MERRILL LYNCH is in talks to sell its $6 billion (£3 billion) stake in Bloomberg back to the financial data and news company in a cash-raising move designed to shore up the American bank’s balance sheet.

Talks with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who founded the company in 1981, are still at an early stage, according to Wall Street sources. Merrill has held the 20% stake for about 20 years.

Hundreds of billions of pounds worth of assets are being put on the auction block by the world’s biggest banks as the global credit crisis begins to bite deeper into the real economy.

Citigroup has indicated that up to $500 billion of assets will be sold in the next two to three years as part of its extensive restructuring programme.

The bank is believed to be examining a sale of its 12.3% stake in Indian financial conglomerate HDFC, which would be expected to raise about $2 billion.

It is also said to be considering a possible sale of Quilter, the British wealth-management business it bought from Morgan Stanley just 18 months ago.

UBS, which warned on Friday of further multi-billion dollar losses in its portfolio of American sub-prime investments, is expected to sell off some of its operations.

It has appointed Lazard to conduct a strategic review, and was last week forced to fend off speculation that it is looking to sell its brokerage Paine Webber.

In Britain, Royal Bank of Scotland is auctioning off its £7 billion insurance business, which includes the Churchill and Direct Line brands.

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