The deal is expected to close in Q4 2020, and notably follows Charles Schwab's $26b acquisition of TD Ameritrade. The consolidation comes at a time of increasing margin pressure in the brokerage industry, as well as higher emphasis from the big banks on building out their wealth management businesses.
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Morgan Stanley to buy E-Trade for $13 billion in latest deal for online brokerage industry
“I think it’s a fair price to E-trade shareholders and for Morgan Stanley there’s a longer term strategic play here around the digital opportunity and acquiring new corporate service customers and getting a higher percentage of their wallet over time,” JMP Securities managing director of equity research Devin Ryan said. “MS was attracted to ETFC’s digital D2C broker offering including its corporate services platform and low cost deposits,” wrote a Credit Suisse analyst about the combo.
