Morgan Stanley signs a letter to sell 20% stake
On Monday, Morgan Stanley announced that a letter has been signed with objective of selling of 20 percent of the firm to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
The firm did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. While the letter signed by the banks is said to be nonbinding, Morgan Stanley hopes to raise a price based on its book value following the completion of diligence review by the largest bank of Japan, if the deal is done.
The whole idea of the deal comes after the approval from fed to Morgan Stanley for becoming a bank holding firm. This major investment bank of Wall Street was allowed by Federal Reserve to become commercial bank in order to accept deposits. Now, this key firm of Wall Street will not be regulated by Securities and Exchange Commission anymore; instead will come under the Federal Reserve.
Morgan Stanley’s chairman and chief executive, John Mack, in a statement said that the deal would give opportunity to grow to both the banks as well as chance to make it big globally. He also added that the partnership would help the changeover of Morgan Stanley to a commercial bank as well as give a financial support to the firm in shoring its capital base in the time of credit crisis.
Past week has been busy with reports of sale of Merrill Lynch & Co to Bank of America, filing of bankruptcy by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and selling of Morgan Stanley.