Reports come amid greater scrutiny of Chinese investments in the United States this year
Ant Financial, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, will attempt for the third time to get approval from authorities for its takeover of United States payments firm MoneyGram International, according to media reports, amid greater scrutiny of Chinese investments in the US.
In April, MoneyGram, a US-based money transfer service, accepted a US$1.2 billion takeover offer from Ant Financial. The deal is considered sensitive as it will give a Chinese company access to the US financial infrastructure.
Ant Financial, which operates China’s biggest online payments platform Alipay, is now preparing to resubmit its application for review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), according to Bloomberg and Reuters which quoted people familiar with the matter.
CFIUS is the body responsible for making a ruling on whether a deal threatens US security.
Both Ant Financial and MoneyGram filed for CFIUS approval soon after the deal was agreed upon, but this was not granted within the 75-day period.
