NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - FleetBoston Financial announced Friday that it will shut down its investment banking unit, Robertson Stephens, after talks to sell the unit to employees had broken down.

"In recent weeks, Fleet and the Robertson Stephens management group were unable to structure an agreement for an employee buyout of the firm," Fleet Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Eugene McQuade said in a statement. "As a result, we have decided a wind-down is in the best interests of our shareholders."

In April, Fleet said it was looking to sell the unit but few willing buyers appeared. BankBoston, before it merged with Fleet in 1999, paid about $575 million for the unit in 1998.

Last month, Fleet had signed a deal "in principle" to sell Robertson Stephens to its employees and management. Boston-based Fleet (FBF: Research, Estimates) is the seventh largest financial holding company in the United States with $192 billion in assets.

Once-powerful Robertson Stephens boomed during the initial public offering rush of the late 1990s, specializing in technology and healthcare offerings. The San Francisco-based bank underwrote some of the more high profile offerings such as Palm and E*Trade Group.

But IPOs dried up in 2001 and losses at Robbie Stephens swelled to $19 million in first quarter 2002 compared to $5 million in losses for the same time last year.

Neither Fleet nor Robertson Stephens were immediately available for comment.