Temasek reports initial equity stake in Merrill
NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch MER.N in a filing Thursday said Singapore's government fund reported ownership of a 5.7 percent stake and will acquire more shares this month as part of a capital infusion announced last month.
The stock ownership report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, was dated Dec. 24, when Merrill announced that Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] the Singapore sovereign wealth fund, and U.S. investor Davis Selected would buy up to $6.2 billion in its shares.
The SEC filing disclosed that 55 million shares, or a 5.7 percent stake, will be held by Clover Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd, a Mauritius-based subsidiary of Temasek.
Temasek Capital (Private) Ltd, another unit of Temasek Holdings, agreed to acquire an additional 36.7 million shares this month, the filing said.
The filing noted that U.S. money manager Davis Selected Advisors LP bought 25 million Merrill shares last month.
In all Merrill Lynch shored up its capital base by as much as $7.5 billion after selling the equity stakes and unloading much of a middle market lending business, ML Capital, for about $1.3 billion.
The world's largest brokerage has been weakened by huge losses on subprime mortgages and related assets. Both Temasek and Davis bought their stakes at $48 a share, or more than 13 percent below the previous closing price.
On Wednesday Merrill stock closed at $52.76 a share. (Reporting by Joe Giannone; Editing by Dave Zimmerman)
