Merrill Lynch to Sell Part of Mutual Fund Unit

Merrill Lynch & Co. said it is selling part of its Los Angeles mutual fund unit, formerly known as Hotchkis & Wiley, to company executives and breaking up the rest of it.

The Los Angeles unit had been on the market at least since last month, when portfolio manager Sarah Ketterer and two others from the office’s international investing team left to launch their firm, Causeway Capital Management. The Ketterer team managed about $3 billion at Merrill.

The brokerage said it will sell the office’s U.S. fund group to executives for an undisclosed amount, consolidate other operations there and fire about 40 people.

The U.S. fund group, which manages more than $6 billion, will be sold to a group of Merrill executives led by George Davis.

A sales force of about 10 will remain in the office.

Merrill’s decision to end fund management in Los Angeles comes about five years after it bought Hotchkis & Wiley for an estimated $200 million to $300 million.

Other global fund operations Merrill has acquired since then have eclipsed the L.A. group in importance, analysts said.