Simpson Thacher is representing Ant Financial Services Group in its announced acquisition of MoneyGram International Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI) for approximately $880 million. The merger will connect MoneyGram's network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts and 350,000 physical locations with Ant Financial's users, who have access to a broad suite of technology-based financial services, including payments, credit and insurance products. The transaction is subject to the approval of MoneyGram stockholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the second half of 2017.

Ant Financial Services Group is focused on serving small and micro enterprises, as well as consumers, and businesses operated by Ant Financial Services Group include Alipay, Ant Fortune, Zhima Credit and MYbank. MoneyGram is a global provider of innovative money transfer services and is recognized worldwide as a financial connection to friends and family.

The Simpson Thacher team includes Lee Meyerson, Katie Sudol, Ravi Purushotham, Ashleigh Taylor and Sonya Ho (M&A); Jessica Tuchinsky, Jackie Kahng and Christian Jackson (Financing); Larry Moss, Jennifer Pepin and Michael Cook (Employee Compensation and Benefits); Katherine Moir and Tanvi Mirani (Tax); Adeeb Fadil (Environmental); Keith Noreika, Mark Chorazak, and Spencer Sloan (Regulatory); David Vann and Mathieu Coquelet-Ruiz (Antitrust); Peter Thomas, David Shogren and Mark Skerry (CFIUS); and Lori Lesser, Linda Nyberg and Alexander Moser (Intellectual Property).