The filing is on the heels over an initial public offering by a competing indirect tax company, Vertex, that raised about $375.7 million when it went public at $19 per share, outstripping the initial estimates of $14 to $16 per share. Avalara has given underwriters an option to purchase another $75 million in shares in an offering that was filed under a shelf registration. The prospectus’ description of the use of proceeds was the following: “We intend to use the net proceeds of this offering for general corporate purposes, which will likely include funding acquisitions.” But you have to wonder if there is a target company out there as during this week’s webcast for earnings for the second quarter ended June 30, CEO Scott McFarlane said, “It has been longer than I like since our last one” but added the company has a robust pipeline. Five hundred million would be a lot for a company which had  $382.4 million in revenue for the year ended December 31  to invest internally.