Report: Merrill on track for $5B boost

Merrill Lynch is in advanced talks to receive a $5 billion cash infusion from Temasek Holdings of Singapore.

Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. is in advanced talks to receive a $5 billion cash infusion from Temasek Holdings Ltd., Singapore’s state investment company, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The news comes amid predictions that Merrill may have to announce $8 billion in write-downs in the fourth quarter.
That’s on top of the $7.9 billion that the company wrote down in October (InvestmentNews, Oct. 24) , which ultimately led to the departure of chairman and chief executive E. Stanley O’Neal.
Temasek’s board has given preliminary approval to the investment in Merrill, even though pricing, timing and regulatory issues still need to be negotiated, a source told the Journal.
If the deal were to be consummated, Merrill would become the latest financial services company to be bailed out by funds originating in Asia or the Middle East.
This week, Morgan Stanley said it would sell a stake of as much as 9.9% or $5 billion to state-run China Investment Corp.
Earlier this month, UBS said it would sell a stake totaling $11.5 billion on an unnamed Middle Eastern investor and The Government of Singapore Investment Corp., another state fund from Singapore.
Last month, Citigroup Inc. also received a $7.5 billion investment from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.