In February 2009 the company entered into an agreement with Fexco to acquire 100% of its shares for $ 159.9 million. Separation of the companies had two objectives: first, to give Western Union the opportunity to develop more intensively, and secondly, to help First Data to return to its original activity (in 1992 the company separated from the payment system of American Express as an independent financial services company). Before transition to remittances Western Union company rendered services on sphere of cable communication. In 1879 Western Union left the telephone business after losing a lawsuit against Alexander Graham Bell - the patent holder on the phone. Western Union made so that the time in all of American civil services was the same. In 1884 Western Union has become a joint-stock company and was brought to the stock exchange. The company has entered in the first American stock index Dow Jones.