The operation comes as France’s reform of electronic invoicing goes into effect.
Cegid, the Lyon-based software publisher of management solutions for SMEs, and Silae, the Aix-en-Provence payroll and HR platform, are merging. The deal, still subject to consultation with employee representatives and to clearance from competition authorities, is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
The two companies, controlled by the Silver Lake fund, together boast a customer base of around two million end customers and more than 15,000 accounting firms, with more than 13 million payroll payslips issued each month across Europe.
The entire group would be valued at more than €10 billion, positioning the future entity among the largest French software publishers.
The stated objective is to connect the respective technological components of the two companies: Cegid’s accounting and tax tools, Shine’s banking and payment services (recently acquired by Cegid), and Silae’s payroll/HR platform.
The merger should notably enable deeper integration between payroll software and the tools used by accountants, as well as access to Shine’s services directly from mySilae, Silae’s platform.
On the governance front, Christian Pedersen, former Chief Innovation Officer at IFS and previously with SAP and Microsoft, will take the helm as CEO of Cegid and will oversee the integration and then the combined group. Bruno Vaffier will hold the position of Deputy CEO. Pierre Cesarini remains at the head of Silae, and Rico Adlor-Andersen at Shine, within the new entity.
A committee dedicated to accountants will be established, chaired by Mathieu Perrymond, with the participation of Jean-Michel Aulas, founder of Cegid.
According to the press release, the future group would bring together around 1,400 developers, one of the largest technical teams in Europe in this sector.
