Aug 18 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Thoma Bravo is

nearing a deal to acquire HR software company Dayforce ( DAY ),

a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Shares of Dayforce ( DAY ), which has seen its stock lose more than

27% of its value so far this year, were up about 29% in

late-afternoon trading. Dayforce ( DAY ) had a market value of $8.44

billion as of Friday's closing price.

Dayforce ( DAY ) offers a cloud-based human capital management

platform that includes payroll, workforce management, benefits,

talent management, compliance and analytics.

Thoma Bravo has been actively pursuing software acquisitions

this year, betting on the build-out of artificial intelligence

and the resilience of recurring revenue in a volatile economy.

A deal could be announced as early as this week or possibly

next week, the source said.

Thoma Bravo and Dayforce ( DAY ) did not immediately respond to

requests for comment.

Bloomberg News, which first reported the potential deal on

Sunday, said that while the talks were advanced, they could

still be delayed or falter.

Dayforce ( DAY ) beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter

revenue and raised its annual revenue forecast last week, as

more enterprises increase use of AI and cloud-based platforms to

run day-to-day operations.