Stanchart in talks to buy Morgan Stanley India wealth unit

Standard Chartered will follow up the payment with an undisclosed sum later, the source said. Photo: AFP

Livemint : Bloomberg: Fri, May 10 2013. 10 16 AM IST

Stanchart will initially pay $8 mn for the unit, which has about $800 mn of assets under management: sources

Mumbai: Standard Chartered Plc, the UK bank that earns most of its profit in Asia, is in final talks to buy Morgan Stanley’s Indian wealth management unit, two people familiar with the discussions said.

Standard Chartered will initially pay $8 million for the unit, which has about $800 million of assets under management, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The bank will follow up the payment with an undisclosed sum later, the person said.

Morgan Stanley is selling the business as part of a review of its operations. The unit accounts for less than 5% of Morgan Stanley’s India revenue, one of the people said. The New York-based bank has more than 400 employees in India.

Nick Footitt, the Hong Kong based spokesman for Morgan Stanley, and Kunal Pradhan a spokesman for Standard Chartered in Mumbai declined to comment.