#BUSINESS NEWS JANUARY 2, 2018 / 4:36 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

U.S. blocks MoneyGram sale to China's Ant Financial

Greg Roumeliotis
7 MIN READ

(Reuters) - A U.S. government panel rejected Ant Financial’s acquisition of U.S. money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc (MGI.O) over national security concerns, the companies said on Tuesday, the most high-profile Chinese deal to be torpedoed under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The $1.2 billion deal’s collapse represents a blow for Jack Ma, the executive chairman of Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), who owns Ant Financial together with Alibaba executives. He was looking to expand Ant Financial’s footprint amid fierce domestic competition from Chinese rival Tencent Holdings Ltd’s (0700.HK) WeChat payment platform.

Ma, a Chinese citizen who appears frequently with leaders from the highest echelons of the Communist Party, had promised Trump in a meeting a year ago that he would create 1 million U.S. jobs.

MoneyGram shares were down 8.5 percent at $12.06 in after-market trading.

The companies decided to terminate their deal after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) rejected their proposals to mitigate concerns over the safety of data that can be used to identify U.S. citizens, according to sources familiar with the confidential discussions.

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