FACTBOX - Five facts about Merrill Lynch and Bank of America

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times and Wall Street Journal report that Bank of America is in advanced talks to buy Merrill Lynch & Co.

Below are some facts about the two banks:

-The banks that merged to form Bank of America in 1998 -- NationsBank and BankAmerica -- have historically bought distressed assets on the cheap. Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has made his bank by far the most aggressive acquirer of any major U.S. bank this decade, having spent more than $100 billion (55.5 billion pounds) on such targets as FleetBoston Financial, MBNA, LaSalle Bank and Countrywide Financial.

-Bank of America had a market capitalization of $153.9 billion as of Friday's close, making it the largest U.S. bank by market value. Merrill Lynch had a market cap of $26.1 billion, making it the third largest U.S. investment bank.

-Lewis, from Bank of America, famously said last October that he had all the fun he could stand in investment banking. But he also said on May 15 that the U.S. economic downturn will encourage, or force, more investment banks to merge with commercial banks to better protect themselves against tough markets. Lewis also publicly regretted his October comment.

-Bank of America has been trying to bolster its retail brokerage for years and this acquisition will make Merrill, the world's largest broker, even bigger. But combining brokerage and retail banking has proven enormously difficult and banks such as Citigroup have struggled to force the two businesses to complement each other.

-Stanley O'Neal, the former chief executive of Merrill, last year approached then-Wachovia Chief Executive Ken Thompson about a potential merger last year, as huge mortgage losses loomed. He did so without alerting his board beforehand, which was one of the reasons he was fired.

(Reporting by Dan Wilchins; Editing by Andre Grenon)