China’s Ant Financial, an affiliate of online shopping giant Alibaba Group, is close to signing a $3.5 billion loan a part of which will help fund its purchase of U.S. money transfer company MoneyGram International, Thomson Reuters Basis Point reported. Fourteen banks, including Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, have committed to the loan, Basis Point reported. The three-year syndicated term loan will replace a bridge facility that backed Ant Financial’s bid for MoneyGram, it reported on Thursday, adding documentation of the loan is in progress, with signing expected within the next few days. Ant, valued at about $60 billion after a $4.5-billion funding round in April 2016, is set for an initial public offering (IPO), though it has not specified a timeframe or listing venue.
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