Wall Street is tough, and not every company can fathom to survive it. But those that do, live out their days over gold beds. One such firm, Morgan Stanley, announced on Thursday that it is about to buy out E Trade, an online discount brokerage, for a hefty $13 billion in what can be one of the biggest deals in the history of the U.S. banking.
This move can be seen as Morgan Stanley’s plan to move from quality to quantity, and enter in the market of the masses. The firm had strictly been limited to the top of the top in the market, catering to big accounts and wealthy conglomerates specifically. With this move, the firm will instantly gain 5.2 million new clients and assets worth $360 billion, a sweet deal if you ask me.
Under the terms of the agreement, E*TRADE stockholders will receive 1.0432 Morgan Stanley shares for each E*TRADE share, which represents per share consideration of $58.74 based on the closing price of Morgan Stanley common stock on February 19, 2020. The combined entity will have a staggering $3.1 trillion in client assets, more than the nominal GDP of world’s 5th largest economy, India.
Wall Street is one of the most volatile markets, and thus firms like Morgan Stanley have been building up other avenues to fall back on, with the firm focusing specifically on wealth management as its biggest revenue generator. With this deal in place(expected by 4th quarter), the firm will have 60% of its revenue coming from wealth management and a direct to consumer brokerage platform in place to cater to businesses and individuals that the ‘highly exclusive’ firm does not cater to as of yet.
“This continues the decade-long transition of our firm to a more balance-sheet-light business mix, emphasizing more durable sources of revenue,” James P. Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s chief executive said in a statement.
However, the biggest takeover from this deal for Morgan Stanley would be the $56 billion in deposits that it will gain from E*Trade as it would help pull the firm out of a dry spell where it has been struggling to provide loans to its wealthy clientele due to a shortage of liquid assets. The deal will also bring in another $400 million in other savings according to the firm, thus putting the company’s balance sheet in a great spot.
The deal will equate to $58.74 per share, and will probably have closed by the end of the year, upon which the E-Trade’s chief executive, Michael Pizzi will continue running that side of business.
