Columbia Management Advisors Agrees to Sell Its Colonial Closed-End Fund Management Business

BOSTON, April 11  /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Management Advisors, LLC (CMA), a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, today announced that it has agreed to sell its Colonial closed-end fund management business to MFS Investment Management (MFS), a registered investment adviser and a subsidiary of Sun Life Financial.  The sale includes the business of managing seven closed-end fixed income funds (the Funds).

Shares of five of the Funds are listed on the NYSE and shares of the other two Funds are listed on the AMEX.  The Funds had total managed assets of $1.2 billion and unleveraged assets of $839 million (as of March 31, 2007).  The transaction, expected to close in the third quarter of 2007, subject to shareholder approval, will transfer investment management of the Funds to MFS. MFS currently manages six closed-end funds totaling $2.8 billion in assets.

The current Trustees of the Funds approved the transaction on April 10, 2007.  The Trustees of the MFS Funds agreed to stand for election to the boards of the Funds. The closing of the transaction is subject to various conditions, including approval by shareholders of each Fund, approval of a new investment advisory agreement with MFS, and election of new trustees.  The Board of Trustees of each Fund has called a meeting of shareholders for June 22, 2007, at which shareholders will be asked to approve the new investment advisory agreements, elect new trustees and to take other action, which will be described in more detail in the Proxy Statement for the meeting of shareholders.

The seven closed-end funds include: Colonial California Insured Municipal Fund [CCA], Colonial High Income Municipal Trust [CXE], Colonial InterMarket Income Trust I [CMK], Colonial Intermediate High Income Fund [CIF], Colonial Investment Grade Municipal Trust [CXH], Colonial Insured Municipal Fund [CFX] and Colonial Municipal Income Trust [CMU].

MFS manages $187 billion in assets on behalf of more than 5 million individual and institutional investors worldwide as of December 31, 2006. The company traces its origins to 1924 and the creation of America's first mutual fund, Massachusetts Investors Trust.

Columbia Management, based in Boston, MA, is the primary investment management division of Bank of America. Columbia Management, which offers products across an array of asset classes and investment styles to both individual and institutional investors, is focused on delivering strong investment performance and superior client service.  As of December 31, 2006, Columbia Management and affiliates had $542.9 billion in assets under management. (1)

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 55 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, through more than 17,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 21 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 80 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE:BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. http://www.bankofamerica.com/

(1) Columbia Management and its affiliates comprise the wealth and investment management division of Bank of America Corporation. As of December 31, 2006, Columbia Management and its affiliates managed assets of $542.9 billion. Columbia Management and its affiliates managed assets consists of assets under the discretionary management of the three registered investment advisors, Columbia Management Advisors, LLC ($345.0 billion), Columbia Wanger Asset Management, L.P. ($32.9 billion) and Marsico Capital Management, LLC ($83.6 billion); the Bank of America Private Bank; Banc of America Investment Services, Inc;, Banc of America Investment Advisors, Inc;, Bank of America Capital Advisors, LLC, and Premier Banking and Investments. 

DATASOURCE: Columbia Management Advisors, LLC



CONTACT:  Jon Goldstein of Columbia Management Advisors, LLC,

[phone], or , or John Reilly of MFS

Investment Management, [phone], or 



Web site:  http://www.bankofamerica.com/ 

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