By Brett Philbin
Citigroup Inc. (C) Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said
the bank expects to exchange valuation estimates with Morgan
Stanley (MS) later Monday for their brokerage joint venture, with
the estimates likely to be more than 10% apart.
During a conference call with analysts, Mr. Gerspach said the
size of the gap between the two estimates means negotiations
between the two firms will likely go to an independent third party
appraiser.
Morgan Stanley, which owns 51% of the brokerage, notified Citi
last month that it plans to acquire an additional 14% stake in the
venture. Under terms of a deal struck during the financial crisis,
Morgan Stanley has the option to acquire Citi's 49% stake in
increments between 2012 and 2014.
By contract, Morgan Stanley and Citi will each independently
value Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. If the estimates are reasonably
close, the value is the average of both figures. If they are far
apart, the third party estimate will be required.
Talks between the two firms will likely be tricky as Morgan
Stanley and Citi each value the brokerage differently. Morgan
Stanley's value for all of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is roughly
$15 billion to $16 billion, a person familiar with the situation
previously told Dow Jones Newswires. Citi has disclosed that it
values its entire stake at $10 billion based on equity method
accounting, but the price Citi will likely demand will depend on
the brokerage's financial performance.
On the call, Mr. Gerspach said Citi believes an appraiser would
likely need to "complete their work by somewhere around August 30"
and that the transaction "closes no later than September 7 by
contract."
A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman declined to comment.
--Matthias Rieker contributed to this report
Write to Brett Philbin at brett.philbin@dowjones.com