By Stephen Nakrosis

Payments company WEX said it will separate its chair and chief executive roles as part of a cooperation agreement with Impactive Capital.

Current Chair Melissa Smith will continue to serve as the company's president and CEO, and will remain a member of the board after the roles are split, WEX said.

The deal will also see the two companies agree to a refreshed slate of directors, which will include three independent directors. Impactive said it will withdraw its nomination notice and support the revised board at WEX's annual meeting.

Under the terms of the agreement, WEX will nominate Kurt Adams, Ellen Alemany, and Lauren Taylor Wolfe as the new independent directors. Adams has served as CEO of IPC Systems, and before that was CEO of Optum Financial.

Alemany has been a member of the board of directors of First Citizens BancShares since January 2022. Prior to that, she served as a special adviser to the chairman and CEO at First Citizens, and also served as vice chairwoman. Taylor Wolfe is co-founder and has served as the managing partner of Impactive Capital.

Existing directors Daniel Callahan, Aimee Cardwell, David Foss, James Groch, Derrick Roman, Melissa Smith, Stephen Smith and Susan Sobbott will also be nominated.

Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2026 18:40 ET (22:40 GMT)

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