Dean Witter, Morgan Stanley To Merge

Morgan Stanley Group Inc. and Dean Witter, Discover & Co. said Wednesday they agreed to merge, creating the largest financial services company in the United States.

The new company to be called Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter, Discover & Co. will combine the retail brokerage and credit card businesses of Dean Witter with the professional investment management and securities underwriting of Morgan Stanley. The companies said the combined operation will manage more than $270 billion in assets, the largest of any securities firm.

Dean Witter has 361 branch offices with more than 9,000 account executives, and its Discover credit card, with 39 million customers, is the nations third largest in terms of receivables. Morgan Stanley, formed in 1935, has 27 principal offices in 19 countries.