Morgan Stanley to Buy Saxon Capital

Morgan Stanley has announced an agreement to acquire Saxon Capital Inc., a servicer and originator of residential mortgages based in Glen Allen, Va., for $706 million.The price tag is based on a cash consideration of $14.10 per share of Saxon stock. Morgan Stanley said the acquisition is in line with its strategy of building a global, vertically integrated residential mortgage business. "Saxon builds on our existing origination and securitization capabilities by providing us with an extremely strong servicing platform," said Anthony Tufariello, global head of Morgan Stanley's Securitized Products Group. The acquisition "will further enhance our risk management of mortgage portfolios" and provide "new origination capabilities in the nonprime market," Mr. Tufariello said. Morgan Stanley was the lead adviser on the transaction and was also advised by Milestone Merchant Partners, the company said. Saxon, a real estate investment trust, was advised by Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC. Morgan Stanley can be found online at http://www.morganstanley.com, and Saxon can be found at http://www.saxonmortgage.com.