Morgan Stanley has signed an agreement to acquire EquityZen, a platform specialising in private share transactions. 

Financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.  

EquityZen’s platform, which launched in 2013, focuses on connecting retail investors with shares in private companies.  

EquityZen operates as a platform for pre-IPO opportunities, linking holders of private-company stock with accredited buyers and enables investors to participate in private-market and other alternative investment opportunities. 

The company has recorded over 800,000 registered users and processed more than 49,000 transactions across upwards of 450 firms. The business is based in New York and employs about 50 staff. 

The planned acquisition is intended to strengthen Morgan Stanley’s range of services available to private companies and their stakeholders. 

The solutions comprise cap table management, liquidity events, investment opportunities, and trading in secondary markets. 

EquityZen CEO Atish Davda said: “We could not be more excited to join Morgan Stanley. This partnership isn’t about selling, it’s about scaling. Our entire mission has been to bring ‘private markets to the public,’ and by integrating into Morgan Stanley, we will reach more investors and shareholders than ever before.  

According to Morgan Stanley, integrating EquityZen’s model will allow private companies more control over the management and timing of their shares trading.  

Participants in the Morgan Stanley at Work programme are expected to gain new liquidity options, while wealth management clients may see increased access to private shares. 

The acquisition is expected to be finalised in early 2026, subject to regulatory clearance and other customary closing conditions.  

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management head Jed Finn said: “This announcement comes at a critical time in the development of the private markets ecosystem. The combination of EquityZen with Morgan Stanley will uniquely address client needs as companies stay private longer, such as delivering liquidity solutions for their employees and early investors in a seamless yet controlled process of their own design.  

“With EquityZen, we combine our cap table management solutions with a private shares marketplace to deliver end-to-end solutions to our private market company clients.” 

Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley is arranging a risk transfer linked to a $6bn portfolio of loans provided to private market funds. According to reporting from Bloomberg, this transfer could involve around $750m—representing 12.5% of the loan total.