U.S. private-equity fund TPG Inc. has sold shares in Taishin Financial Holding Co. (2887.TW) worth NT$11.36 billion (US$374.4 million) to various investors, cutting its stake in the Taiwanese bank to 6.55% from 14.82%, Taishin said Wednesday.

Taishin said TPG has sold all of its 621 million convertible preferred shares at NT$18.30 each, or a 5.2% discount to the NT$19.31 that Taishin will pay in March 2016 to redeem the preferred shares from the holders.

TPG retains 492 million common shares of Taishin, the bank said.

Taishin's common shares, listed on Taiwan Stock Exchange, closed 0.5% higher at NT$10.55 Wednesday.

TPG bought a 22.3% stake in Taishin for NT$27 billion back in March 2006 when the consumer banking-focused bank was hit badly by rising defaults, pushing it to seek investors to boost its falling capital adequacy. At that time, Taishin also sold stakes to Nomura Holdings Inc. and a fund managed by Soros Capital Management LLC.

TPG couldn't be reached for comment on the transaction, but the market has expected it would gradually trim its stake in Taishin after holding the investment for years.

Taishin declined to name the buyers. However, Cathay Financial Holding Co. (2882.TW) on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy 3.45% of Taishin from TPG.

-By Aries Poon, Dow Jones Newswires; 886-2-25022557; aries.poon@dowjones.com