Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Kevin Woodward
The appointment on Tuesday of Jeffrey S. Sloan as the new chief executive of payment processor Global Payments Inc., succeeding long-time chief executive Paul Garcia, surprised hardly anyone. Sloan, who joined Global Payments as president in 2010, has a history with the company.
Garcia, who was named chief executive in 1999 and chairman in 2002, will stay on as chairman through May 31, the end of Global Payments’ fiscal year.
“This is a planned transition,” Garcia told analysts during an earnings call yesterday. “Jeff has been here three-and- a-half years, and the board and I believe strongly he’s the right guy at the right time.” Garcia also said the timing is good for the company and for himself.
Analysts agree the timing is apt. “Sloan is a known quantity,” Wayne Johnson, managing director at investment firm Raymond James & Associates Inc., tells Digital Transactions News. “He knows the space and he knows Global Payments. It is not a surprise. Paul has been there a long time. We knew at some point he was going to retire.”
“The timing makes sense,” writes Tien-tsin Huang, an analyst at J.P. Morgan, in a research note. “Sloan was groomed to be a natural successor when he joined the company in 2010.”
Sloan was involved in the Global Payments initial public offering in 2001 when National Data Corp., an e-commerce and health-services company, spun it out. Prior to joining Global Payments, Sloan spent 12 years at investment firm Goldman, Sachs & Co., overseeing its worldwide payments practice.
Global Payments is doing well financially, having grown from less than $350 million in annual revenues in 2001 to nearly $2.5 billion in fiscal 2013. In trading late today, Global Payments was up 11.44% to $56.49 from its closing price Tuesday of $50.70.
