Global Payments Inc. Adds Watson and Deskus to Board

By Philip Seaworth • Monday, September 29 10:09 • Permanent Link

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) has recently announced the appointment of Patricia "Patty" Watson and Archana "Archie" Deskus as independent Board directors, effective immediately. Both Mses. Watson and Deskus possess deep financial technology and payments industry expertise. Furthermore, the Board of Directors has agreed with Elliott Investment Management L.P. to appoint an additional mutually agreed independent director by or immediately following the conclusion of the 2026 annual meeting of shareholders. The size of the Board will expand to 12 directors with the appointment of Mses. Watson and Deskus, and will remain at 12 directors following the 2026 annual meeting.

In addition to the new board appointments, Global Payments will establish a new ad-hoc Integration Committee to oversee the integration of Worldpay following the completion of the Company’s pending acquisition. The Integration Committee will focus on the execution of integration initiatives and synergy realization from the Global Payments and Worldpay combination. Membership will consist of both new and existing directors.

Global Payments CEO, Cameron Bready, expressed appreciation for the constructive engagement with the Elliott team and emphasized that the enhancements announced will ensure the company is well positioned to successfully manage the combination with Worldpay, a transaction that enhances its competitive strengths, opens new opportunities, and accelerates its growth trajectory while driving value creation for shareholders over the long term.

Patricia "Patty" Watson, the newly appointed independent director, has an extensive background in technology executive roles at large, complex financial services and financial technology companies such as NCR Atleos, NCR Corporation, Total System Services (TSYS), Bank of America, and The Brink’s Company. She currently serves on the board of directors of Southwest Airlines and Rockwell Automation.

Archana "Archie" Deskus, the other newly appointed independent director, has over three decades of leadership experience driving transformation, innovation, and enterprise value across global industries. She most recently served as Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer at PayPal Holdings, Inc. Over the course of her career, Ms. Deskus has held CIO roles at Fortune 200 companies, including Intel Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Baker Hughes, Ingersoll Rand, Timex, and Carrier. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cognizant and East West Bancorp.

These board additions and the establishment of the Integration Committee are all part of Global Payments' strategic ambition to be the worldwide partner of choice for commerce solutions and to ensure the successful integration of Worldpay. The company, with 27,000 team members across 38 countries, aims to enable commerce and provide exceptional experiences to its customers with payment technology and software solutions. Today the company's shares have moved -0.68% to a price of $84.32. Check out the company's full 8-K submission here.

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