Merrill Lynch & Co will sell a 3.4-billion-dollar stake to Singapore's government-owned Temasek Holdings, the US financial services firm announced late Monday, dpa reported.
Temasek already bought a Merrill stake last year and will become the firm's largest shareholder.
The sale is part of Merrill Lynch's plans to sell 8.5 billion dollars in stock in an attempt to raise capital as it tries to survive the ongoing US credit crunch, arising from rampant mortgage defaults.
The firm is in the process of writing down billions of dollars in devalued assets linked to the housing crisis.