Fleet to Sell $5 Billion of Loans To Get BankBoston Deal Through

Fleet Financial Group Inc. will sell about $5 billion of loans to win approval of its deal with BankBoston Corp., the company said in a regulatory filing Friday.

The Boston-based company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission document that the loan sales would be in addition to the $13 billion of deposits it has already said it expects to sell.

On March 14, Fleet and BankBoston announced a $16 billion deal that would create a $180 billion-asset banking company with a virtual lock on the New England market. The divestiture of loans, deposits, and branches is expected to be needed to win Department of Justice approval of the deal.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said the agency has not yet determined what it will require the two banks to divest.

The filing also shed more light on the cost of the merger. Fleet previously said it expects to take a one-time charge of $650 million to complete the deal. Friday's documents disclosed that the combined company expects to take an additional $60 million in future charges, to be recognized in quarters after the deal is closed.

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