Silver Lake is in talks to acquire Workday in a potential transaction that could rank among the largest software buyouts in history, according to people familiar with the discussions cited by Reuters.
The private equity firm and Workday have discussed a possible transaction in recent months. The talks remain ongoing, and there is no guarantee that an acquisition will ultimately be agreed.
News of the discussions sent Workday shares nearly 18% higher on Thursday.
Before the report emerged, Workday had a market capitalization of approximately $43 billion. The stock subsequently closed at $206.45, giving the enterprise software company a market value of roughly $51.1 billion.
Given Workday’s size, Silver Lake could potentially bring additional investors into the transaction to help finance an acquisition.
The firm has used that approach on other large technology transactions. Silver Lake partnered with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners on the approximately $55 billion take-private acquisition of Electronic Arts announced last year.
A potential acquisition would come after a difficult period for Workday’s stock. Before Thursday’s increase, the shares had declined approximately 15% in 2026 and were more than 40% below their 2024 peak.
Investor concerns have centered partly on how rapidly advancing artificial intelligence could affect established enterprise software companies and the durability of traditional subscription software business models.
Those uncertainties have also made large software acquisitions more difficult for private equity firms to evaluate.
Consequently, buyout activity involving major software companies has been relatively limited this year as investors try to determine how AI could affect future growth rates, competitive positions, product development, and valuations.
One of the larger software transactions announced in 2026 was Hg Capital’s January agreement to take OneStream private for approximately $6.4 billion.
A Workday transaction would be much larger and would test private equity’s willingness to make major investments in established enterprise software platforms as AI changes the competitive landscape.
It would also follow Thoma Bravo’s agreement to acquire payroll and human capital management software provider Dayforce in a transaction valued at approximately $12.3 billion.
Silver Lake has extensive experience investing across technology and software. Its past investments have included Dell Technologies, VMware, and Qualtrics.
Founded in 2005 by former PeopleSoft executives Aneel Bhusri and David Duffield, Workday went public in 2012 and has grown into a major provider of cloud-based applications spanning 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 CEO in February, replacing Carl Eschenbach as the company navigates changing competitive conditions created by AI and works to position its software portfolio for the next stage of enterprise technology spending.
Workday generated $9.6 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue, up 13%, along with $2.9 billion in operating cash flow, up 19%.
However, revenue growth has moderated from 16% in the prior year, adding to investor questions about the company’s longer-term growth trajectory.
For Silver Lake, acquiring Workday would provide ownership of a large recurring-revenue enterprise software platform at a time when public-market concerns about AI have pressured valuations across parts of the software industry.
Any transaction would still depend on the ongoing negotiations resulting in an acceptable valuation, financing structure, and definitive agreement.
