BANKING

North Carolina Bank to Acquire Mutual Fund Firm: First Union Corp., moving to make itself a bigger force in mutual funds, said it will purchase Boston-based Keystone Investments Inc., which manages $11.6 billion in assets. Once the deal, which First Union valued at about $291 million, is completed, the banking company will oversee 69 individual mutual funds and nearly $27 billion in assets, including Keystone’s holdings and First Union’s Evergreen fund family. The deal would make First Union the nation’s second-largest bank-run mutual fund group after Dreyfus Corp., which is owned by Mellon Bank Corp. Charlotte, N.C.-based First Union is currently No. 5. The combination would create a national distribution network of 4,200 broker-dealers, nearly 30,000 brokers, 32 external wholesalers and 46 internal salespeople--along with a global reach into five countries. Keystone, which is privately held, is one of the nation’s oldest mutual fund operators.