Discover to be put on the block?

Published August 6, 2003 12:00 AM EDT 1 Min Read

Morgan StanleyCEO Phil Purcell told a Merrill Lynch equity analyst last week that the brokerage may sell its Discover Card credit card unit, according to published reports. Merrill analyst Guy Moszkowski immediately estimated that the sale could fetch $8 billion to $10 billion, which would make it the largest ever credit card portfolio sale. Morgan Stanley purchased Discover in 1993 from Sears Roebuck & Co., as part of Sears’ sale of its financial services unit, Dean Witter.

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