When little-known Chinese taxi-hailing app Didi Dache needed $15 million to grow its business two years ago, a local upstart investment bank stepped in to help it raise the funds from social networking giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. That paid off last month for Fan Bao, 44-year-old founder of boutique firm China Renaissance, as Didi agreed to merge with bigger rival Kuaidi Dache to create a $6 billion company. Didi tapped Bao to put together the deal, sidestepping Wall Street heavyweights like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley that dominate China's $347 billion M&A market.In a twist, Kuaidi also wanted Bao on its side, leaving China Renaissance as sole financial adviser to both firms - a rare feat even in China, where tycoons have struck deals over a few drinks. "They both realized that the end-game was to come together," Bao said in an interview.Bao's ability to single-handedly broker the deal - and he's a self-confessed adrenaline junkie - underscores the growing clout of small and nimble corporate advisers in China, presenting a new threat to more established global firms.Bao convinced the CEOs of Didi and Kuaidi - which are backed by Tencent and Alibaba respectively - to have dinner at a Shenzhen hotel in late January. The next day, the two CEOs, Bao and four others thrashed out the merger in a suite in the city's Marriott Executive Apartments, a neutral venue away from the firms' headquarters and the prying eyes of the media.
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides its products and services to a range of clients and customers, including corporations, governments, financial institutions and individuals. Shares of MS fell by 0.19% or $-0.07/share to $36.24. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $28.31 and as high as $39.19. On average, 10621600 shares of MS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 7902041.
Source
