Morgan Stanley to get $375 million termination fee if E*Trade walks away from deal

[February 22, 2020]   

(Reuters) - Morgan Stanley will receive a $375 million breakup fee if E*Trade Financial Corp walks away from its $13 billion deal for the discount brokerage, the U.S. bank said on Friday.

On Thursday, Morgan Stanley entered into a deal to buy E*Trade, the biggest acquisition by a major Wall Street bank since the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

E*Trade has been the subject of M&A speculation for some time, especially after Charles Schwab Corp said it would buy TD Ameritrade Holding Corp last year.

If Morgan Stanley terminates the deal due to antitrust issues, E*Trade would receive $525 million, Morgan Stanley said in a regulatory filing https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/895421/
000095010320003111/dp121716_8k.htm.

The bank expects to complete the deal by the fourth quarter, and executives expressed confidence that it would meet regulatory approvals.

(Reporting by Abhishek Manikandan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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