UPDATE 1-Thomson Reuters raises offer for Sweden's Pagero to $789 mln, topping Avalara's bid
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Jan 15 (Reuters) - Thomson Reuters said on Monday it raised its offer to buy Sweden's Pagero by 25% to about $789 million and that it now controls about 54% of the company, seeking to ward off a rival bid for the e-invoicing and tax solutions firm.
Thomson Reuters said it increased its offer to 50 crown per Pagero share, valuing the company at 8.1 billion crowns and topping an offer of 45 crown per share from U.S.-based sales and tax management services company Avalara Inc.
Avalara's offer, in turn, was higher than Thomson Reuters' previous offer last week of 40 crowns per share, which valued Pagero at 6.4 billion crowns, or about $627 million.
Thomson Reuters said it has now acquired about 53.81 of the shares and votes in Pagero from key shareholders, including Summa Equity, Pagero's CEO Bengt Nilsson and several members of the management team and employees.
Pagero's independent bid committee of board of directors recommended Thomson Reuters' new offer. ($1 = 10.2711 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Gokul Pisharody in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
