Dayforce Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors

Dayforce was acquired by Thoma Bravo and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for $12B in August 2025, a 7.0x multiple on $1.8B of revenue.

Dayforce acquisition price

$12B

Acquired by Thoma Bravo, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority · Aug 2025

Dayforce revenue at acquisition

$1.8B

Last twelve months · Aug 2025

Dayforce revenue multiple at acquisition

7.0x

EV/Revenue · Aug 2025

Dayforce EBITDA multiple at acquisition

24.5x

EV/EBITDA · Aug 2025

Dayforce Overview

About Dayforce

Dayforce is Ceridian's flagship cloud-based human capital management platform serving organizations worldwide from its Minneapolis headquarters. The single-architecture system unifies payroll, HR, benefits, workforce management, and talent acquisition for companies ranging from SMBs to global enterprises like McDonald's and AstraZeneca. Dayforce processes billions in payroll annually across 100-plus countries, featuring AI-driven scheduling and compliance tools.


Founded

1992

HQ

United StatesMinneapolis, MN

Status

Acquired

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Subscription

Revenue

$1.8B (Aug 2025)

Valuation

$12B (acquired Aug 2025)

Dayforce Acquisition

Dayforce was acquired by Thoma Bravo and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for $12B on 21 August 2025.

The acquisition price implies a 7.0x revenue and 24.5x EBITDA multiple on $1.8B of revenue.

Before the acquisition Dayforce had raised $150M across 1 funding round.

Dayforce agreed on 21 August 2025 to be acquired by Thoma Bravo in an all-cash transaction with an enterprise value of US$12.3 billion, with stockholders receiving US$70.00 per share. The price was a 32 per cent premium to the unaffected closing price on 15 August 2025. The transaction included a significant minority investment from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority alongside Thoma Bravo's funds. The take-private was intended to give the company room to invest in artificial intelligence across its payroll and workforce management suite away from quarterly reporting pressure, and it closed on 4 February 2026 with chair and chief executive David Ossip continuing to lead the business. Dayforce is dual-headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Toronto, Ontario and sells a single cloud platform covering payroll, human resources, benefits, workforce management and talent for large and mid-sized employers worldwide. For the year ended 31 December 2024 it reported total revenue of $1,760.0 million, up 16.3 per cent, recurring revenue of $1,339.9 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $501.5 million at a 28.5 per cent margin. The company was first named Ceridian and traces its business to 1992.

Dayforce acquisition details
AcquirerDateTypePriceEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
  • Thoma Bravo
  • Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
21 Aug 2025PE buyout$12B7.0x24.5x

Sources: globenewswire.com, sec.gov

Dayforce Funding History

Dayforce has raised a total of $150M across 1 funding round.

Dayforce funding rounds

Dayforce funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Mar 2016Undisclosed stageFidelity National Financial; David Ossip; THL$150MCeridian HCM, now Dayforce, completed an equity financing on 30 March 2016 in which it issued senior convertible participating preferred shares for an aggregate of $150 million. The money came from the company's existing owners rather than new outside investors: Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial, which together held about 96 per cent of the holding vehicles, their co-investors and certain other existing shareholders. Fidelity National Financial subscribed $47 million, its pro-rata share, and its ownership percentage was unchanged by the transaction. The preferred shares carried a 12.5 per cent annual dividend and a 1.5 times liquidation preference, making the financing closer to an insider recapitalisation than a growth round. The proceeds supported the company's migration of its customer base from legacy payroll systems onto the Dayforce cloud platform, which was then the centre of its strategy under chief executive David Ossip. The company traces its roots to 1992 as Ceridian, was taken private by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial in 2007, returned to the public markets in 2018 and renamed itself Dayforce in 2024.

Who has invested in Dayforce?

3 investors have backed Dayforce across its funding rounds, including THL, Fidelity National Financial and David Ossip.


Dayforce Investors

Investors in Dayforce by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
Fidelity National FinancialUnited StatesJacksonville, FL1ParticipantMar 2016

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Acquisitions by Dayforce

Dayforce has acquired 10 companies to date.

Last acquisition by Dayforce was on October 23rd 2026. Dayforce acquired Ribbon for undisclosed valuation.


