WDAY Stock Soars To Best Day On Record — PE Firm Silver Lake Reportedly In Talks To Buy Workday

Private equity firm Silver Lake is reportedly in discussions to acquire cloud software pioneer Workday in what could become one of the largest tech buyouts ever.

• Silver Lake is in ongoing negotiations to acquire Workday, a human resources and financial software maker with a market capitalization of around $43 billion. 
• The potential buyout comes as Workday’s stock has slumped this year amid widespread investor concerns over AI's impact on traditional enterprise software.
• If finalized, the transaction would mark a major rebound for large-scale technology acquisitions following a prolonged period of sluggish dealmaking. 

Private equity heavyweight Silver Lake is in preliminary discussions to purchase software giant Workday Inc. in a blockbuster deal that could stand among the largest private equity technology buyouts on record.

According to sources who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the negotiations, talks between Silver Lake and Workday have been taking place over recent months. However, the sources cautioned that discussions remain fluid and may not ultimately result in an agreement, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Representatives for both Silver Lake and Workday did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

WDAY stock soared 25% on Thursday following the news and was on track for its best single-day jump on record. 

Funding Structure And AI Headwinds

To finance a transaction of this magnitude, Silver Lake may partner with co-investors, according to one of the sources. The strategy mirrors the firm's recent mega-deal, in which it teamed up with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners to take video game publisher Electronic Arts private in a $ 55 billion transaction.

Workday’s market valuation has faced persistent pressure in recent quarters, with its shares declining around 15% year-to-date as of Wednesday and dropping more than 40% from its 2024 peak. The downturn reflects broader Wall Street skepticism regarding how conventional enterprise software providers will fare against rapidly accelerating artificial intelligence capabilities.

In response to these headwinds, co-founder Aneel Bhusri stepped back into the chief executive role in February to steer the enterprise through the AI transition. Bhusri launched Workday in 2005 alongside fellow former PeopleSoft executive David Duffield, taking the cloud-based human resources, payroll, and financial management provider public in 2012. Today, the platform powers operations for over 11,500 global enterprise clients, including high-profile organizations such as Netflix, U.S. Bank, and Johns Hopkins University.

Rebound In Big-Ticket Tech M&A

A successful acquisition of Workday would signal a major revival for large-scale technology buyouts after a multi-year period of subdued deal volumes.

The potential takeover follows another massive transaction in the sector earlier this year, when private equity firm Thoma Bravo acquired payroll software specialist Dayforce in a deal valued at approximately $16 billion.

WDAY Stock: Retail View 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was ‘extremely bullish’ with ‘high’ message volumes. 

WDAY stock has lost 6.5% year-to-date. 

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