March 12 (Reuters) - Intellectual property services provider...

March 12 (Reuters) - Intellectual property services provider IPH Ltd (IPH) on Tuesday offered to buy smaller rival Xenith Ip Group (XIP) for about A$174.8 million ($123.64 million).

IPH said it was offering A$1.97 in cash and equity for each share in Xenith. The offer represents a premium of about 23 percent to Xenith's last close.

Xenith is in the process of merging with peer QANTM Intellectual Property Ltd (QIP) . QANTM made an all-equity bid for the company in November 2018 and offered 1.22 of its shares for each share in Xenith.

IPH, which had acquired a nearly 20 percent interest in Xenith last month, said its proposal was superior to QANTM's, and that it planned to vote against the proposal.

($1 = 1.4138 Australian dollars)