Pagero Group, a Sweden-based provider of e-invoicing and indirect tax solutions, has received two separate takeover bids from Avalara and Thomson Reuters to add with last month’s offer from Vertex.
The offer from Avalara which was revealed today is the latest and is set at SEK45 ($4.37) in cash per share, translating to SEK7.2bn ($700m). A day earlier, Thomson Reuters announced an offer of SEK40 ($3.9) in cash per share, which values all shares in Pagero to around SEK6.4bn ($620m).
In December 2023, Vertex, via its fully-owned subsidiary Goldcup 34190, made a bid of SEK36 ($3.5) per share. This amounts to nearly SEK5.8bn ($564m) based on all outstanding 161.17 million shares in Pagero.
At that time, the board of directors’ independent bid committee at Pagero unanimously advised the company’s shareholders to accept Vertex’s public offer. However, following Thomson Reuters’ offer, the committee withdrew its endorsement of Vertex’s bid while recommending acceptance of the latter’s proposal.
Regarding Avalara’s bid, which is the highest among the three offers, Pagero said that the independent bid committee will assess the offer and reveal its opinion.
The independent bid committee has continued to engaged Lazard as its financial adviser and Cederquist as its legal adviser.
Pagero stated: “This is the third public offer for Pagero that has been announced since 13 December 2023, which the independent bid committee within Pagero’s Board of Directors considers clear evidence of the company’s strong position and successful strategy.”
The Swedish firm offers a Smart Business Network that facilitates the automated, compliant, and secure exchange of orders, invoices, payment instructions, and other business documents between buyers and sellers.
Through an open network and an array of apps, Pagero assists businesses in optimising their order-to-cash and purchase-to-pay processes, harnessing the complete potential of precise and dependable business data. This applies universally, transcending geographical location, industry type, company size, or existing systems.
