In the latest “go private” deal in HR software and services, workforce management specialist Workbrain said Monday, April 2, that it has agreed to be acquired by private software company Infor.

Under the deal, Infor will buy Workbrain shares for 12.50 Canadian dollars ($10.81) each. The entire stock purchase is estimated at 227 million Canadian dollars ($196 million).

The acquisition will be subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approval. It is expected to close in June.

Based in Toronto, Workbrain makes software for tasks such as time and attendance, workforce planning and workforce scheduling. Clients include British Airways, General Mills and Target.

“We will continue to invest and build upon Workbrain’s solutions,” Infor CEO Jim Schaper said in a statement. “Workbrain expands our current human capital management offering with unmatched domain expertise in the areas of time and attendance, scheduling, absence management and workforce planning.”

Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, Infor bills itself as the world’s largest private software company, with more than 70,000 customers. Its controlling shareholder is San Francisco-based private equity firm Golden Gate Capital.

Golden Gate Capital has been acquiring HR software vendors recently. Last year, Golden Gate Capital said it acquired Geac Computer and SSA Global Technologies, both of which were publicly traded firms whose products included HR software.

More broadly, there’s been a rash of activity when it comes to taking publicly traded HR software and services companies private. In late March, HR software firm Kronos—a Workbrain rival—agreed to be acquired by private equity investors for about $1.8 billion. Also in March, private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, along with Darwin Deason, founder and chairman of Affiliated Computer Services, said they have proposed taking HR outsourcer ACS private in a deal valued at about $8.2 billion.

Private equity investors seem drawn to HR software’s healthy outlook. In a report last year, AMR Research called human capital management one of the fastest-growing areas of business software, and predicted revenue in the field will rise 10 percent annually through 2010, to $8.7 billion.

—Ed Frauenheim