Ant Financial Services Group has announced its acquisition of MoneyGram International in a deal valued at $880 million.

The Alibaba’s affiliate of e-commerce firm deal is still subject to approval of MoneyGram’s stockholders and regulators, which is expected to close in the second half of 2017. It is also requires regulatory approval from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment.

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Under the new deal, Ant Financial is paying $13.25 per share in cash for NASDAQ-listed MoneyGram. Upon completion of the deal, MoneyGram will maintain its brand name and management team. 

This new Ant Financial deal marks the second and biggest acquisition of the company in the United States. The first acquisition in the U.S. was the biometric security technology firm EyeVerify for over $100 million in 2016. 

Both companies said that the deal will offer clients in over 200 countries and territories with convenient and accessible financial services. Ant Financial users will be able to connect with US money-transfer firm of .4 billion bank and mobile accounts, and 350,000 physical locations. The extensive range of services of MoneyGram will complement Ant Financial’s various businesses.

“We believe financial services should be simple, low-cost and accessible to the many, not the few. The combination of Ant Financial and MoneyGram will provide greater access, security and simplicity for people around the world to remit funds,” Ant Financial chief executive Eric Jing said in a statement.

Ant Financial’s latest acquisition is in line with company’s ongoing global expansion. In 2015, it backed the Indian mobile payment firm Paytm and acquired Thailand-based Ascend Money. It would help the company to extend its business overseas as the competition with Tencent's WeChat payment system is growing.

TagsAlibaba, Ant Financial, MoneyGram, money transfer, online payment service, china, U.S.