Workday shares surged 25% Thursday afternoon after a Reuters report said private equity firm Silver Lake is in talks to buy the company. Trading was halted three times on circuit breakers. Workday's market value topped more than $53 billion, and neither company responded to requests for comment.
The stock popped more than 20% Thursday on a Reuters report that Silver Lake is discussing a takeover of the human-resources and finance software maker. Workday shares later surged 25% in afternoon trading. The stock was halted three times on circuit breakers as volatility spiked. Workday's market value last topped more than $53 billion following the report, and neither company responded to requests for comment.
Talks are still preliminary
The discussions have been ongoing for months, but no guarantee exists that a deal will materialize. No regulatory filings or official statements from either party have confirmed the negotiations. Analyst Brent Thill pointed to personal ties behind the reported talks, telling CNBC's "Power Lunch": "Aneel Bhusri, the CEO, and Egon [Durban] from Silver Lake know each other well". Bhusri, a Workday co-founder, was renamed CEO in March after Carl Eschenbach stepped down.
Software stocks have come under pressure in recent months on concerns that AI tools will upend their business models, and Workday has not been spared. The shares closed at $175.29 on August 12, down roughly 30% from a 52-week high of $249.85.
A deal that would rank among the largest ever
Any acquisition valuing Workday over its current market cap of $43 billion would rank among the largest software buyouts in history. Silver Lake, which holds approximately $114 billion in assets under management, has recently written smaller checks: a $13 billion acquisition of Endeavor in March 2025 and an approximately $4.46 billion majority stake in Altera from Intel that same year. A Workday deal would surpass both combined, and would likely require one of the largest leveraged buyout financing packages in years.
Earnings could shape what comes next
Workday is scheduled to report fiscal 2027 second-quarter results on August 27, 2026, giving both sides fresh data on the company's trajectory before any talks progress further. Until then, the reported discussions stay unconfirmed.
Sources: CNBC, Investing.com, Crypto Briefing
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