Ant Financial, the financial technology company controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, stepped up its international expansion by buying U.S. money-transfer service MoneyGram International Inc.
The $880 million transaction, Ant’s second U.S. deal, will connect MoneyGram’s network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts with Ant’s customers. Ant, which was once part of Alibaba, is seeking to expand abroad amid increasing competition from Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Wechat payment system at home. The MoneyGram deal will further that goal, following recent partnerships with Paytm in India and Ascend Money in Thailand.
“This gives us a very attractive business that’s already quite engaged with a substantial consumer base in the U.S.,” said Douglas Feagin, who runs Ant Financial’s global operations, in a telephone interview. “Remittance is a very important activity and we think this is a great way for us to build a presence around U.S. consumers.”
Ant is a behemoth in China, where it serves more than 450 million customers and provides services from wealth management and insurance to credit checks and consumer loans. Formally known as Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co., the company was valued at $75 billion by Hong Kong investment group CLSA in September and is expected to go public some time this year.
Source; Bloomberg
