PE firms show interest in buying Bofa-Merrill's Asian assets

Many private equity companies are interested in acquiring the management of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Asian real-estate investment business, a media report said.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal quoting people involved in the discussions, "Several firms have expressed an interest in buying the management of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Asian real-estate investment business, including the management of its $4 billion Merrill Lynch Asian Real Estate Opportunity Fund."

The report said that Blackstone Group LP and Apollo Investment Management LP have separately expressed interest.

Citing people familiar to the development, the report further said that "Japanese giant Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, part of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Corp, and Red Fort Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd, a New Delhi private-equity firm focused on real estate, are eyeing a joint bid."

However, representatives of Merrill Lynch, Red Fort, Blackstone and Sumitomo have declined to comment, it added.

The WSJ report said the talks were at an early stage and it was unclear what kind of price parent BofA could receive.

Amid uncertainty about its merger with Bank of America and the global market meltdown, Merrill began looking for new management for the fund and the $1 billion-plus in Asian real-estate investments it had invested in the years before it launched the fund.