Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are likely to bid for San Francisco-based First Republic Bank, previously owned by Merrill Lynch, Investment News reports. The bank provides personalized wealth management services and was bought by Merrill in 2007 for $1.8 billion.

Bank of America (BofA) which inherited First Republic from Merrill, is keen to sell it off as it is seeking to reduce is non-core assets. The bank already owns a high-end wealth manager, U.S. Trust. First Republic Chairman and CEO James Herbert and its president and COO Katherine August-deWilde could lead a private buy-out group to strike a deal with BofA.

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