CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bank of America Corp. has agreed to sell First Republic Bank, a private bank it inherited from Merrill Lynch & Co., to a group of investors for more than $1 billion, according to a report Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.

The buying group is led by private-equity firms General Atlantic LLC and Colony Capital, the report said. As part of the deal the bank's top management, including founder and chairman James Herbert II, are expected to stay on board.

The newspaper cited an unidentified person familiar with the matter for the report and said it would help Bank of America preserve capital and shed noncore assets.

A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Its shares fell 12 cents to $16.89 in afternoon trading.

First Republic was purchased by Merrill Lynch for $1.8 billion in September 2007. The New York-based brokerage firm ran First Republic as a separate unit, maintaining its name and management. Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch on Jan. 1.

Questions about First Republic's future have swirled ever since Bank of America agreed in September 2008 to buy Merrill Lynch. Bank of America already had a wealth-management business, U.S. Trust, which was acquired from Charles Schwab.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America is working to bolster its capital ratios and shed any units that are no longer strategic fits. Last month, it announced plans sell the long-term asset management business of Columbia Management to Ameriprise Financial Inc. for up to $1.2 billion.

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