Payment services provider Worldline today announced changes to the composition of its Board of Directors, which will be proposed at the next AGM on June 13, 2024.

Worldline’s Board composition would be reduced from 15 to 12 Board members – plus two employee directors whose designation follows a dedicated procedure.

Subject to shareholders’ approval, three new directors are expected to join the Board as of the upcoming AGM:

• Two independent directors, Ms. Agnès Park and Ms. Sylvia Steinmann, with strong international executive backgrounds, including respectively in IT, transformation, finance, and human resources.
• One non-independent director, Mr. Olivier Gavalda, Deputy CEO of Crédit Agricole SA, with extensive financial and banking expertise.

As part of the proposed changes, three current Board members, Ms. Agnès Audier, Mr. Lorenz Von Habsburg Lothringen and Ms. Danielle Lagarde have decided not to renew their mandate, and two other Board members, Ms. Caroline Parot and Mr. Gilles Arditti, will resign from their current mandate.

Mr. Wilfried Verstraete has recently been co-opted as a Director, and the Board intends to appoint him as Chairman following the General Meeting to be held on 13 June 2024 at which it will be proposed to ratify his appointment.

As requested by the Board of Directors, Mr. Georges Pauget will remain interim Chairman until Mr. Wilfried Verstraete is elected Chairman in order to facilitate a smooth transition. He will then resign from the Board of Directors.

Subject to the AGM’s approval, the Board’s profile would be as follows: independent directors (58%), women (42%)—excluding directors representing employees for both—and international directors (75%), with 7 nationalities being represented. The Board will continue to align with applicable law and the AFEP-MEDEF Code recommendations.

Wilfried Verstraete, Director, commented:

“I am truly honoured to be asked to chair the Board of Directors and I am committed to support Worldline in getting back on its successful business and value creation trajectory, reflecting the true quality of its assets and the expertise of its management and its teams. I look forward to working with this recomposed Board, which gathers outstanding expertise and track record. I will lead it so that the Chief Executive Officer and his management team can accelerate value creation for all shareholders, leveraging on an outstanding client base and a unique set of technologies and partnerships built over the last ten years, in the growing and promising digital payments market.”