‍US electronic payments company Euronet Worldwide Inc. launched a one-billion-dollar bid for rival MoneyGram International Inc. on Tuesday, arguing that its all-American deal would face less regulatory scrutiny than a lower bid by China's Ant Financial Services Group.

Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., said it remained committed to its deal.

"MoneyGram and Ant Financial continue to work cooperatively under the terms of our merger agreement, and together, we are making progress on a schedule towards obtaining all required regulatory and shareholder approvals," it said in a statement.

MoneyGram said it would "carefully review and consider" the proposal from Euronet.

"MoneyGram remains subject to the terms of the definitive merger agreement with Ant Financial and MoneyGram's board has not changed its recommendation in support of the merger agreement with Ant Financial," it said.

MoneyGram shares surged nearly 25 percent to close at 15.77 dollars on Tuesday, above Euronet's cash offer of 15.20 dollars per share, indicating investors expect a higher bid to materialize. Ant Financial said in January it would acquire Dallas-based MoneyGram for 13.25 dollars per share, or about 880 million dollars, in its first major move to expand its presence overseas.

MoneyGram is one of the biggest players in the global remittance market, and a takeover would enable Kansas-based Euronet to better compete against digital startups which are transforming the money transfer business.

"Euronet is the number four ranked traditional offline global player via its Ria brand, so it's not a surprise they have tried to crash the party," said Michael Kent, the CEO of money transfer business Azimo, "Should be a major synergy play there."

Euronet has four money transfer businesses, including Ria, IME, HiFX and XE. Euronet focuses more on independent agents, while MoneyGram targets large retailers and national post offices.

MoneyGram, alongside Western Union, has long dominated the global money transfer industry with its large network of retail locations. It has about 350,000 outlets in retail shops, post offices, and banks in nearly 200 countries and territories.

A Euronet deal would not require clearance by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a US inter-agency panel that reviews foreign acquisitions of domestic assets for national security concerns.

The CFIUS has been a stumbling block for several Chinese deals in the United States and was considered a big hurdle for Ant Financial. A Euronet deal is likely to be more agreeable to US policymakers against a backdrop of rising tensions between China and the United States over trade and foreign policy.

On March 10, some 20 organizations sent a letter to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who chairs CFIUS, and other officials that warned against allowing Ant Financial to buy MoneyGram.

"There can be little doubt that if China is allowed to dominate the global payments market, it will use the information, technology, intelligence and economic power it obtains to the detriment of America’s economic and national security," they wrote in the letter which was seen by Reuters.

Ant dominates China's online payment market but has been ramping up investment overseas amid fierce rivalry at home with peers such as Tencent’s popular WeChat Pay.

A MoneyGram acquisition would have boosted Ant's international presence ahead of a future initial public offering, allowing it to deploy its technology in the large US payments market with a well-known brand.

The takeover interest in MoneyGram spilled over into its biggest competitor, Western Union, whose shares rose 3.5 percent to close at 20.27 dollars.

While a deal with Euronet would bring cost synergies, a combination of Ant's technological expertise and MoneyGram's brand had been seen as a game-changer for the international payments industry with a scope for more consumers to use online transfer services rather than taking cash to storefronts.

In addition to offering 15.20 dollars for each MoneyGram common and preferred stock share on an as-converted basis, Euronet also offered to assume about 940 million dollars of MoneyGram's outstanding debt.

"The combination of Euronet and MoneyGram offered stockholders a clear path to closing," Euronet Chief Executive Michael Brown said in a letter to MoneyGram's board, adding the current agreement with Ant carried conditions that made closing "highly uncertain."

Euronet has offered MoneyGram a breakup fee of 69 million dollars if the deal is scuppered for antitrust reasons - approximately four times higher than the CFIUS termination fee that Ant Financial offered.

Euronet had first attempted to acquire MoneyGram in 2007, but the bid was ultimately unsuccessful.

Euronet shares ended little changed at 83.22 dollars on Tuesday.

(Source: Reuters)