Sidley Austin LLP Advises Western Union on its Acquisition of Travelex Global Business Payments

Thursday, July 14, 2011
Tags:  Sidley Austin LLP
The London office of Sidley Austin LLP* has advised The Western Union Company on its acquisition of Travelex Global Business Payments division, a leading specialist provider of international business payments, for £606 million in cash. The transaction, which was signed in London on 5th July, is subject to regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, and is expected to complete in late 2011.

Travelex Global Business Payments conducts international business payments to companies and businesses, with approximately 35,000 customers in 14 countries. 
The Sidley London team was led by Corporate & Securities partners Tom Thesing and Jonathan Wallace, working with Mike Rodin, Associate General Counsel/M&A at Western Union, and included the following Sidley lawyers: 
London
Matthew Dening (Partner, International Finance Group – Derivatives)  
Mark Menhennet (Partner, Real Estate)  
Drew Scott (Partner, Tax)  
Nicholas Turner (Partner, Employment)  
David Went (Partner, Competition)  
Michael Constantine (Associate, Real Estate)  
Zartasia Khan (Associate, International Finance Group – Derivatives) 
Michael Killourhy (Associate, Corporate & Securities)  
Kieran Patel (Associate, Corporate & Securities)  
Richard Searle (Associate, Employment)  
Will Smith (Associate, Tax)
 
Chicago
Frederick Lowinger (Partner, M&A and Private Equity)  
William Nissen (Partner, Securities and Futures Regulatory) 
Washington, D.C. 
William S. Eckland (Partner, Financial Institutions Regulatory)  
Ming-Hsuan Elders (Associate, Financial Institutions Regulatory) 
Jonathan Wallace said, “We are very pleased to have worked with Western Union on its acquisition of the business-to-business payments division of Travelex. This was a challenging transaction that fit perfectly with our experience in the financial services and payments sector.” 
Tom Thesing commented, “We have worked closely with the Western Union team on a number of transactions in Europe and around the world, and appreciated the opportunity to work with them again on this strategic transaction. It is always gratifying to work with our global clients across multiple jurisdictions as they develop their businesses.”