% stake bought by Temasek at HK$2.95 (US$0.38) per share ahead of Bank of China's initial public offering last year. The bank set aside US$324 million for potential subprime losses in the third quarter, more than double the US$148 billion earmarked for the same purpose in the first half of the year. Selling the shares could net Temasek a profit of US$162 billion.