Ceridian to Acquire Ascender, a Leading Human Capital Management Provider Across 30 Countries in Asia Pacific Japan

SYDNEY, Australia, Feb. 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ceridian (NYSE: CDAY; TSX: CDAY), a global leader in human capital management (HCM) technology, today announced it has entered into a definitive share sale agreement to acquire Ascender, a leading payroll and HR solutions provider in Asia Pacific Japan (APJ). Together with Ascender, Ceridian will provide the most comprehensive payroll and human capital management solutions in the region. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.     

“The acquisition of Ascender will strengthen our leadership in the APJ region, accelerate our global growth strategy, and deliver even greater value to our customers,” said David Ossip, Chairman and CEO, Ceridian. “I look forward to welcoming the Ascender team to Ceridian and to working together on our shared vision to create exceptional employee experiences.”   

“The combination of Ascender with Ceridian will be tremendous news for our employees, customers, and partners, who will benefit from Ceridian’s global scale and award-winning Dayforce platform. We’re committed to helping our customers successfully navigate the future of work as we embark on a new chapter within the Ceridian family,” said Andrew Wilson, CEO, Ascender.   

Ascender provides more than 1,200 global brands with leading payroll and HR capabilities. As a premier HCM provider in the region, Ascender has deep industry expertise across all verticals, including higher education and government, as well as a strong partner ecosystem. With this acquisition, Ceridian will serve a combined 1,500 customers and 2.5 million employees across 30 countries in the region, including Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.  

The Ascender acquisition will support Ceridian’s proven track record of successfully bringing value-driven organizations into the company. Previously, Ceridian acquired Excelity Global, a Singapore-based leading HCM provider, and RITEQ, an Australia-based leading enterprise workforce management provider. With the acquisition, Ceridian will have the opportunity to deliver additional value to Ascender’s customers through the Dayforce platform’s full-suite HCM capabilities, including workforce management, payroll, and time and attendance. 

“APJ is the fastest growing region for payroll and HCM, and Ceridian is uniquely positioned to support organizational leaders driving transformation in today’s rapidly changing world,” said Stephen Moore, Head of Asia Pacific Japan, Ceridian. “We look forward to serving more customers in the region with Ceridian’s award-winning products and expanding the breadth and depth of our leadership team.”   

Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, PwC, and Minter Ellison are serving as advisors for Ceridian on the acquisition. Morgan Stanley, Gilbert + Tobin, Ernst & Young, and PwC are serving as advisors to Ascender. Ascender is backed by a private equity consortium led by Potentia Capital and 5V Capital, which acquired the company in 2015.

About Ceridian 
Ceridian. Makes Work Life Better™. 

Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. (“Ceridian” or the “Company”) (NYSE:CDAY) (TSX:CDAY) is a global human capital management software company. Dayforce, our flagship cloud HCM platform, provides human resources, payroll, benefits, workforce management, and talent management functionality. Our platform is used to optimize management of the entire employee lifecycle, including attracting, engaging, paying, deploying, and developing people. Ceridian has solutions for organizations of all sizes. Visit Ceridian.com  or follow us @Ceridian. 

About Ascender 

Ascender serves more than 1.3 million employees throughout Asia Pacific Japan with Payroll and Human Capital Management platforms. With more than 900 dedicated professionals across 31 countries, Ascender services a diverse range of clients’ payroll requirements through leading technology and innovative processes. Today, more than 1,200 global brands and listed companies trust Ascender to meet their payroll and HR needs. Ascender is backed by a private equity consortium led by Potentia Capital.

About Potentia Capital

Potentia Capital is Australia’s leading private equity investment firm focused exclusively on technology, tech-enabled services, and software businesses. The team is one of the most experienced in the Australian private equity market, having deployed over $2 billion in capital across more than ten investments in the technology sector globally. More information on Potentia can be found at (http://www.potentiacap.com/)

Forward-Looking Statement and Risk Factors 

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements regarding the acquisition discussed in the press release and our expectations, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Because such statements are based on expectations as to the future and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 

This press release should be read in conjunction with the risks detailed in the “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information,” “Forward-Looking Statement”, “Risk Factors” and other sections of Ceridian’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Annual Reports on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Investor Relations contact: 
Jeremy Johnson 
1-844-829-9499 
investors@ceridian.com 

Media contact: 
Teri Murphy 
1-647-417-2117 
teri.murphy@ceridian.com