Monday 11 February 2019 1:18 pm | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 1:22 am

Morgan Stanley buys stock plan platform Solium Capital in $900m deal

Morgan Stanley has announced plans to buy Canadian stock plan platform Solium Capital for $900m (£696.9m) as the firm targets millennial customers.

The companies entered into a partnership with one another in 2016 for Solium to provide equity compensation plans for Morgan Stanley’s corporate clients, and the investment bank has been planning to ramp up its expansion into the workplace wealth marketplace.

Solium, which manages the stock that employees receive in their pay packets, has 3000 stock plan clients, including Strauss, Shopify, Stripe and Instacart and provides share plan administration to around one million participants.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley has 320 clients with 1.5m participants.

Morgan Stanley chief executive and chairman James Gorman said: “The acquisition provides Morgan Stanley with broader access to corporate clients and a direct channel to their employees, as well as a greater opportunity to establish and develop relationships with a younger demographic and service this population early in their wealth accumulation years.”

Davis Polk & Wardwell and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt are serving as legal advisors to Morgan Stanley in connection with the transaction which is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.