By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which put its equity prime brokerage up for sale in January, is pressing ahead with efforts to sell the hedge fund services unit, people familiar with the process said, though there has been a dearth of industry interest.

The U.S. commercial banking giant intends to sell its prime brokerage as it shrinks an investment banking and trading division that has dragged on overall results. Analysts had suggested the unit could fetch from $50 million to $150 million.

An initial field of 20 suitors had narrowed to four more serious parties, people familiar with the matter said: JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Jefferies Group Inc (JEF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) among U.S. rivals, Britain's Barclays Plc (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and France's BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research).

All but BNP have pulled out of the race, these people said. JPMorgan agreed to acquire Bear Stearns, which has one of the industry's largest prime broker businesses. Jefferies, a mid-cap investment bank, and Barclays concluded the business was not a good fit, sources said.

Bank of America, BNP and the other banks declined to comment.

The Financial Times this week reported that BofA had pulled the plug on the sale, but people familiar said the bank is still in the process of selling the unit.

Still, a lack of competition for the unit means Charlotte, North Carolina-based BofA will get a much lower price than has been expected.

"There were no serious inquiries," said Josh Galper, managing principal of Vodia Group, a consulting firm that advises hedge funds. "They were considering taking it off the market. That's pretty telling."