Western Union has taken of 451st position in the rating Fortune 500 in 2009, having moved from 473rd line in 2008. In April 1851 companions registered in Albany New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company (NYMVPTC), which included founded two years before New York State Printing Telegraph Company. In October 2006 the company made an initial public offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming independent from First Data company. One of the common kinds of money transfer is a transfer via the international system of Western Union. In 2007 the company made 167.7 million transactions on money transfers between individuals and 404.6 million transactions between physical and legal persons. In 1879 Western Union left the telephone business after losing a lawsuit against Alexander Graham Bell - the patent holder on the phone. The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States.