MoneyGram's Suitors Said to Include Euronet as Carlyle Drops Out

Euronet Worldwide Inc. is among the bidders for MoneyGram International Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), the rival money-transfer service that put itself up for sale earlier this year,said a person with knowledge of the matter. Carlyle Group LP and at least three other buyout firmswithdrew, said the person, who asked for anonymity because thesale process for Dallas-based MoneyGram isn't public. Bank ofAmerica Corp. was hired to find suitors, a person familiar withthe matter said in June. Euronet tried to buy MoneyGram at least once before with a$1.65 billion bid in 2008, only to be thwarted when its targetsold a majority stake to Thomas H. Lee, the Boston-basedprivate-equity firm, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. MoneyGram hassince posted losses in four of the last six years amidcompetition with firms such as Western Union Co. Michael Gutierrez, a spokesman at MoneyGram, andrepresentatives for Carlyle, Thomas Lee, Goldman Sachs and Bankof America said their firms had no comment on the sale or didn'trespond to inquiries.