BankAmerica Unit Raises $217 Million in IPO

Shares of BankAmerica Corp.’s BA Merchant Services Inc. unit rose 12% amid optimism that the payment-processing company can lead the industry’s continued consolidation. BankAmerica said it expects to post a $145-million fourth-quarter gain from selling about a third of the credit-card-processing business to the public. Shares of San Francisco-based BankAmerica rose $2.25 to close at $100.385 on the New York Stock Exchange. It sold 14 million Class A shares of BA Merchant, or about 32% of the company, at $15.50 each, the upper end of the $14 to $16 pricing range, to raise $217 million. BA Merchant is also based in San Francisco. The stock rose $1.875 to close at $17.375 on the NYSE. The shares traded as high as $17.75. BA Merchant, the fourth-largest merchant card processor, charges fees to process credit card payments for stores and other businesses. In 1995, it processed 319 million transactions.