Merrill in $8.5bn share sale after fresh write-down

Wall Street was stunned by the surprise statement last night, with Merrill’s share price plunging 11.6%. The majority of the write-down will come from the $11.1bn sale of collateralised debt obligations (CDO) securities, also announced yesterday. Merrill’s has been hit hard by the sub-prime related credit crisis, with over $18bn of losses and about $40bn in write-downs over the past year. Earlier this month, Merrill sold its 20% stake in news group Bloomberg and a controlling interest in Financial Data Services for a combined $8bn. Singapore’s Temasek Holdings will purchase $3.4bn of co...