Merrill Lynch is holding talks with buy-out firm TPG to discuss closer ties – including the possibility of TPG investing in Merrill. The two sides met most recently in New York on Monday. The participants included John Thain, Merrill’s chief executive; Greg Fleming, its president; David Bonderman, TPG co-founder; and other key TPG executives. The talks date from last autumn, when Bonderman contacted Thain during Merrill’s search for rescue finance. TPG and its hedge fund affiliate, TPG-Axon, offered to put as much as $3bn into Merrill, but Merrill eventually raised capital from a group led by Singapore’s Temasek and the Kuwait Investment Authority.
