Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been two of the investment banks named as among those sounding out brokers yesterday about the likely level of interest in Goodman Group shares in the event of a block trade of the $800 million stake in the property company owned by the China Investment Corporation.
A sale of the 9.8 per cent stake has been the subject of chatter this week among real estate analysts and fund managers, but before any deal is done, banks are sounding out the likely level of institutional demand so that they are not left with the stock.
Last night, Goodman shares closed 16 cents lower to $4.75.
With 168 million shares to offload, it is likely that the banks would have wanted indications from about four or five brokers that they would at least be able to sell down $100 million, with each taking about $20 million, before they pitched to CIC.
Goldman Sachs fully underwrote the last selldown by CIC in December 2012.
The Chinese offloaded a 6.9 per cent stake for about $520 million after the sovereign wealth fund first bought into the listed Australian industrial property giant in 2009.
At the time, CIC committed to holding the remaining interest for a further 12 months for tax implications.
CIC bought its cornerstone stake in Goodman Group for 40 cents a share in August 2009 via an institutional placement.
It is also an investor in Goodman's unlisted Goodman Australia Industrial Fund.
A global industrial property giant, Goodman controls about $20 billion worth of industrial property globally.