Bear Stearns private equity unit to split off

Bear Stearns Merchant Banking said Thursday it will become an unaffiliated company independent from Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase, which bought Bear in March, rescuing it from the brink of bankruptcy.

The private equity unit did not disclose any terms of the split. It said Bear Stearns, which is operated as a unit of JPMorgan, will retain a passive interest in some BSMB affiliates and still be on the hook for any co-investments in funds managed by BSMB.