Goldman doubling its cash call from holders to £2.7bn

Goldman Sachs tonight doubled the amount of funds it raised from major shareholders to $5 billion (£2.7 billion).

The Evening Standard has learned that giant institutional funds Barclays Global Investors, Fidelity Management and Marsico Capital Management were the main takers of shares being issued by the company to shore up its finances.

After Goldman Sachs' own employee shareholders, Barclays Global and Marsico are its two biggest current shareholders. Fidelity is its fifth biggest.

Goldman sold 40.65 million shares at $123 each, allocating them to bidders at a meeting this afternoon.

The sale came hours after America's richest man, Warren Buffett, invested $5 billion to buy preferred shares in Wall Street's most famous firm.

Originally, Goldman had planned to raise only $2.5 billion on top of the Buffett funds, but decided to double that element of the cash call.

Even with the dilution inherent with today's news, Goldman Sachs employees will still be the biggest shareholders, with about 20% of the company.

Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui bank dropped out of negotiations.

Goldman's reliance on British and American institutional investors means it has continued to avoid the ignominy of having to rely on sovereign wealth funds from Asia and the Middle East for its funding.

All-American investment giant Marsico, founded by Tom Marsico in 1997, manages $100 billion of funds. Fidelity, also a pillar of the US investment world, has $1.5 trillion under management.

Barclays Global is Britain's biggest fund manager with huge assets in the US. Overall, Barclays Global manages $1.8 trillion.

However, the decision to seek a cash infusion marks a reversal for the bank which less than a year ago was posting record profits and paying record bonuses.

Meanwhile, Buffett tonight described how his massive investment would only go right if the Fed was successful in pushing its $700 billion bailout plan for duff loans made by Wall Street banks.

"I am to some effect betting on the fact that the government will do the rational thing and act properly," he said.