Equity Firms Line Up to Buy Moneygram

A trio of private equity firms have submitted competing offers to acquire MoneyGram International, Reuters reported Tuesday (Jan. 25).

Sources say Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, Siris Capital Group LLC and Advent International Corp. have all offered to acquire the Dallas-based money transfer service.

The unnamed sources told Reuters MoneyGram began exploring its options after Madison Dearborn offered $10.50 per share in cash to acquire the company, while Advent had expressed interest last year in taking over the company.

They say MoneyGram had set a deadline Tuesday (Jan. 24) for potential acquirers to submit binding offers and will decide whether it go forward with a sale in the coming days. The report says it’s not clear how much the company, which has a market value of $850 million, would sell for.

Reuters notes that MoneyGram has become an acquisition target amid fierce competition from companies like Remitly and Revolut, which has hampered the company’s ability to capitalize on the payments and remittances market.

MoneyGram and the three equity firms did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more: MoneyGram Teams With Japanese FinTech Smiles on Cross Border Payments

This news follows a busy few months for MoneyGram, which has been concentrating on digital payments to help it grow. The company announced Jan. 11 it was working with Digital Wallet Corporation on wider-spread payments.

Through that partnership, customers in Japan will be able to use Digital Wallet’s Smiles mobile app, which allows them to send money to more than 200 countries and territories.

Read more: Paytm Helps MoneyGram Tap Into $83B Indian Market

And in December, MoneyGram partnered with Indian payments bank Paytm to allow MoneyGram customers to send money to Patym wallets in India.

As consumer preference in India and beyond shifts toward receiving transfers digitally, MoneyGram is well-positioned to continue to meet demand,” Chairman and CEO Alex Holmes said at the time.