As Merrill looks to shore up its own finances and raise capital, its passive 20% stake in the ubiquitous Bloomberg is on the block, with the information services firm owning the right of first refusal on any deal. So if the terminal monster company wants to buy itself back, it ought to have an easy source of financing, its first customer, Merrill itself!

Merrill Lynch is believed to be in talks with Bloomberg over the sale of the bank's 20 per cent stake in the news service-to-trading data group.

The bank has held the stake for two decades, and it is believed to be worth as much as $6 billion. The bank is thought to have begun discussions over the sale of its holding with Bloomberg, which has the right of first refusal in the event of any disposal.

Bloomberg was founded by and remains in the control of Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York.

It is not known how advanced are the talks between the two companies, but it is believed that Merrill may help the media group to finance the re-purchase of its stake.

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