Merrill may get $5 billion for Bloomberg stake: report

(Reuters) - A blind trust run by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is willing to pay between $4.5 billion and $5 billion to buy Merrill Lynch & Co's MER.N 20 percent stake in financial news and data provider Bloomberg LP, the New York Post reported, citing sources.

Discussions are still under way, and a deal could fall apart as Merrill aims to sell its minority stake in the privately held company ahead of its second-quarter earnings call set for July 17, the paper said.

Merrill is also looking to sell part of its 49 percent stake in money manager BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), which may be sold to multiple parties, the paper said.

Potential buyers include private-equity firms and sovereign wealth funds, but details on the deal could not be determined, the paper said.

Merrill has been considering selling part of its stake in BlackRock and its share in Bloomberg LP to boost its balance sheet.

Analysts expect the No. 3 Wall Street investment bank to record as much as $5.8 billion of writedowns when it reports second-quarter results. It has written off more than $30 billion on complex mortgage-backed securities in prior quarters in the wake of the credit crisis.

The company's BlackRock stake is worth about $10 billion, while its investment in Bloomberg LP is valued at around $6 billion.

Merrill, Bloomberg and BlackRock could not be immediately reached for comment.

Privately held Bloomberg LP is a competitor of Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO) (TRIL.L).

(Reporting by Pratish Narayanan in Bangalore, editing by Will Waterman)