Thomson Reuters Surpasses Vertex with Striking Bid for Pagero

Thomson Reuters Surpasses Vertex with Striking Bid for Pagero

Thomson Reuters has entered a bidding war for business network company Pagero, offering SEK 40 per share, valuing the firm at about SEK 6.4 billion. The bid is SEK 4 higher than Vertex's offer last month, an 11.1% premium. Thomson Reuters' offer is contingent on them owning more than 90% of Pagero, with the offer acceptance period starting on the 12th of January and ending around February 9th. Pagero's independent bid committee unanimously recommends shareholders accept the offer.

💡 Why this matters: This is obviously great news for shareholders that still have not sold. The lesson learned here is always to wait until the last day of the bid so one does not miss out.

Before the new offer from Reuters, the share price traded around the old bid level of 36 SEK, so the market did not expect a new and higher bid. The share is trading at around 43 SEK, 7.5% above the current bid. In other words, the market expects that there will be a bidding war.

How likely is it that we will see a bidding war? Hard to tell, but if Vertex places a higher bid, it will likely be within the next five days. Otherwise, the acceptance from Pagero's largest shareholders will be lost.