Remittance services provider Western Union planned to buy International Money Express, but opted out Tuesday. Now, the two companies have begun a battle over whether the $500 million deal should be consummated.
Western Union had been waiting more than a year for regulators to approve a purchase of the younger rival also known as Intermex, but when the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation issued approval conditions Tuesday, the acquirer backed out. Western Union decided against the deal and notified Intermex it was terminating the acquisition agreement on Tuesday, the day that was the deadline for either side to exit the pact.
The California regulator “delivered unacceptable final Conditions of Approval that would have required material changes to Western Union’s business model, its agent relationships and execution of its long-term business strategy,” Western Union said in a press release late Tuesday.
Western Union’s move isn’t passing muster with Intermex, which notified Western Union on Wednesday that it expects the transaction to be completed. Now, a legal fight is brewing.
“Through its counsel, Intermex has responded to Western Union rejecting Western Union's purported termination of the merger agreement and demanding that Western Union take all actions necessary to consummate the merger,” Intermex said in its statement.
Denver-based Western Union, which provides cross-border payments services and has roots reaching back more than 100 years, announced in August 2025 that it would purchase Intermex, but since then the companies have been trying to gather needed regulatory approvals. Miami-based Intermex was founded in 1994.
While New York regulators reached an agreement with the companies for approval of the deal earlier this year, the companies still needed California’s input, given the states’ purview over money transfer businesses.
The California agency approved the deal Tuesday, but imposed conditions that it said were aimed at safeguarding consumers, preventing fraud, deterring money laundering and ensuring “ fair and competitive access to financial services.”
California called Western Union a major money transfer company used by Californians to send money to Mexico and Central America, but it also noted that Intermex is a significant player in the market, saying the merger would have “significant implications for California consumers.”
To consummate the merger, the state regulator said in a Tuesday statement that the companies must “take certain steps,” that it didn’t specify in its public statement, “to detect and deter fraud.”
The regulator also prohibited the companies from reducing the number of agent locations that provide services in California.Citing an existing court order requiring Western Union to thwart criminal use of its network, the regulator also called on the company to “adopt robust risk-based anti-fraud and anti-money laundering measures.”
The state department also underscored its conditions with a threat. “If Western Union consummates its transaction with Intermex and fails to comply with these conditions, DFPI can take enforcement actions that may lead to limitations on its business practices or suspension of its license,” California’s statement said.
The state noted federal immigration policies under the Trump administration have affected the market. That negative impact from reduced immigration movement that leads migrant workers to send money to friends and family was clear last week during Western Union’s third-quarter earnings report.
“The last 18 months have been a difficult period for the remittance industry, particularly for those of us with relatively large retail franchises in the Americas,” Western Union CEO Devin McGranahan said during a webcast with analysts. “We have seen both an overall decline in the retail market and an acceleration of the shift towards digital.”
As part of its cost-cutting and shift to more digital operations, McGranahan said that Western Union had eliminated 500 full-time employees and has started a voluntary retirement program that it expects to lead to 150 more employee departures.
At the end of last year, the company had about 9,600 workers worldwide, according to its annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
