U.S. electronics payments provider Euronet Worldwide Inc said on Tuesday it offered to buy money-transfer company MoneyGram International Inc for $15.20 per share, trumping Ant Financial’s bid of $13.25 per share.
MoneyGram (MGI) shares jumped soared in Tuesday trading.
Euronet said its offer for each MoneyGram common share and preferred stock, on an as-converted basis, valued the company at more than $1 billion, in addition to the assumption of about $940 million of MoneyGram’s debt outstanding.
Ant Financial Services Group, the payment affiliate of Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, on Jan. 26 offered to buy all of MoneyGram’s common and preferred shares on a fully diluted basis in a deal valued at about $880 million. It said it would also assume or refinance MoneyGram’s outstanding debt.
Based on MoneyGram’s roughly 53 million outstanding shares, Euronet’s bid is valued at about $807 million, higher than Ant Financial’s offer of about $703 million, according to Reuters calculations.
Euronet said that unlike the Ant Financial deal, a Euronet-MoneyGram tie-up would not require a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
CFIUS, a U.S. inter-agency panel that reviews foreign acquisitions of domestic assets for national security concerns, has been a stumbling block for several Chinese deals in the Unites States.
Euronet is being advised by Wells Fargo Securities LLC and legal firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
MoneyGram and Ant Financial were not immediately available for comment.
