In its February 1999 issue, Privatisation International (PI) announced the recipients of its deals of the year. Morgan Stanley received mention in the magazine's North America Public Offer and Latin Americas Private Sales for its role in the US$1.425Bn IPO of United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) and the US$19.01Bn sale of Telebras.

Morgan Stanley, selected to lead-manage the USEC deal, explored two paths of privatisation — acquisition and IPO. PI described Morgan Stanley's decision to proceed with both privatisation processes ("rather than simply relying upon scoping studies") simultaneously as "innovative."

In July 1998, USEC's board announced its decision to opt for a public sale. PI notes that the "ground-breaking" USEC offering, executed that same month, "was the largest ever to originate from the U.S. and the government's first sale by public offer since Conrail a decade ago." The deal was fully subscribed, and approximately 50% of the offering went to Morgan Stanley retail investors, underscoring Morgan Stanley's distribution capabilities.

Morgan Stanley's advisory role in the sale of Telebras, Brazil's telecommunications system, has received many accolades from the financial services community, including mentions from Investment Dealers' Digest and Institutional Investor. PI's selection Telebras is just the latest. The magazine notes that the sale was the largest privatisation by any method in Latin America and third-largest worldwide. Its significance to the Brazil's economy is clear: the US$19 billion raised in the transaction represented "around seven percent of the country's debt at the time, when the budget deficit was running at 6.7% of GDP," according to PI.

Morgan Stanley's Roberta Fischer stated, "'The sale exceeded all expectations on several fronts. All 12 companies were sold successfully despite the size of the operation, and the majority of the companies on offer received multiple bids."