Fleet Reportedly May Sell a Stake in Surging Robertson Stephens Unit

Fleet Boston Financial Corp. may sell a piece of Robertson Stephens in an initial public offering, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing a person familiar with the situation.

By selling a stake in its San Francisco-based unit, Fleet would be taking advantage of the surge in Internet and biotechnology banking that’s spurred a fourfold rise in Robertson Stephens’ revenue.

Fleet is “riding the tech cycle and riding it as hard as they can,” said Steven Eisman, analyst at CIBC World Markets. Fleet shares rose $1 to close at $42 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Boston-based bank, which bought Robertson Stephens two years ago, is betting investors would be willing to pay up for the investment bank’s stock, helping it lure and retain employees. A Fleet spokeswoman declined to comment.

Fleet trades at about 13 times earnings. The bank is anticipating that Robertson Stephens would receive a higher valuation, analysts said.

Robertson Stephens, while benefiting from the technology boom, has also lost market share to larger rivals, which beefed up their technology banking businesses to take advantage of a rising number of initial public offerings, secondary sales and mergers and acquisitions.