In Brief: Fleet and BankBoston Pick Transition Team

Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston Corp. have named seasoned merger advisers to head integration efforts in their pending $16 billion combination.

H. Jay Sarles, Fleet's vice chairman and chief administrative officer, and Peter J. Manning, BankBoston's executive vice president and director of mergers and acquisitions, will lead the transition team, the banks said.

Among other tasks, Mr. Sarles and Mr. Manning will identify cost savings, particularly within their retail branch networks, spokesmen for Fleet and BankBoston said Thursday.

Mr. Sarles guided Fleet through its acquisitions of Shawmut National Corp., National Westminster Corp., Columbia Management Corp., and Quick & Reilly Group.

Mr. Manning helped steer BankBoston through its acquisitions of BayBanks Inc. and Robertson Stephens & Co.

The deal is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter, pending regulatory approval.

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