Morgan Stanley Announces Sale of EMEA-Based Global Stock Plan Services Unit

Morgan Stanley

today announced that it has reached an agreement to sell the EMEA-based portion of its Global Stock Plan Services business (“GSPS EMEA”) to Computershare Limited

. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2013. The GSPS EMEA business provides employee stock plan record keeping and automated trade execution services for some of the largest companies in the UK and Europe, with trading on 13 exchanges globally. As part of the transaction, it is intended that Morgan Stanley will continue to provide trade execution services to existing GSPS EMEA clients and their employees. “This transaction is the result of our strategic decision to focus our stock plan service offering on the global needs of U.S.-based corporations,” said Gregory J. Fleming, President of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. “We are planning to make significant investments in the U.S. business to support our corporate clients and their employees around the world, and the GSPS EMEA business and clients will benefit from the scale and expertise of one of the leading players in the stock plan services market. We look forward to continuing to provide our trading expertise to both businesses.”