Unsolicited Offer Could Prompt Bidding War for Dallas-based MoneyGram

The financial transaction provider Euronet Worldwide said Tuesday that it had made an unsolicited bid to acquire MoneyGram for about $1 billion in cash, igniting a potential bidding war for the Dallas-based money-transfer firm.The offer by Euronet, which is based in Leawood, Kansas, came after MoneyGram agreed in January to be acquired for $880 million by Ant Financial Services Group, a Chinese online-payment company spun out of Jack Ma's Alibaba Group Holding.Under terms of the offer, Euronet said it would pay $15.20 in cash for each share of MoneyGram, which is 15 percent more than Ant Financial's per-share offer and 28 percent higher than the closing price of MoneyGram's shares before the Ant Financial bid was announced.MoneyGram's shares rose nearly 25 percent in trading Tuesday and were trading above the Euronet offering price, an indication that investors are expecting a sweetened offer from Ant Financial.  Continue reading...