Morgan Stanley Closes $13 Billion E*TRADE Acquisition Deal

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) last week closed its $13 billion acquisition of the New York-based discount broker-dealer E*TRADE Financial Corporation.

The two companies agreed on the deal in February 2020, and the investment bank later revealed that it was pushing to close it in the fourth quarter of this year. They sealed the deal only 2 days after receiving a green light from the Federal Reserve.

“E*TRADE has built a best-in-class, direct-to-consumer digital channel and a strong brand over the past 38 years,” James P. Gorman, chairman and CEO at Morgan Stanley, said. “The addition of their premier offering will provide enhanced capabilities to all our clients and Financial Advisors.”

A Major Brokerage Deal

As previously agreed between the two, the $13 billion transactions were all made in stocks. Morgan Stanley paid $58.74 a share in stock for E*TRADE, at a premium of 30.7 percent to the last closing price of E*Trade shares. Additionally, shareholders of the discount brokerage will receive 1.0432 Morgan Stanley shares for each share.

Morgan Stanley is one of the top investment banks managing $3.3 trillion in assets.

Despite the Acquisition Acquisition Acquisition means acquiring or taking possession or the securing of property, services, or abilities. To put it simply, it is the act or process of acquiring or gaining. You can acquire a work of art, you can acquire an ability such as speaking another language, you can acquire a business or shares in a company and you can acquire an accountant's service. For example, you can acquire a new car. In a broad sense, Acquisition can mean the act of taking ownership or possession of something. There Acquisition means acquiring or taking possession or the securing of property, services, or abilities. To put it simply, it is the act or process of acquiring or gaining. You can acquire a work of art, you can acquire an ability such as speaking another language, you can acquire a business or shares in a company and you can acquire an accountant's service. For example, you can acquire a new car. In a broad sense, Acquisition can mean the act of taking ownership or possession of something. There Read this Term, E*Trade will continue to offer commission-free brokerage services under the existing brand and Michael Pizzi, the brokerage’s CEO, will continue to lead the platform as a Morgan Stanley employee.

Additionally, E*TRADE’s independent director Shelley Leibowitz joined Morgan Stanley’s board of directors.

Meanwhile, the brokerage is reporting exceptional demand for its services across various metrics. It also benefited from COVID-19 market Volatility Volatility In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, or stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Trad In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, or stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Trad Read this Term as more and more retail traders jumped to book profits.

The New York-based broker added 80,507 new retail clients in August along with 17,514 new corporate accounts, Finance Magnates reported earlier.