Former Merrill Lynch executives have put plans to buy their old firm on hold, according to people familiar with the matter.
CNBC.com
Merrill Lynch
In the months following the takeover of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America , at least two different groups of former Merrill Lynch executives launched plans to take back their old company. Now the talks about buying Merrill Lynch out of Bank of America have stalled.
"It was emotional issue for some guys. They wanted to get the old gang back together. Put MER back on the boards," one former Merrill executive said.
The executives had met with private equity buyers and foreign funds to discuss buying parts of Merrill away from Bank of America. Recent regulatory pressure was seen as putting selling pressure on Bank of America. But the executives found a lack of appetite among sources of funding.
"Nobody wants to get behind a big buy out of a financial firm just now," a person familiar with the matter said.
So, net-net, there's no deal in the works now.
