VAN KAMPEN NEARING SALE TO MORGAN STANLEY
- ️Sat Jun 22 1996
Morgan Stanley & Co. is close to announcing that it has reached an agreement to buy Van Kampen American Capital Inc. of Oakbrook Terrace from its controlling shareholder, Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc.
An announcement of the sale could come as early as Monday, people familiar with the talks said, although there was no confirmation that a deal had been finalized.
New York-based Morgan Stanley, the nation’s fifth-largest securities firm, has been moving to expand its asset management business. Van Kampen, which specializes in bonds, has more than $40 billion of mutual fund assets.
Mutual funds are considered a consistently stable source of income during uncertain economic times and have been attractive acquisition targets during the current consolidation of the money management industry.
If the acquisition is completed, it would be Morgan’s second purchase of a money management firm in the past year. Morgan bought Miller Anderson & Sherrard, a Philadelphia firm, last June.
Clayton Dubilier, the New York-based acquisition firm that owns more than 80 percent of Van Kampen, has been trying to sell the company for six months.
Stock of Morgan Stanley Group Inc. closed Friday at $48.25, up $1, on the New York Stock Exchange.
Originally Published: June 22, 1996 at 1:00 AM CDT