China’s Ant Financial outbids rival for MoneyGram
Dallas-based MoneyGram provides services in 350,000 locations across 200 countries and would be Ant’s first major acquisition in the West
Beijing — China’s Ant Financial has sweetened its bid for MoneyGram International by over a third, beating a rival offer to gain approval from the US electronic payment firm’s board, although it still faces regulatory hurdles. Ant’s plans to expand globally with the acquisition of one of the biggest firms in remittances hit a major snag in March when US-based Euronet Worldwide made an unsolicited offer and openly lobbied US legislators, saying Ant’s proposal created a national security risk. The finance affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding hiked its bid 36% to $18 per share in cash, valuing MoneyGram at about $1.2bn. The new offer handily beats the $15.20 per share proposed by Euronet and represents a 9% premium to MoneyGram’s last traded share price on Thursday. Euronet declined to comment on Ant’s fresh bid. MoneyGram’s global remittance channels for sending money overseas would help Ant build a cross-border network after a string of recent investments in Asia. But...
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