First Data Exits Check and Money Order Business

DENVER – The restructuring at First Data Corp. will continue, with the funds processor announcing yesterday its exit form the checks and money order business. The company, which processes official checks and money orders, said the it will gradually terminate its obligations in the business over the next two years, freeing up as much as $300 million in cash for other purposes. The announcement came after First Data said it had agreed to acquire two companies, Datawire Communication Networks Inc., and Atlanta company whose VXN network moves transactions from point-of-sale terminals over the Internet; and Intelligent Results, a Bellevue, Wash.-based company whose software helps companies analyze data. The latest deals come a few months after First Data spun off its Western Union money transfer business, the world’s largest.