European software shares rose on Thursday after Reuters reported that private equity firm Silver Lake is in discussions to acquire Workday, the U.S. human-resources and finance software provider. The news triggered a sharp single-day rally in Workday shares and lifted sentiment across the sector.
Workday closed at $210.19 on the Nasdaq, up 19.9% from the previous close of $175.29, after touching an intraday high of $227.49. The gain added roughly $8.6 billion to the company's equity value, pushing its market capitalization to about $51.9 billion based on approximately 247 million shares outstanding. Trading volume reached 8.75 million shares, well above average, and the stock was halted multiple times during the session.
The Reuters report, citing people familiar with the matter, said Silver Lake and Workday have held talks in recent months but emphasized that negotiations are ongoing and no deal is guaranteed. Neither company has commented publicly. Investing.com's version of the wire placed Workday's pre-report market value at roughly $43 billion, meaning a transaction at current levels would rank among the largest software buyouts on record.