According to the announcement from Paychex Tuesday morning, Paychex is set to acquire Paycor in an all-cash transaction valuing roughly $4.1 billion. The agreement has already been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, the announcement said.
“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,” said Raul Villar Jr., CEO of Paycor, in a press release. “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.”
Founded in 1990, Paycor is headquartered in Cincinnati and recently moved those headquarters into the downtown area.
According to a May 2024 announcement from 3CDC, Paycor made plans to move out of its 136,000-square-foot campus in Norwood and into the former Saks Fifth Avenue building, which 3CDC bought from the City of Cincinnati for $1.
When 3CDC announced Paycor’s new home base, the Cincinnati real estate development non-profit said Paycor would operate as “an anchor office tenant for the space” at 101 W. Fifth St.
Joe Rudemiller, a spokesperson for 3CDC, said Tuesday morning that he couldn’t comment on the acquisition, but said Paycor’s plan to move into the former Saks Fifth Avenue building was expected to bring about 150 employees per day to the building by this summer.
Rudemiller said 3CDC isn’t sure yet whether Paychex will opt to occupy the space, which was intended to be used as a training and presentation space with offices available for employees who work remotely.
Paycor employs roughly 2,900 employees and serves over 49,000 clients, according to the acquisition announcement from Paychex.
Paycor is well known in Cincinnati because its founder, Bob Coughlin, also started the Flying Pig Marathon.
The Cincinnati-based business was sold in 2018 to Apax Partners, a British private equity firm. From there, Paycor went public in 2021 through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that raised $450 million to fund new growth initiatives.
According to Paychex’s announcement, the company will execute an all-cash acquisition of Paycor for $22.50 per share, or a total of around $4.1 billion. The announcement says the acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2025, though it didn’t highlight any specific dates.
Paycor is also the company with current naming rights on the formerly-named Paul Brown Stadium.
The naming rights deal forged between Paycor and the Cincinnati Bengals was never made public, and neither company ever disclosed how much Paycor paid to have its name in lights on the stadium.
However, when the naming rights deal was announced in 2022, the Bengals confirmed that Paycor had signed a 16-year deal.
It’s still unclear how Paycor’s acquisition by Paychex will impact that naming rights deal.
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