P.M. BRIEFING : Mellon Bank Agrees to Sell Unit

Mellon Bank Corp. announced today it has agreed in principle to sell Mellon InvestData Corp. subsidiary to International Thomson Publishing Corp., a unit of the Thomson Corp.

The transaction is subject to negotiation of a definitive purchase agreement and customary closing conditions. Terms were not disclosed.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter and would result in a $27-million one-time after-tax gain for Mellon, company officials said.

Mellon InvestData is based in New York City. It provides the financial community with information on all types of traded securities, providing end-of-day pricing on more than 750,000 domestic and foreign securities.

The Thomson Corp. includes a newspaper, specialized information and publishing and leisure travel group with annual sales of approximately $4.8 billion.