Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private has sold 2.4% of its stake in Swiss banking giant UBS, primarily due to changes in the Swiss group’s strategy.
The move pares GIC’s stake in UBS to 2.7% from 5.1%. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
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GIC CEO Lim Chow Kiat said: “GIC made the UBS sale despite the loss because conditions have changed fundamentally since GIC invested in UBS in February 2008, as have UBS’ strategy and business.”
“It makes sense now for GIC to reduce its ownership of UBS and to redeploy these resources elsewhere,” Kiat added.
GIC would offload 93 million shares to institutional investors through an accelerated bookbuilding process. UBS said that it will not receive any proceeds from the deal.
GIC infused CHF11bn into UBS during the global financial meltdown after the bank revealed $10bn worth of subprime writedowns. In 2010, GIC converted its investment in UBS notes into shares at a loss.
