Morgan Stanley plans to acquire Berkeley, Calif.-based risk modeling vendor Barra Inc. and merge it into its Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index business. Morgan Stanley will pay $41 per share in the cash deal. MSCI, well known in Europe and especially Asia, recently turned its attentions to the U.S. marketplace, where it is seeking to expand in a marketplace dominated by the Russell and Standard & Poor’s index businesses.
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