BNY Mellon exploring sale of corporate trust arm -Bloomberg

April 23 (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp, the world's largest custody bank, is working with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) Inc to find buyers for its corporate trust arm, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The unit, which helps companies process payments on debt they issue, could fetch at least $2.5 billion, according to one of the people quoted in the report.

Shares of the bank closed up about 2 percent at $34.21 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

The bank has begun contacting potential buyers and is scheduled to start soliciting offers in about a month, Bloomberg reported. (http://r.reuters.com/byg78v)

Kevin Heine, a BNY Mellon spokesman, declined to comment on the report.

The corporate trust arm has staff of 3,500 employees who service $12 trillion in total outstanding debt for clients, according to the company's website.

International Strategy & Investment Group analyst Glenn Schorr said it might be hard for BNY Mellon to find a buyer for the unit since rivals like State Street Corp and Northern Trust Corp have already chosen not to be in the business.

"It's hard to think about who the likely interested parties would be," Schorr said in an email.

BNY Mellon reported a first-quarter profit on Tuesday as rising markets drove up its assets under custody and administration. (Reporting by Aman Shah and Anjalirao Koppala in Bangalore and Ross Kerber in Boston)