Morgan Stanley (MS) dumps MSCI (MXB)

Posted Jul 2nd 2008 1:19PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Morgan Stanley (MS)

Late last year, when the IPO market was much stronger, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) sold a piece of its MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MXB) division to the public. Investors were certainly eager for the deal as the price range increased from $14-$16 to $16-$18. The stock price ultimately reached as high as $38.40.

But today, things got a little rougher. Morgan Stanley said its going to unload half its position in MSCI.

No doubt, with the credit crunch, there has been a flurry of asset sales. And MSCI is a solid asset, which includes a broad portfolio of financial data products like indices (more than 100,000) and major brands such as Barra.

What's more, MSCI reported its Q2 results today. Operating revenues spiked 21.9% to $108.2 million and adjusted EBITDA was up 43.4% to $48 million (yes, this is a high-margin business).

The volatility in global markets has been boosting MSCI. Basically, financial institutions need to find better ways to deal with risk management.

Yet Morgan Stanley's share sell-off will add some pressure. So far in today's trading, MSCI's stock is down 5.5% to $32.00.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Tags: Barra, inthenews, MS, MSCI