Global Payments Stock Pops on Report Activist Elliott Has Built Stake. What It Means.

Global Payments makes technology that allows businesses to accept and process payments. (Dreamstime)

Shares of Global Payments , a provider of technology that facilitates transactions between shops and shoppers, jumped on Wednesday after a report that activist investor Elliott Management has built a stake in the company.

Coming into the session, Global Payments has dropped 31% since the start of the year. The stock has failed to recover from a big drop in April when the company bought rival Worldpay for $24 billion, which expanded Global Payments’ reach but created headaches in integrating the two businesses. Before the acquisition, Global Payments had been divesting units and buying back shares.

Elliott, which has a record of pushing companies to change in ways that reward shareholders, has a stake in the company, the Financial Times reported. The exact size of the stake and the activists’ demands couldn’t be established, the newspaper said. A person familiar with the situation confirmed with Barron’s that Elliott now has a “sizable” position.

Global Payments shares rose 3.9% just after the market opened to $80.43. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Write to Brian Swint at brian.swint@barrons.com