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Merrill Lynch bids for name change
Merrill Lynch Investment Managers' six-strong range of investment trusts will be rebranded under the BlackRock banner in line with the firm's Sicav and unit trust products.
A fortnight ago the £152.1m MLIM New Energy Technology trust and the £202.3m MLIM Greater Europe trust contacted shareholders to announce general meetings to vote on the name change.
MLIM's £230.9m Latin American trust, £1.4bn World Mining trust, £119.5m Commodities Income trust and £155.2m British Smaller Companies trust will all vote on taking the BlackRock tag in due course.
The rebranding follows the merger between MLIM and BlackRock in September 2006, after which it was decided BlackRock would become the main banner for the consolidated group's funds.
A deadline of 28 April has been set for renaming the firm's Sicav and unit trust funds, although a spokesperson emphasised that changes to the investment trusts would have to be done on a fund-by-fund basis depending on shareholder ratification in each case.