Earlier this month, remittance major MoneyGram announced that it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, in a deal that values the company at around $1.1bn ($1.8bn including the assumed debt). Assuming that there isn't another bid before the 30-day 'go-shop' period ends on March 16, this will see MoneyGram become privately traded, with its leadership, branding and headquarters remaining the same.

The deal is the biggest acquisition ever in the remittance industry, and is an unexpected move in that it comes at a time when large numbers of other players in the money transfers space are looking to go public. However, for CEO Alex Holmes, it's an opportunity to accelerate its future development without the constraints that come with making quarterly reports to the markets.

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Alex Holmes MoneyGram CEO MoneyGram Acquisition