Key Findings & Highlights:

Ceridian, founded in 1992 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a publicly-traded (NYSE and TSX under the ticker: CDAY) global HCM technology and services provider.  The firm was formed as the payroll bureau business of Control Data Corporation (CDC) (founded in 1957) and emerged in 1992 as an information services company after the restructuring of CDC.   

In April 2012, Ceridian acquired Dayforce, a SaaS-based HCM platform, and separated its HCM and payments business to focus primarily on HCM cloud technology.  Over the next three years, Ceridian divested the service-related elements of its business, including its electronic payment services organization, to Comdata (2014) and its benefits administration business to Morneau Shepell (2015).  In March 2016, it entered into a joint venture with WorkAngel and spun off its EAP business, LifeWorks, as a separate entity. Later that year, it divested its HR services business in the U.K. and Ireland to SD Worx.

In 2019, Ceridian acquired RITEQ, a provider of enterprise WFM solutions in Australia and New Zealand, expanding Ceridian's presence in region and provided a base of clients to expand its payroll services.

In 2020, Ceridian acquired Singapore-based Excelity Global, a leading APJ-focused HCM technology and managed services provider. The acquisition positioned Ceridian as one of the largest payroll services providers in the APJ region.

In February 2021, Ceridian announced intent to acquire Australian based APJ payroll specialist and HCM technology provider Ascender,  further solidifying its Asia Pacific payroll capability and footprint,  spanning 1.5k clients, 2.5m employees across 30 APAC countries; the deal is expected to close by the end of Q2, 2021. 

Today, Ceridian operates as a cloud-based HCM software and services provider, and as of 31 December 2020, it was serving ~4,906 clients and >4.2m users across >65 countries through its Dayforce HCM platform.

Ceridian targets mid to large-sized organizations with >6k employees for its Dayforce platform and services. It is capable of scaling and has clients from ~50 to >100k employees, but it's increasingly targeting and engaging larger, more complex multinational buyers. Henkel,  global industrial and consumer goods leader, is one of Ceridian's largest payroll technology customers servicing ~52k employees across >70 countries.

Ceridian historically targeted North American headquartered multinational corporations for adopting Dayforce and its managed service.  However, with its platform supporting users in >60 countries and now configured to natively support payroll in seven countries, including major countries including the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, it is increasingly targeted MNC's headquartered across all major geographies.