Allianz SE (AZ) and American Express Co. (AXP) said Tuesday they sold half the shares they own in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (1398.HK) in a private placement, raising a total of US$1.91 billion.

In a joint statement with China's largest bank by assets, Allianz said it sold 3.22 billion shares and American Express said it sold 638 million shares. The two companies sold down their stakes as soon as the lockup on the ICBC shares expired Tuesday.

Allianz and American Express didn't specify the terms of the sale, saying only that they sold to "a select group of investors."

The shares were sold at HK$3.86 each, or a discount of 4% to ICBC's Monday closing price of HK$4.02, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday. ICBC shares were up 2.7% at HK$4.13 at 0349 GMT.

"The overhang brought on by possible stake selldowns should be over for now," said Kenny Tang, an executive director with Redford Securities. "After all, the stakes are pretty small."

Allianz still has a 0.97% stake in ICBC, and American Express holds 0.2% after the sale. The lockup period for those shares will end Oct. 20.

The sale has been well anticipated by the market. Another person familiar with the situation said Friday Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) was appointed sole bookrunner for the deal, and institutional investors said the U.S. investment bank was sounding out buyers late last week, offering a tight single-digit discount to the bank's share price.

Bookbuilding for the ICBC shares lasted overnight, with books closing around 2000 GMT Monday, the first person said.

Goldman Sachs is also a strategic investor in ICBC. It has a 4.9% interest, and 20% of that stake isn't subject to a lockup anymore. But the first person said last week the investment bank has no plans to sell in the short term.

At ICBC's annual results press conference in Hong Kong late March, Goldman Sachs pledged a new share lockup commitment. It said it won't sell 80% of its ICBC shares before April 28, 2010. But that leaves open the sale of the remaining fifth of that stake, or 3.3 billion shares, which could be worth about US$1.8 billion at current prices.

-By Amy Or, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2832-2335; amy.or@dowjones.com