The Western Union Company and International Money Express, Inc. (Intermex) each filed a Form 8-K — the current report a company files with the SEC — on Friday, October 2, 2026, saying their pending merger needs a new round of federal antitrust clearance. Under the agreement signed August 10, 2025, a Western Union subsidiary would merge into Intermex, with Intermex surviving and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Union.
The one-year clock
The waiting period required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, a federal law that makes certain mergers wait while federal antitrust agencies review them, expired for this deal at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 6, 2025. Clearance under that law, both filings say, "is effective for a period of one year following expiration of the waiting period" — so the 2025 clearance covers this merger only through October 6, 2026. Western Union's filing, which abbreviates Intermex as IMXI, puts it this way: "Given the lapse of time, a new filing under the HSR Act is required in order for the Company and IMXI to complete the Merger after October 6, 2026." Intermex's filing says the same thing, naming Western Union in place of IMXI.
What the companies filed on October 2
Both companies filed their Premerger Notification and Report Forms with the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice on October 2, 2026. EDGAR accepted Western Union's 8-K at 4:21 p.m. Eastern Time and Intermex's at 4:18 p.m. The new filing "initiates a new 30-day waiting period under the HSR Act," the filings say, and both companies have requested early termination of that waiting period. Neither filing says whether early termination will be granted.
A separate state approval, also suspended
A second approval, from California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), is suspended "pending further ongoing review," both filings say. Based on discussions with the DFPI, the companies "do not expect the DFPI to reinstate its approval prior to October 6, 2026." Both say they continue to discuss reinstatement with the DFPI. And both list three things the merger is still subject to: the new HSR waiting period expiring or being terminated, the DFPI's approval being reinstated, and the other closing conditions in the merger agreement being satisfied or waived.
One suspension, two dates
Both filings describe the same DFPI suspension as previously disclosed, but they date that earlier disclosure differently: Western Union's says August 13, 2026, and Intermex's says August 14, 2026. Neither filing explains the difference.
What it does not say
Neither filing predicts whether the FTC or the Department of Justice will raise objections, whether the DFPI will reinstate its approval, or when the merger might close. Neither states a new target closing date. Neither describes a new investigation or a challenge to the merger: both describe a refiling required because clearance under the law lasts one year.