News agency Bloomberg might buy 20% of its own shares back from Merrill Lynch.
The $5 billion sale would raise the proportion of stock held within the Michael Bloomberg-owned company to around 92%.
It is understood that the investment bank will be willing to sell due to the heavy financial hit it has taken from the credit crunch – which has seen Merrill write off around $30 billion of assets.
Additionally, the bank is currently thought to be looking to sell some of its 49.8% stake in private equity group BlackRock, in order to further shore up its balance sheet.
Merrill releases its second quarter results next week, where it is expected to announce a further $6 billion of credit crunch-related asset writedowns.
Shares in the bank – which is refusing to comment on the Bloomberg sale reports – are trading at around $31.79, 3% down on before.