[ti:Chinese Company Seeks to Buy MoneyGram] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.28]The Chinese company Ant Financial is intensifying efforts [00:05.44]to buy the American company MoneyGram International. [00:11.20]MoneyGram is the world's second-largest money transfer company. [00:17.27]Western Union is the largest. [00:22.04]Ant Financial has been linked in media reports to the Chinese company Alibaba. [00:30.20]Ant Financial has offered to pay $1.2 billion more for the company [00:38.00]than Euronet Worldwide, a company making a competing offer. [00:44.56]Euronet is based in the United States. [00:49.20]MoneyGram has a network of 350,000 places [00:55.48]where people can send and receive money. [00:59.64]These include stores, post offices and banks in 200 countries. [01:07.45]Ant Financial's business is now mostly in the Chinese currency, the yuan. [01:15.95]If it is able to buy MoneyGram, [01:18.92]Ant Financial would be able to use American dollars [01:23.68]and control accounts that are used to hold and manage the company's money. [01:31.24]After Euronet offered to buy MoneyGram in March, [01:35.92]Ant Financial increased its offer by 36 percent. [01:42.24]This decision confirmed that it was determined to buy MoneyGram [01:47.84]and begin competing with Western Union. [01:52.60]However, Euronet has not stopped efforts to buy MoneyGram. [01:59.64]It is warning that if Ant Financial is able to buy the company [02:05.40]it will have a huge amount of information about the company's customers. [02:12.32]Euronet says this is a security risk. [02:17.68]If Ant Financial's offer is accepted, the deal must still gain the approval [02:24.44]of the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS. [02:32.76]Some experts believe this would be the first test for a Chinese financial company [02:39.76]seeking to do business in the U.S. [02:44.08]Jeffrey Towson is a professor of investments [02:48.68]at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. [02:55.16]He told VOA that "getting approval from CFIUS might be more difficult this year. [03:04.76]Plus, Chinese acquisitions are more on the media radar than before. [03:12.28]And finally, there is also a competing bidder, Euronet, [03:17.52]and they will probably push for a regulatory denial based on security concerns." [03:26.12]Kevin Yoder of Kansas and Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas [03:32.72]are members of the U.S. House of Representatives. [03:37.64]They have written to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin [03:42.76]about the possible purchase of MoneyGram by Ant Financial. [03:49.40]They wrote, "The proposal merits careful evaluation [03:54.52]as it would provide Chinese access to the U.S. financial infrastructure, [04:00.68]a move that would pose significant national security risks if completed." [04:08.88]Ant Financial has said that MoneyGram information [04:13.12]will be stored in secure computer servers in the United States. [04:19.12]And in a letter to people who own shares in the company, [04:24.16]Douglas Feagin said MoneyGram will "continue to be headquartered in Dallas [04:31.16]and run by its current U.S.-based management team after the deal closes." [04:39.47]He promised that Ant will "continue to invest in MoneyGram's systems and compliance programs." [04:50.96]Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma was among the first [04:56.14]to visit Donald Trump after he was elected president. [05:01.56]Trump met recently with Chinese president Xi Jinping, [05:06.32]and later said he no longer considers China to be a currency manipulator. [05:14.32]Some experts believe these developments may help Ant Financial. [05:21.83]Peter Fuhrman is the chairman of the company China First Capital. [05:28.68]He says although CFIUS has denied "quite a few recent attempted Chinese takeovers, [05:37.16]there isn't an obvious national security case here [05:41.64]as to why they should stop the transaction." [05:47.32]Jacob Kirkegaard is with the Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington. [05:55.32]He says Alibaba knows about internet financial transactions. [06:01.40]He added, "I have no doubt that they can execute the deal and ensure integration." [06:10.60]Ant Financial was part of Alibaba, [06:14.28]China's biggest online seller, [06:17.28]before Alibaba sold ownership shares to the public [06:21.92]on the NYSE stock exchange in 2014. [06:28.76]Ant Financial did not answer questions from VOA. [06:33.88]Instead, it said VOA should read earlier statements the company has made. [06:41.40]A public relations company working for Ant Financial said [06:46.44]the company has no relationship with Alibaba. [06:50.64]It refused to make additional comments. [06:54.28]But several analysts, and most recent media reports, [06:59.56]say Ant Financial is linked to Alibaba. [07:06.04]I'm Mario Ritter.更多听力请访问51VOA.COM