Mortgage Introducer can reveal that the US investment bank attempted to sell its UK specialist lender in the weeks running up to the announcement that it would be closing down operations.
However, a buyer could not be sourced within Morgan Stanley’s timeframe.
A source told Mortgage Introducer: “I know Morgan Stanley looked for a buyer for Advantage as it would have preferred to sell it as a going concern. However, the timescale worked against it.”
The source also claimed that someone could pick up the shell of the business but claimed this would be commercially unviable.
“There are rumours of someone picking up the shell business but I just can’t see anyone buying that as the key to a lender in this market is its people and systems.”
Morgan Stanley and Advantage declined to comment. However, a source close to the bank confirmed: “Negotiations have taken place to find a buyer. The future of it will be decided during the consultation period, with an update expected near the end of that 90-day period.”
Meanwhile, both Fitch Ratings and Moody’s confirmed that Advantage’s securitisation ResLoc UK 2007-1 would not be affected by the closure.
However, Fitch warned that should the job losses announced by Morgan Stanley affect the servicing of ResLoc, its opinion could change.
