NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive John Thain is considering selling other investments to drum up capital aside from its stakes in BlackRock and Bloomberg, CNBC said on its Web site on Sunday, citing people familiar with the firm.
CNBC said ratings agencies are raising issue with the possible sale of Merrill's 49.8-percent stake in BlackRock -- the largest publicly traded U.S. asset management company -- because it is a core asset that produces a steady stream of revenue.
For these reasons, Thain is trying to minimize the amount of the BlackRock stake he has to sell to raise capital, CNBC said, citing sources.
The report also said Merrill's write-down for the second quarter could exceed $6 billion, citing a person familiar with the investment bank.
Merrill did not immediately return calls for comment.
If analysts' current estimates of up to $6 billion of write-downs are accurate, Merrill could need to raise roughly $5 billion of capital, one person briefed on the matter had told Reuters earlier this month.
The company could reach that level by selling the 20 percent stake in Bloomberg, which Thain has said could be worth $5 billion to $6 billion.
Merrill has recorded more than $30 billion if write-downs since the third quarter of last year. Analysts say the third-largest U.S. broker-dealer suffered in the second quarter as bond insurers lost their top ratings and the structured credit market weakened.
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