(RTTNews) - Morgan Stanley (MS: News ) has reportedly re-launched the sale of its stake in China International Capital Corp. Ltd., the first joint-venture investment bank in China, according to media reports on Tuesday.

The company expects to gain more than $1 billion from the sale of its 34.3% stake in CICC, and remove a major roadblock in its efforts to build a larger presence in China.

Morgan Stanley, which paid $37 million for the stake when CICC was founded by the company and China Construction Bank Corp. in August 1995, has reportedly asked potential buyers to submit indicative first-round bids for the stake sale.

Private equity firms Bain Capital and General Atlantic are among the potential bidders. Earlier, TPG Capital and JC Flowers had reportedly expressed interest in buying the stake.

Morgan Stanley had reportedly failed to dispose off the stake in early 2008 because of prices and disagreements with regulators. The company ceded management control of CICC in 2000. CICC is now run by Levin Zhu, the son of former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji.
Morgan Stanley reportedly hopes to build a bigger presence in China by setting up a joint-venture securities company with Shanghai-based China Fortune Securities Co., and expects to have more influence in management of the joint venture. However, regulators in China will not approve a new securities joint venture for Morgan Stanley unless it sells the CICC stake.

Morgan Stanley's rivals, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Swiss bank UBS AG, already operate their own securities joint ventures in China, giving them access to China's domestic market.

MS closed Tuesday's regular trading session on the NYSE at $32.14, up $0.16 or 0.50% on a volume of 14.67 million shares.

To receive FREE breaking news email alerts for Morgan Stanley and others in your portfolio

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com