Latest Acquisitions by Dayforce

Ribbon
ADAM Human Capital Management
DataFuZion HCM
Ideal
Description
Ribbon is an AI-driven career platform designed to expedite job discovery for professionals. It generates tailored resumes, simulates realistic mock interviews with feedback, and delivers customized job recommendations based on user skills and preferences. The tool integrates job application tracking and career advice to support users throughout the hiring process. Launched in 2023, the platform targets tech, finance, and marketing sectors with its adaptive algorithms.
ADAM Human Capital Management is a provider of integrated payroll processing, human resources software, and business process outsourcing services throughout Latin America. Headquartered in San José, Costa Rica, the company operates its unified ADAM platform to handle multinational compliance, talent management, and full-service human resources outsourcing for enterprises in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Venezuela. ADAM supports seamless BPO delivery across Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, enabling businesses to streamline workforce administration regionally.
DataFuZion HCM is a provider of human capital management software tailored for small and medium-sized businesses in the Asia-Pacific region. The platform handles payroll processing, employee onboarding, performance tracking, and compliance reporting across multiple countries including India and Singapore. DataFuZion HCM integrates with local tax systems and supports multi-language interfaces. Headquartered in Mumbai, India, the company supports over 500 organizations with its cloud-native solution launched in 2018.
Ideal is a San Francisco-headquartered talent intelligence platform that integrates with HR systems like Workday and Greenhouse to analyze employee data for hiring, promotion, and retention decisions. Launched in 2020, the AI-driven tool processes resumes, performance reviews, and demographics to deliver fair matching scores and DEI metrics. Ideal serves over 200 enterprise customers including Fortune 500 companies in tech and finance.
HQ CountryCanadaUnited StatesIndiaCanada
HQ City
Toronto
Dallas, TX
Mumbai
Toronto
Deal Date23 Oct 20266 Dec 202110 Nov 202129 Apr 2021
Valuationundisclosed$34M$19Mundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Dayforce Competitors

Dayforce competitors include listed companies like Paycom and Paylocity, and private ones like Gusto, Rippling, Deel and Personio.

Public and private companies comparable to Dayforce
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
PaycomUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$2.1B$799M$11B5.2x
GustoUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate$500M-$9.3B-
RipplingUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate$570M-$17B29.5x
PaylocityUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$1.8B$499M$9B4.9x
DeelUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate$1.2B-$17B14.4x
PersonioGermanyMunichPrivate$26M-$8.5B-

Dayforce Public Comps

Dayforce is no longer listed, but its public comps include Paycom, Paylocity, Workiva, TOTVS, Freee, Hilan, ATOSS Software, Teamshares, Paychex and Workday.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Paycom$2.1B$799M5.5x5.2x14.2x10.8x
Paylocity$1.8B$499M5.1x4.9x18.0x13.3x
Workiva$885M($33M)4.4x3.8x(117.9x)21.4x
TOTVS$1.1B$298M3.8x3.0x13.4x11.4x
Freee$268M$15M5.8x5.4x104.0x64.2x
Hilan$944M$146M1.8x-11.4x-
ATOSS Software$212M$82M6.9x6.2x17.8x16.0x
Teamshares$472M($23M)1.3x1.0x(26.7x)15.9x

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Common questions about Dayforce

When was Dayforce founded?Dayforce was founded in 1992.
Where is Dayforce headquartered?Dayforce is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, United States.
Is Dayforce publicly listed?No, Dayforce was acquired by Thoma Bravo and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in August 2025.
Who acquired Dayforce?Dayforce was acquired by Thoma Bravo and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in August 2025.
How much was Dayforce acquired for?Dayforce was acquired for $12B in August 2025, a 7.0x revenue multiple.
How much funding has Dayforce raised?Dayforce has raised $150M across 1 funding round.
What was Dayforce's last funding round?Dayforce's last funding round was a $150M undisclosed-stage round in March 2016.
Who are Dayforce's investors?Dayforce's investors include Fidelity National Financial, David Ossip and THL.
Which companies are comparable to Dayforce?Companies comparable to Dayforce include Paycom, Gusto, Rippling, Paylocity, Deel and Personio.
How many companies has Dayforce acquired?Dayforce has acquired 10 companies, including Ribbon, ADAM Human Capital Management, DataFuZion HCM, Ideal and Ascender HCM.
What was the largest acquisition by Dayforce?The $34M acquisition of ADAM Human Capital Management in December 2021 is the largest acquisition Dayforce has made to date.

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