Morgan Stanley was ranked top merger advisor in Asia, excluding Japan, for the first half of 1999, according to figures compiled by the Securities Data Company. Morgan Stanley advised on approximately US$5.5 billion of M&A transactions during the first half of 1999, which places the Firm at the top of the Asian M&A rankings.

Morgan Stanley's Asian M&A team was involved in 16 transactions during the first six months of the year, including:

• $2.2 billion purchase by Hyundai Electronics of LG Semicon in Korea
• Sale of a minority stake in SmarTone Communications in Hong Kong to British Telecom for $390 million
• Acquisition of Electronic Resources in Singapore by Ingram Micro
• Sale of a minority stake in Tuntex Telecom for First Pacific to KG Telecommunications in Taiwan
• Advisor to the independent board of PLDT in the $980 million acquisition of Smart Communications in the Philippines
• Tesco plc's purchase of an 81% stake in Samsung's retailing business in Korea for $210 million