News: IRE UPDATE 1-Australia's Iress opens books to EQT after higher $2.35 bln bid

(Adds offer details, background)

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Australia's Iress Ltd (IRE) said on Wednesday it had opened its books to EQT after the Sweden-based private equity firm made a revised proposal to buy the software provider for an enterprise value of A$3.2 billion ($2.35 billion).

Iress said last month it had rejected two earlier bids from EQT, the latest of which valued it at up to A$2.96 billion, on the grounds that it did not provide a compelling value to shareholders.

The revised A$15.91 per share offer was up from a proposal of between A$15.30 and A$15.50 per share tabled earlier, and at a 10.8% premium to the stock's last close.

The offer includes a cash consideration of A$15.75 apiece and an interim dividend of up to 16 Australian cents per Iress share.

Iress said it had agreed to grant EQT a 30-day exclusivity period to conduct due diligence.

EQT did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Goldman Sachs is serving as a financial adviser to Iress, while its board is also being independently advised by Gresham Partners.

($1 = 1.3609 Australian dollars)