The $1.2 billion deal between Ant Financial and the American money transfer service MoneyGram had been under review by CFIUS.
MoneyGram is calling off its merger with a Chinese financial services giant after failing to get approval from the U. S. government.
„The geopolitical environment has changed considerably since we first announced the proposed transaction with Ant Financial nearly a year ago,“ MoneyGram ( MGI) CEO Alex Holmes said in a statement Tuesday.
The deal between Ant Financial, an affiliate of Jack Ma’s tech company Alibaba ( BABA), and the American money transfer service was first announced in January 2017. Ant Financial originally agreed to pay $880 million, but upped its offer to $1.2 billion in April after a U. S. company made an unsolicited bid on MoneyGram.
The agreement had been under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the inter-agency body that vets deals that could give a foreign investor control of a U. S. business.
„Despite our best efforts to work cooperatively with the U. S. government, it has now become clear that CFIUS will not approve this merger,“ Holmes said.
The Treasury Department, which chairs CFIUS, said the agency is „prohibited by statute from publicly disclosing information filed with CFIUS.“
„CFIUS reviews focus on national security concerns and Treasury takes the role as Chair of CFIUS very seriously, to ensure that CFIUS identifies and addresses any national security concerns posed by such foreign investment,“ a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
