A blind trust run by Mayor Bloomberg is willing to pay between $4.5 billion and $5 billion to buy Merrill Lynch’s 20 percent stake in Bloomberg LP, sources tell The Post.
The talks, which were first reported by The Post last week, are still underway and a deal could fall apart as Merrill aims to monetize its minority stake in the privately held company ahead of its second-quarter earnings call set for July 17.
Merrill also is looking to offload a portion of its 49 percent stake in asset-management firm BlackRock, which may be sold to multiple parties.
Candidates have included private-equity firms as well as sovereign wealth funds but details on the deal could not be ascertained. A Merrill spokeswoman declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Bloomberg LP.
Merrill’s moves are part of a broader plan to steady itself and sell as much as $50 billion in residential and commercial mortgage-related securities. Merrill has struggled with some $37 billion of bad mortgage paper over the past year a half.
Merrill shares closed up nearly 8 percent yesterday at $32.77, lifted by comments from Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke that the Fed may leave the discount window open until next year.
However, in what many view as an ominous sign, Merrill has pushed back the time of its earnings release from the early morning of July 17 until after the market’s close – which would give investors more time to digest the results.
Merrill says the change was made so that its release would not conflict with JPMorgan Chase’s call.