BlackRock shares jump amid talk of Merrill deal

Merrill launches a pre-emptive strike:

Shares of BlackRock Inc. shot higher on Monday in thin, pre-market trading amid speculation the money management firm was involved in a deal with Merrill Lynch & Co.
BlackRock shares rose almost 14 percent to $149.80 on the Inet electronic brokerage.
Both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the discussions, reported in Monday editions that Merrill Lynch would acquire a large stake in BlackRock, known for managing fixed income. The Journal valued the transaction at about $8 billion.
Megan Frank, a spokeswoman for Merrill Lynch, said the company can’t confirm or deny market rumors. A call to BlackRock seeking comment was not immediately returned.
A deal would create a company with $1 trillion in assets under management, the most of any publicly traded company.
A BlackRock deal would be more strategically compelling than the alleged Merrill deal with Morgan Stanley, Buckingham Research said in a note to investors.

Posted by on February 13th, 2006 at 11:28 am


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