NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER) has reached a deal to sell its stake in Bloomberg L.P. back to the news and information company for about $4.5 billion, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.
Merrill Lynch, however, decided against selling its 49.8 percent stake in BlackRock Inc (BLK), the source said.
Merrill Lynch reports second-quarter results on Thursday and analysts estimate the third-largest U.S. investment bank will record write-downs of up to $6 billion. The stake sale is expected to be announced on Thursday, the source said.
Merrill owns a 20 percent stake in Bloomberg. Merrill Chief Executive John Thain said on a call with investors last month the Bloomberg stake was worth roughly $5 billion to $6 billion. It was not immediately clear what role Bloomberg's founder Michael Bloomberg played in the purchase.
(Reporting by Megan Davies; additional reporting by Dan Wilchins in New York; Editing by Andre Grenon)
