Merrill CEO says no plans to raise capital-Nikkei

NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive John Thain has no plans for a sale of the company, a merger with a bank or to raise fresh capital, he told Japan's Nikkei newspaper.

In an interview, Thain told Nikkei that Merrill Lynch has plenty of capital and does not need to return to the equity market. Merrill has raised about $12.8 billion of capital since late 2007 to help offset more than $23 billion of write-owns in the third and fourth quarter.

Thain declined to comment on first-quarter earnings, which Merrill Lynch is scheduled to announce later this month, but did tell the newspaper: "If you look at the prices of credit-related assets, mortgages, leveraged loans, commercial real estate, all of those have deteriorated over the last three months."

He added: "We own all of those." (Reporting by Dan Wilchins, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)