Citi Comments On Western Union Acquisition Of Travelex

According to Citi, Western Union WU announced that it has agreed to acquire Travelex Global Business Payments (TGBP), which is a leading provider of cross-border business-to-business (B2B) payments primarily focused on small- and medium-sized businesses. Citi said that at current exchange rates, WU will pay ~$975 mil in cash for the business. “The deal will be funded from the international portion of WU's cash balances, which totaled ~$2.2 bil (US and Int'l) at the end of 1Q11. The acquisition is expected to close later in 2011.” Western Union closed yesterday at $19.34.