E-commerce giant Alibaba to buy U.S.-based MoneyGramJanuary 27, 2017 - 16:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Ant Financial, the digital payments arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is buying U.S.-based MoneyGram for $880m, according to BBC News. MoneyGram has about 350,000 outlets in nearly 200 countries. Ant Financial has more than 630 million users. The takeover by the Chinese group will need regulatory approval from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment. The inter-agency committee reviews foreign acquisitions of domestic American assets on grounds of national security. Eric Jing, chief executive at Ant Financial, said in a statement that the marriage of the two companies will "provide greater access, security and simplicity for people around the world to remit funds, especially in major economies such as the United States, China, India, Mexico and the Philippines". Ant Financial has a big market share in the online payments industry in China. The acquisition could help the company extend the lead as well as expand overseas, as competition is growing in China with rival Tencent's WeChat payment system. U.S.-listed Moneygram's shares rose by nearly 9% on the news. The takeover has been approved by MoneyGram's board of directors. Related links: Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia. Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements. Yerevan says did not expect CSTO in peacekeeping role Pashinyan has declared that the CSTO would be expected to come to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as an ally of Armenia Henrikh Mkhitaryan wins Serie A title with Inter Inter Milan midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan admits that the team have long been imagining clinching Serie A against AC Milan. |