MSN MoneyCentral-Bear Stearns returned to the public debt market on Thursday with a $2.5bn note sale, indicating that the troubled investment bank does not have any current funding crisis that wouldrequire it to find an outside investor to take a large stake.
The debt sale came as shares in Bear Stearns slipped almost 2 per cent on doubt that any outside investor or group of investors would soon buy a substantial stake in the bank.
Sources close to the matter said Bear was not in advanced talks with anyone about taking a large stake, although conversations have occurred in the past.
The share price decline and the bond sale came a day after the The New York Times reported on its website that potential investors in Bear could include Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway.
The paper also cited Bank of America, Wachovia and two Chinese banks – Citic Group and China Construction Bank – as possible investors.
