US-based electronic payments firm Euronet Worldwide has offered to pay $1bn to acquire MoneyGram International, rivaling the bid made by China’s Ant Financial Services.
The price offered by Euronet for the acquisition is nearly 15% or $130m more than that was agreed by Alibaba affiliate.
In a letter delivered to MoneyGram chairman the board of directors Pamela H. Patsley, Euronet said: “We believe our proposal to be substantially superior to MoneyGram's pending transaction with Ant Financial Services Group.”
In January, Ant Financial Services entered into an agreement to acquire global money transfer services firm MoneyGram in a cash deal worth $880m.
Euronet said that its proposal would offer a clear path to a speedy closing of the acquisition with no required review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
It said: “The CFIUS approval process is complex and can be lengthy. Already, members of Congress, members of a congressional commission, and others have raised concerns about the transaction with Ant Financial, which include national security risks that CFIUS must carefully evaluate.”
The firm expects the combined core strengths of the two companies will speed up their respective digital platform growth initiatives.
Further, the electronic payments firm said that its proposal is not subject to any financing condition, as Wells Fargo Bank has agreed to finance the entire acquisition cost.
Euronet said: “We are eager to open discussions with you (Pamela) as soon as practicable to complete minimal confirmatory due diligence and reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”
MoneyGram confirmed receiving an unsolicited proposal from Euronet and said that it would carefully review the proposal.
It added that the company’s board has not changed its recommendation in support of the merger agreement with Ant Financial.
Image:The price offered by Euronet for the acquisition is nearly 15% more than that was agreed by Alibaba affiliate. Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.