The Investor
09 Nov 2026, 19:20
Morgan Stanley to Acquire Vinyl Equity, Expanding Private-to-Public Market Infrastructure
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital-first SEC-registered transfer agent, expanding its Morgan Stanley at Work platform with shareholder recordkeeping and transfer-agency capabilities.
The transaction will connect cap table management, equity administration, share transfer and wealth management infrastructure across private and public markets. Morgan Stanley said the combination is intended to give companies a more integrated platform as they move through IPOs, liquidity events and other private-to-public transitions.
Founded in 2022, Vinyl has built a digital-native transfer-agent platform designed to replace historically manual processes with digital workflows, real-time reporting and streamlined administration. Its services include shareholder recordkeeping, proxy administration, corporate actions management and paying agency solutions.
Morgan Stanley also highlighted Vinyl’s strategic importance for future digital-asset infrastructure. The firm said the acquisition will support work around blockchain technology, atomic settlement and tokenization by strengthening the systems used to record and transfer ownership.
The deal builds on Morgan Stanley’s broader private-markets ecosystem, which includes EquityZen, its Private Markets Transaction Desk and its collaboration with Carta. Morgan Stanley at Work currently serves more than 3,400 corporate clients and 6.7 million participants, including roughly half of the S&P 500 and more than 70% of the top 100 unicorns by market capitalization.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital-first SEC-registered transfer agent, expanding its Morgan Stanley at Work platform with shareholder recordkeeping and transfer-agency capabilities.
The transaction will connect cap table management, equity administration, share transfer and wealth management infrastructure across private and public markets. Morgan Stanley said the combination is intended to give companies a more integrated platform as they move through IPOs, liquidity events and other private-to-public transitions.
Founded in 2022, Vinyl has built a digital-native transfer-agent platform designed to replace historically manual processes with digital workflows, real-time reporting and streamlined administration. Its services include shareholder recordkeeping, proxy administration, corporate actions management and paying agency solutions.
Morgan Stanley also highlighted Vinyl’s strategic importance for future digital-asset infrastructure. The firm said the acquisition will support work around blockchain technology, atomic settlement and tokenization by strengthening the systems used to record and transfer ownership.
The deal builds on Morgan Stanley’s broader private-markets ecosystem, which includes EquityZen, its Private Markets Transaction Desk and its collaboration with Carta. Morgan Stanley at Work currently serves more than 3,400 corporate clients and 6.7 million participants, including roughly half of the S&P 500 and more than 70% of the top 100 unicorns by market capitalization.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
