Exclusive-Silver Lake in talks to buy Workday, sources say

By Milana Vinn

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Private equity firm ‌Silver Lake is in ​talks to ​acquire Workday in a deal that would rank among the largest software buyouts in history, according to people familiar with the matter.

News of the talks sent Workday shares nearly 18% higher on Thursday.

Silver Lake ‌and the human-resources and financial management software company have held discussions about a potential deal in ⁠recent months, the people said. The talks are ongoing and there is no guarantee a deal will materialize, said the sources, who spoke on condition ‌of anonymity because the discussions are ‌confidential.

The Pleasanton, California-based company had a market value of around $43 billion before Reuters reported on the talks, which caused its shares to surge. The stock closed at $206.45 on Thursday, giving Workday a market value of around $51.1 billion.

Silver Lake could ​bring in additional investors to finance the deal, one of the people said. The private equity firm teamed with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners for its roughly $55 billion take-private deal for videogame maker Electronic Arts last ⁠year.

Neither Silver Lake nor Workday immediately responded to requests for comment.

Prior to Thursday's news, Workday shares had fallen about 15% this year, as investors questioned the ​durability of traditional software in an era of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence. The stock was down more than 40% from its 2024 peak.

AI CONCERNS SLOW BUYOUT ACTIVITY

Private equity firms have largely ​stayed on the sidelines of large software buyouts this year as concerns ‌over artificial intelligence have made it harder to assess the future growth and value of traditional software companies.

That has contributed to a dearth of large software take-private deals this year. Hg ⁠Capital agreed in January to take financial software maker OneStream private for about $6.4 billion — one of the larger software buyouts announced this year.

A potential acquisition of Workday would be significantly larger, making it one of the biggest tests yet of private equity appetite for traditional software ⁠businesses as AI reshapes the industry.

The deal would also follow Thoma Bravo’s agreement to acquire payroll software provider Dayforce in a transaction valued at ​about $12.3 billion.

Silver Lake has a history of investing in technology and software companies, including computer maker Dell Technologies, cloud software company VMware, and experience-management software maker Qualtrics.

WORKDAY'S AI BET

Founded in 2005 by former PeopleSoft executives Aneel Bhusri and David Duffield, Workday went public in 2012 and ‌provides cloud-based software for human resources, payroll, finance, spending and planning. The company serves more than 11,500 customers globally, including Netflix, U.S. Bank, Johns Hopkins University and Thomson Reuters.

Bhusri returned ‌as Workday’s chief executive in February, replacing Carl Eschenbach, as the company navigates growing pressure from artificial intelligence on traditional business software.

Workday reported ⁠revenue of $9.6 billion in fiscal 2025, up 13%, ‌while generating $2.9 billion in operating cash ​flow, up 19%. Revenue growth, however, has slowed from 16% the previous year.

(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Additional reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York; Editing by Echo Wang, David Gaffen and ‌Matthew Lewis)

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