Exhibit (a)(5)(i)

MERRILL LYNCH COMMENCES EXCHANGE OFFER FOR ITS FLOATING RATE CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES

New York, November 9, 2004 – Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER) announced today that it has commenced an offer pursuant to which holders of its outstanding Liquid Yield Option^™ Notes due 2032 (Zero Coupon—Floating Rate—Senior— CUSIP No. 590188 A7 3) (“Old LYONs”) can exchange all or a portion of their Old LYONs for an equal amount of a new issuance of Exchange Liquid Yield Option Notes due 2032 (Zero Coupon—Floating Rate—Senior—CUSIP No. 590188 W4 6) (“New LYONs”).

Merrill Lynch has also announced today that it will be amending the terms of its Liquid Yield Option^™ Notes due 2031 (Zero Coupon—Senior) (“Fixed Rate LYONs”) to add December 10, 2004 as an additional date on which holders may require Merrill Lynch to repurchase all or a portion of their Fixed Rate LYONs for $554.40 in cash.

The New LYONs will include amended terms primarily with respect to redemption rights, conversion features and the payment of contingent interest. Merrill Lynch urges investors and security holders to read its exchange offer materials, including the Exchange Circular and related information for a description of the terms of the New LYONs and other important facts about the exchange offer.

The exchange offer and withdrawal rights will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on December 9, 2004 unless extended by Merrill Lynch. Holders must tender their Old LYONs prior to the expiration date if they wish to participate in the exchange offer.

Additional information concerning the terms of the exchange offer and copies of the Exchange Circular and related documents may be obtained from the information agent.

The information agent is:

Global Bondholder Services Corporation

65 Broadway – Suite 704

New York, New York 10006

Attn: Corporate Actions

Banks and Brokers call: (212) 430-3774

(866) 470-3800 (toll-free)

The financial advisor will be able to answer questions with respect to the exchange offer solely by reference to the Exchange Circular.

The financial advisor is:

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated

4 World Financial Center

New York, New York 10080

Attn: Liability Management Group

(888) 654-8637 (toll-free)

(212) 449-4914

Merrill Lynch’s board of directors is not making any recommendation to holders of the Old LYONs as to whether or not they should tender any Old LYONs pursuant to the exchange offer. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities.

Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies, with offices in 35 countries and total client assets of approximately $1.5 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world’s largest managers of financial assets. Firmwide assets under management total $478 billion. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.

Merrill Lynch may make or publish forward-looking statements about management expectations, strategic objectives, business prospects, investment banking backlogs, anticipated expense levels and financial results, anticipated results of litigation and regulatory proceedings, and other similar matters. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Merrill Lynch’s control, affect the operations, performance, business strategy and results of Merrill Lynch and could cause actual results and experiences to differ materially from the expectations and objectives expressed in these statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, financial market volatility, actions and initiatives by current and potential competitors, the effect of current and future legislation or regulation, and certain other additional factors described in Merrill Lynch’s 2003 Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, which are available on the Merrill Lynch Investor Relations website at www.ir.ml.com and at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Merrill Lynch does not undertake to update such statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date these statements were made. Readers should, however, consult any further disclosures Merrill Lynch may make in its reports filed with the SEC.