Western Union Walks Away From Intermex Deal; Intermex Says No

Western Union Co. pulled out of its deal to buy International Money Express Inc., blaming a single state regulator, and Intermex said the money-transfer giant has no right to leave.

Western Union said it delivered a termination notice on Tuesday night, hours after California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation issued final conditions for approving the merger. The company said those conditions would have forced material changes to its business model, its relationships with retail agents and its long-term strategy. Its board, after reviewing the deal with legal and financial advisers, decided the terms weren’t in shareholders’ interest. The agreement, struck in August 2025, valued Intermex at about $500 million.

One state out of 55

By Western Union’s account, every other jurisdiction had signed off, including 54 states, territories and foreign countries, U.S. merger clearance and change-of-control filings in the U.K. and Spain. California first approved the deal in February without the contested conditions and extended that approval in April and July, then withdrew it 13 days after the second extension. Western Union said the regulator never found that it had broken rules on fraud, scams, money laundering or fair access, and that it remains in compliance with its Federal Trade Commission consent order.

Under the merger agreement, neither company owes the other a fee because of the termination, Western Union said.

Intermex digs in

Miami-based Intermex said on Wednesday that it had rejected the notice through its lawyers and demanded that Western Union take every step needed to close. Intermex said it has satisfied all of its obligations, stands ready to complete the merger and will pursue its remedies, including a court order requiring Western Union to finish the deal and damages it called substantial.

The fight sets up a test of how far a buyer can lean on a regulator’s conditions to exit a signed agreement. Intermex, which sends money from the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe to more than 60 countries, would be left to compete as a stand-alone company if Western Union’s exit holds. For Western Union, which had pitched the deal as a way to expand in North America and with key U.S. customer groups, walking away avoids changes to its agent network that it said would reach well beyond California.