Investing.com — European software stocks rallied Friday after Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that private equity firm Silver Lake is in talks to acquire .
A potential deal would rank among the largest software buyouts in history. Silver Lake and Workday, the human-resources and financial management software company, have held discussions about a possible transaction in recent months, according to the report. The discussions are ongoing, and there is no guarantee a deal will be reached, the report said.
By 04:01 ET (08:01 GMT), , and were up 4.7%, 6.8% and 8.8%, respectively. , , and rose between 2.5% and 4.5%. and gained 2.7% each, while rose 3.4%.
In the U.K., , and rose 1.6%, 1.9% and 4.5%, respectively. and gained 3.3% and 4.2%, respectively.
Workday shares jumped nearly 18% on the news. The company had a market value of around $43 billion before the report, and its stock closed at $206.45 Thursday, valuing the company at around $51.1 billion.
Silver Lake could bring in additional investors to help finance the deal, the report said.
Citi analysts said Silver Lake’s potential interest could reignite investor interest in the software sector, prompting a re-examination of AI-driven disruption concerns that fueled a recent selloff.
They said application software companies have largely continued to deliver resilient financial performance despite the rapid pace of AI development, and added that sector valuations still imply a “growth-cratering” scenario, even as potential “go private” candidates are arguably limited.