Bank of America sells funds to MFS

Bank of America Corp. said today it has agreed to sell its Colonial closed-end fund management business to MFS Investment Management.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Columbia Management Advisors LLC, a Boston based subsidiary of Bank of America and the bank's primary investment management division, is the seller.

MFS Investment Management, the Boston money management firm that invented the mutual fund, is now part of Sun Life Financial Inc., a financial services firm based in Canada.

The funds that are part of the proposed sale had total managed assets of $1.2 billion and unleveraged assets of $839 million as of March 31, the companies said.

The transaction, which is subject to shareholder approval, is expected to close in the third quarter, the companies said.

Bank of America is a bank holding company with headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)