Morgan Stanley Gets Merchant Banking Licence In India

October 2007

Morgan Stanley Gets Merchant Banking Licence In India; Narayan Ramachandran India Head



Morgan Stanley, which split with JM Financial in India, has announced that it has received an investment banking license for India. In February this year, JM and Morgan Stanley ended their 10-year old partnership. As part of the deal, Morgan Stanley sold its 49 per cent stake in their investment banking joint venture to JM Financial for $20 million, and simultaneously bought out JM’s 49 per cent stake in their brokerage joint venture for $445 million.
Morgan Stanley was handicapped in the last eight months since it did not have an investment banking licence. It was able to advise only on cross-border M&A, and underwrite non-domestic capital market transactions, says Dow Jones. The firm has been provided a licence by Securities Exchange Board of India. “The license gives us access to what is an important and vibrant domestic investment banking market,” Dow Jones quotes Hans Schuettler, chief executive of Morgan Stanley in Asia, as saying. The firm will now be able to provide onshore investment banking advisory and underwriting services, as well as underwrite domestic IPOs.
The company has also announced the appointment of Narayan Ramachandran as its chief executive and country head for India. He is currently the head of the firm’s investment management operations in the country. It also appointed Aisha de Sequeira, a senior banker at Morgan Stanley in New York, as head of investment banking in India, to be based in Mumbai.
The company, which has 1,100 employees in India, also has plans to develop its private-equity operations, and expand real estate investments