GOLDMAN Sachs yesterday launched the sale of about US$1.1 billion worth of Hong Kong-traded shares in the 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 ICBC. Prior to its 2006 initial public offering, ICBC was a technically insolvent state institution, reeling from the bad loans that saddled China's financial industry.

ICBC's fortunes turned after it went public, and it grew along with China's economic boom. The bank's US$240 billion market value is just shy of the combined worth of JPMorgan and Barclays.

Goldman offered the shares in ICBC in a range of HK$5.47 (71 US cents) to HK$5.50, equivalent to a discount of up to 3 percent to yesterday's close of HK$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 US$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 worth US$1 billion.