B of A, Sun Life Units Strike a Deal

Columbia Management Advisors LLC of Boston, a Bank of America Corp. subsidiary, announced Wednesday that it has agreed to sell its Colonial closed-end fund management business to MFS Investment Management, a Boston subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Inc. of Toronto.

The sale would include the business of managing seven closed-end fixed-income funds that had $1.2 billion of assets under management through March 31. MFS manages six closed-end funds with $2.8 billion of assets under management.

Jon Goldstein, a spokesman for Bank of America, said the Charlotte company decided to sell its closed-end funds because it is "streamlining its products" and "we don't see the closed-end fund business as a core business for Columbia."

MFS, a registered investment adviser, ended 2006 with $187 billion of assets under management. Columbia Management, Bank of America's primary investment management division, closed 2006 with $542.9 billion of assets under management.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. The price was not disclosed.

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