September 22, 2008

Morgan Stanley sells piece to Mitsubishi

Morgan Stanley has agreed to sell up to a fifth of the company to the parent company of Japanese banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ.

The Tokyo-based financial institution said it had entered into an agreement to acquire anywhere between 10 percent and 20 percent of Morgan Stanley's common stock.

The announcement comes on the heels of late Sunday's historic decision by federal regulators to convert both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs from free-standing investment banks into bank holding companies.

Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO John Mack said that the partnership with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group would be "valuable" as Morgan Stanley transforms itself into a more diversified financial institution.