Kuwait Wealth Fund Offloads $3.1 Billion Bank of America Stake

Bloomberg) -- The Kuwait Investment Authority sold a $3.1 billion stake in Bank of America Corp. in an overnight block trade, according to people familiar with the matter.

The shares were priced at $47.95 each, the bottom of a marketed range, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

The sale represents a 1.5% discount to Monday’s closing price of $48.66 each. Bank of America shares are down 3.4% to $47.01 each as of 12:10 p.m. in New York on Tuesday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. handled the block sale, the people said. Representatives for Bank of America and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. A spokesperson for KIA said the Authority doesn’t comment on its investment activities.

The deal marks the second divestment of a stake in a financial firm by the sovereign wealth fund in a week. KIA sold a $3.4 billion stake in Hong Kong-based insurer AIA Group Ltd., Bloomberg News reported Friday.

KIA became one of Merrill Lynch’s largest backers in 2008 after converting $2 billion of preferred stock into common shares in the brokerage firm. Merrill was acquired by Bank of America in a deal that closed in 2009.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. ceased to be the lender’s top shareholder earlier this year, reducing its holdings to 8.4% after selling 48.66 million shares in the first quarter, according to a regulatory filing in May. Vanguard Group Inc. is now Bank of America’s largest shareholder.