Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte. has sold its entire stake in Barclays PLC (BCS), booking a loss of around $850 million from the investment, people familiar with the situation said Wednesday.

Temasek sold the stake of about 2% mostly in December and January, the people told Dow Jones Newswires.

The state-owned investment company had invested over GBP1 billion ($1.66 billion) in Barclays, starting in July 2007.

Temasek's loss is in contrast to gains another Barclays investor will make from selling part of his stake in the U.K. bank.

On Monday, Sheik Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family, announced plans to sell 1.3 billion Barclays shares, resulting in a gain of GBP1.5 billion from the original investment of about GBP2 billion.

According to a person familiar with the situation, Temasek's exit from Barclays "is in line with its plan to concentrate more on Asia."

Earlier this year, the Singapore firm sold its 3.8% stake in Bank of America Corp. (BAC). That sale resulted in a loss of about $4.6 billion, according to people familiar with the situation.

Temasek said it sold the Bank of America shares to balance "risks against opportunities."

Both Temasek and Barclays declined to comment on the stake sale in the U.K. bank.

-By Costas Paris, Patricia Kowsmann and Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; 65 6415 4157; patricia.kowsmann@dowjones.com