Global tax compliance and reporting software leader Sovos announced today that it has acquired Chile-based Paperless to expand its real-time government reporting capabilities with electronic receipts and consumer point-of-sale tax reporting. With the acquisition, Sovos will expand its presence in Brazil and extend Latin American operations into Chile, Colombia and Peru.
Paperless is the world’s largest eReceipts and eDocuments company, processing more than two billion transactions across more than 40,000 third-party systems in 2016. Its solutions support global retailers and manufacturers like HP, InBev and Cencosud, the second largest retailer in South America.
The addition of Paperless makes Sovos the first software provider to offer a global solution for real-time business-to-government reporting, a highly disruptive form of regulatory compliance that has now spread to more than 60 countries.
“Over the last several years, we’ve helped our clients deal with a wave of disruptive tax reporting regulations across Latin America and Europe, and eReceipts, which has quickly become a significant burden for businesses that sell directly to consumers, is the latest example of that,” said Andy Hovancik, president and CEO of Sovos. “Paperless is the clear leader in the eReceipts space and the only solution capable of handling these high-volume transaction scenarios globally. That makes it the perfect solution to enhance our Intelligent Compliance Cloud – and a critical solution for enabling our clients to stay ahead of eReceipts regulations as they spread around the world.”
With the rapid pace of globalization, governments across the globe are leveraging technology to close tax loopholes. Though each country differs in specific requirements, the shift toward real-time, detailed tax reporting is transforming business-to-government compliance at every point in the supply chain – and leaving businesses scrambling to replace outdated tax compliance processes and systems.
By acquiring Paperless, Sovos builds on the value of its Intelligent Compliance Cloud, a unique global compliance platform that helps more than 4,500 companies, including more than half the Fortune 500, reduce the burden and risk of tax compliance and business-to-government reporting.
The Sovos Intelligent Compliance Cloud currently supports a wide range of business-to-government reporting requirements, including eInvoicing in 10 Latin American countries and, most recently, SII reporting for businesses operating in Spain. The addition of Paperless expands those capabilities to business-to-consumer transactions for the first time.
“For more than 14 years we have been expanding our eReceipts solutions over Latin America,” said Alfredo Guardiola, CEO of Paperless, “We are delighted to join Sovos as it gives us the opportunity to expand worldwide and merge our best practices in a holistic solution for our customer base.”
This is Sovos’ second major acquisition within the past year in Latin America, known as the most challenging regulatory environment in the world. In 2016, Sovos acquired Invoiceware International, a regional eInvoicing and eAccounting compliance solution, to support its more than 500 multi-national clients that are facing increasingly complex requirements in the region where eInvoicing requirements are predicted to hit 98 percent adoption by 2024.
“Latin America has been a global proving ground for innovative methods by governments to enforce and collect tax from the companies operating within their borders. What starts there, spreads around the world,” said John Gledhill, vice president of corporate development at Sovos. “Our acquisition of Paperless, together with our recent acquisition of Invoiceware, sets Sovos up to lead the way forward for tax compliance and business-to-government reporting software in the region – and across the globe.”
Sovos is owned by London-based HgCapital and Vista Equity Partners. EY Chile served as financial advisor to Sovos, and Skadden provided legal counsel. ALTIS served as financial advisor to Paperless and Dalgalarrando, Romero & Cia provided legal counsel.
About Sovos
Sovos is a global leader in tax compliance and business-to-government reporting software, safeguarding businesses from the burden and risk of compliance around the world. As governments go digital, businesses face increased risk and complexity. The Sovos Intelligent Compliance Cloud combines world-class regulatory analysis with a cloud software platform to create an adaptable, connected and global compliance solution that keeps businesses ahead of the ever-changing regulatory environment. Sovos supports 4,500 companies, including half of the Fortune 500, and integrates with a wide variety of business applications. Based in Boston, Sovos has offices throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. For more information visit www.sovos.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Paperless
Paperless is the leading electronic receipts and electronic document management company in Latin America, processing over two billion documents per year for global enterprise businesses. For more than 14 years, Paperless has provided long term, scalable solutions that are easily implemented into over 40,000 systems. As a comprehensive Clean Technologies solutions provider, Paperless offers eInvoicing, eReceipts, eContracts, eBookkeeping, eFactoring, and advanced electronic signature solutions including biometry.
