Between them, Cegid, following its recent acquisition of Shine, and Silae power the day-to-day accounting, tax, finance and payroll of 2 million end-customers and more than 15,000 chartered accountancy firms, while producing more than 13 million payslips across Europe every month. The planned transaction is expected to value the combined group at more than €10 billion in enterprise value, positioning it as one of France’s largest software companies and one of Europe’s premier technology champions.
With deep roots in Lyon and Aix-en-Provence, Cegid and Silae will bring together highly complementary expertise across leading product portfolios and technology solutions. Native integration between Cegid’s accounting and tax production tools, Shine’s banking and digital finance capabilities and Silae’s payroll and HR platform will enable the group to connect key data, automate processes and streamline interactions between businesses and their partners, chartered public accountants (CPAs) and value-added resellers.
The combined platform will deliver value to customers, for example, by unlocking deep product integration between payroll and CPA accounting software, activating Shine solutions via the My Silae platform, and supporting the development of advanced treasury cash management and forecasting tools.
Together, the offering gives small business owners and the professional partners who support them simple, smarter, AI-powered tools to manage and collaboratively grow their companies in a trusted, compliant and fully integrated end-to-end platform, efficiently automating all finance and administrative back-office tasks through state-of-the-art technology and innovation. The combined group will be one of the leading channels for bringing AI into Europe’s small businesses as well as a key partner in helping French SMBs through the e-invoicing reform that entered into force this month, ahead of its more demanding 2027 phase.
By combining forces, the two companies will be able to scale up their investment in research and development even further — at a critical time in the technology industry given the emergence of AI — and assemble one of the largest developer teams in Europe (1,400 strong) to build tomorrow’s leading-edge products for business customers.
In connection with the planned merger, Christian Pedersen has been appointed CEO of Cegid and in that role will lead the integration of Cegid and Silae’s activities, spearhead deployment of the joint offering, and serve as CEO of the combined group. Pedersen joins Cegid from IFS, a leading global provider of AI software.
Christian Lucas, Chairman of Cegid and Silae, and Managing Partner at Silver Lake, said: “This combination is an exciting milestone. It marks the successful culmination of a decade-long journey we’ve been on first with Cegid and later with Silae, as well as the start of an even more exciting one. Together, Cegid and Silae can offer a unique end-to-end suite of software and AI-powered products serving the SMBs and their professional advisors who are the dynamic heart and soul of the European economy. Silver Lake has been an unwavering supporter and long-term investor in both companies, helping transform two French leaders into European champions through sustained investment in technology and talent. Since our initial investment, revenues and headcount have more than tripled in size, with one-third of revenue now generated internationally, underscoring how local excellence can drive global opportunity. We are very much looking forward to continuing to support the combined group and its leadership team into the future for the long term.”
Christian Pedersen, Chief Executive Officer of Cegid, said: “I am delighted to join this ambitious project. Together as one integrated European platform, we can accelerate innovation and unlock the full potential of AI for customers across interconnected accounting, payment, payroll and HR data. My focus will be to continue turning this vision into truly differentiated, highly value-add solutions for businesses, chartered accountants, and their clients.”
Pierre Cesarini, who will continue to lead Silae in the planned combined group, said: “For fifteen years, Silae has focused on making payroll and HR straightforward, compliant and reliable for our partners and clients. The real value of this merger lies in the product integration: connecting payroll and HR natively with accounting, e-invoicing, digital finance and payments, so that firms and the businesses they serve work on a single platform with data flowing seamlessly across it while preserving the central role of accountants in their relationships with clients.”
