Euronet Moves To Acquire MoneyGram

It seems Alipay wasn’t the only global payments player looking longingly at MoneyGram.

This morning Euronet managed to pull off the ecosystem’s surprise of the week (month? year so far?) with the announcement that has made a formal proposal to acquire MoneyGram at $15.20 for each share of MoneyGram Common Stock and MoneyGram Preferred Stock on an as-converted basis.

That price values MoneyGram at a little over $1 billion, and the deal will also include the assumption of approximately $940 million of MoneyGram’s outstanding debt. All in, the Euronet offer represents a premium of about 15 percent over the Ant Financial offer of $880 million ($13.25 per outstanding share) and a 28 percent premium over the closing price on the final day of trading prior to the transaction announcement on January 26, 2017.

According to a statement released by Euronet this morning on the proposed counter-offer, other than a higher price Euronet could potentially offer a faster closing. According to the electronics payments provider, this deal would not need clearance from Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and nor would it require a closing condition related to securing change of control consents covering money transmitter licenses in the jurisdictions in which MoneyGram operates.

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, is serving as financial advisor for Euronet, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is acting as legal advisor.

Shares of the MoneyGram spiked 20 percent in premarket trading, to about $15.40, indicating that traders expect bidding to go even higher.

We’ll keep you posted.