Ant Financial Commits to U.S. Jobs, Privacy in MoneyGram Chase

(Beijing) — Ant Financial Services Group said it will protect user privacy and U.S.-based jobs if it succeeds in buying wire-transfer specialist MoneyGram International Inc.

The public assurances to MoneyGram customers come as Ant Financial, operator of the third-party online payment platform Alipay, tries to counter political resistance and an unsolicited counterbid for the planned purchase.

Ant Financial announced its plans to buy MoneyGram in January, offering to pay $13.25 per share for the U.S. company in a deal valued at $880 million. Since then, U.S.-based Euronet Worldwide Inc. launched a counteroffer, arguing its bid is not only 15% higher but also would face less political resistance. In a sign of such resistance, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Washington this week calling for special scrutiny of any acquisition by Ant Financial.

Ant Financial initially said it would move forward with its plans despite the counterbid, and on Thursday released a new open letter to the MoneyGram community seeking to allay some of the recent concerns. The letter didn’t touch on whether Ant Financial might consider raising its original offer to a level closer to Euronet’s, a little-known electronic-payment services provider based in the U.S. state of Kansas.

Addressing the privacy concerns, Ant Financial said protecting user data is of “paramount importance.”

“Any data collected on MoneyGram users in the U.S. will continue to reside on the same ironclad U.S.-based servers that meet the high security standards your customers trust today,” Ant said. “We also plan to further invest in MoneyGram’s global compliance and anti-money-laundering programs.”

Beijing has similar rules for foreigners operating in the country, requiring them to house information related to their local users on China-based servers.

Ant Financial also addressed the thorny issue of job security, in an apparent reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s previous remarks that China steals American jobs. Ant Financial emphasized that it values MoneyGram’s team, customers, and agents and partners. It pointed to its purchase last year of U.S.-based biotech security startup EyeVerify as a template for what it would do with MoneyGram, noting it has doubled that company’s headcount and added investment since the acquisition.

“We intend to do the same with MoneyGram — and we are excited to help MoneyGram expand its business globally for the digital future of the remittance industry,” Ant said.

Ant Financial, the former financial services unit of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., has targeted MoneyGram as a major plank in its efforts to move beyond its home China market. The company has said it is aiming to make an initial public offering, with the latest reports indicating such an offering could come as soon as this year in China, Hong Kong, New York or a combination of those. Such an offering would be one of the biggest this year, worth billions of dollars.

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)