Keefe Bruyette analyst Brian Kleinhanzl looked into whether an acquisition of E-Trade (ETFC) would make sense for Goldman Sachs (GS) or Morgan Stanley (MS) after the electronic brokers reduced their commission rates. The analyst says he could make the strategic rationale for why a broker would buy an e-broker, namely cost savings and customer base expansion. However, ultimately a deal has to make sense financially as well, and it would be hard for Morgan or Goldman to justify on this basis, Kleinhanzl tells investors in a research note. In addition, with both brokers trading near tangible book value, shareholders would prefer buybacks versus an acquisition as a better use of shareholder capital at this point in the cycle, adds the analyst. As such a result, Kleinhanzl sees a deal for E-Trade as unlikely given the financial and capital impacts. He would be surprised if either broker aggressively pursued E-Trade as an acquisition.

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Automotive data and software services provider Solera is weighing an initial public offering that may raise over $1B and has picked banks including Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) to work on the offering, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg's Amy Or and Ryan Gould. Solera could launch an offering as soon as in July, the sources noted. Reference Link