Morgan Stanley to raise $2.2 bn

Financial services firm Morgan Stanley today said it will raise $2.2 billion through the sale of stocks, as part of its efforts to repay the loans received from the US government.

The company has priced 80.2 million shares at $27.44 per piece, Morgan Stanley said in a statement.

The underwriter would have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 4 million shares of the company.

According to the statement, the firm has priced a public offering of about 80.2 million shares of common stock to the public at $27.44 per share for total gross proceeds of about $2.2 billion.

"...Upon completion of this capital raise it will have satisfied the criteria for fully redeeming the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) preferred capital and expects to redeem it before the end of June," Morgan Stanley said.

Morgan Stanley has received about $10 billion from the Federal government.

The company's current shareholder China Investment Corporation has agreed to purchase 44.7 million shares. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group would be purchasing 16 million shares.

Both transactions would be at the public offering price.

On Monday, JPMorgan Chase and American Express announced plans to raise $5 billion and $500 million, respectively, to repay the taxpayers' money.