In Brief: Fleet Says It's Weighing Brokerage Spinoff

Fleet Financial Group said it is considering a spinoff of its on-line brokerage unit Suretrade in a deal that could raise up to $600 million.

A Fleet spokesman said the bank may make a total or partial initial public offering or pursue joint ventures.

Established in November 1997, the deep discount broker has roughly 250,000 accounts and averages 11,500 trades a day.

"I think they're putting up a trial balloon," said Bill Burnham, an equity analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston in San Francisco.

"Valuations of Internet-related stocks are at historic highs," said Christopher Musto, an analyst at Gomez Advisors in Concord, Mass. Fleet is not the first banking company to consider cashing in on high stock prices in on-line brokerage. Toronto-Dominion Bank recently said it may explore a partial stock offering for its growing discount operation.

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