Fleet, Comerica to Pull Out of Integrion Network

Fleet Financial Group of Boston and Comerica Inc. of Detroit are relinquishing their ownership stakes in the Integrion Financial Network.

By cashing out stock warrants in Checkfree Holdings Corp., which they are entitled to do as Integrion owners, the banking companies will end their participation in the home banking consortium.

Fleet and Comerica are taking advantage of Checkfree's lifting of restrictions on shareholders that want to sell stock. The policy is related to an upcoming secondary offering of 3.8 million shares by the Norcross, Ga., bill payment processor.

Fleet and Comerica were part of an ownership group comprising 15 banking companies, International Business Machines Corp., and Visa U.S.A.

KeyCorp announced in April that it would drop out of Integrion, and it recently chose to exercise its Checkfree warrants. Royal Bank of Canada also left Integrion in April, when the consortium undertook a major restructuring, but it continues to hold its Checkfree warrants.

In the April restructuring, Fleet and Comerica became part of a group of 12 secondary owners with rights to use Integrion's Interactive Financial Services system and to become primary owners if they made a larger investment.