HCM giant Paychex to acquire Paycor for $4.1 billion

HR tech mergers and acquisition have kicked off with a bang in 2025.

US-headquartered HCM giant Paychex has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Paycor, another US-based HCM company, for $22.50 per share or $4.1 billion.

As a result of the deal, Paychex and Paycor will serve 790,000 customers, and Paychex expects its total addressable market to increase from $90 billion to $100 billion.

The companies estimate that the acquisition will add $650 million of highly recurring revenue, and double-digit growth, to Paychex’s $5.3 billion full year 2024 revenue.

The deal has been approved by both companies’ boards, and is expected to close in the first half of 2025, once all regulatory conditions and customary closing conditions have been met.

JP Morgan served as an exclusive financial advisor to Paychex, while Goldman Sachs has advised Paycor.

Inside the Paycor acquisition

Talking about the purchase, Paychex’s CEO and President John Gibson shared: “I’m excited to welcome Paycor to the Paychex family.

“For over 50 years, Paychex has been committed to helping businesses succeed. This acquisition represents a significant milestone in our journey to provide best-in-class HCM solutions to businesses of all sizes.”

Paycor’s CEO Raul Villar Jr added: “Paycor’s mission is to empower business leaders to achieve greater success.

“We believe this transaction will create a great outcome for our clients and key stakeholders, and we are very excited to be joining Paychex for the next phase of our journey.

“We are confident that our customers will benefit from the shared expertise, resources, and innovative HCM solutions of both companies to drive even greater people and business performance.”

The combined company is particularly excited about the opportunity to unify two platforms built for different parts of the HR market – Paychex Flex for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) and Paycor Cor for enterprise companies.

Writing about the acquisition on LinkedIn, Stacey Harris, Chief Research Officer and Managing Partner at Sapient Insights Group, shared:

While Madeline Laurano, Founder of Aptitude Research, noted that deal “puts focus on the massive opportunity in the SMG market right now”.

This isn’t just a conversation about payroll. These providers are expanding into areas like talent acquisition, employee engagement, and workforce planning. This deal impacts every area of HR tech,” continued Laurano on LinkedIn.

Paychex’s CEO added that the acquisition of Paycor will also “enhance our capabilities upmarket, broaden our suite of AI-driven HR technology capabilities, and provide new channels for sustained long-term growth”.

Our customers will benefit from an expanded suite of technology and advisory solutions designed to help them address their HR challenges, and Paycor’s customers will benefit from our broad product set of HR advisory and employee solutions and from the scale and tradition of operational and service excellence that Paychex is well-known for in the marketplace.”

UNLEASH reached out to Paychex for exclusive insight into the deal, but, at the timing of writing, we had not received a response.