Whether you are an entrepreneur launching a startup with a dazzling new product or the chief executive of a blue-chip global company, you probably aren’t spending much time pondering how best to manage paperwork in preparation for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). It’s a hassle, after all, and a distraction from the core business at hand.
Ignoring it won’t keep the paperwork from piling up, but managing it cleanly and effectively may be easier than you think. As enterprises evolve towards a data-driven business model, they continue to seek more efficient ways to digitise important transactions, documents and other crucial workflows.
Responding to that need, the virtual data room (VDR) has transformed business processes, particularly the practice of mergers and acquisitions. It enables deal teams to collaborate securely from anywhere in the world and empowers businesses to compete better in increasingly disrupted global markets.
The features that make the VDR such an integral tool for M&A – quick to set up, easy to use and, above all, secure – also define it as an indispensable long-term business intelligence platform. Clients can rely on this technology as a critical archive for intellectual property, licensing, compliance and regulatory documentation, and other assets.
A virtual data room will save you time, minimise risk and give you greater control
Leveraging this power early in a company’s life cycle helps eliminate the disorganised and unsecure information-sharing that often characterises exchanges with outside parties or internal review processes. Avoid sluggish reactions to incoming opportunities, when critical funding is on the line or your intellectual property is hanging in the balance. A VDR will save you time, minimise risk and give you greater control.
From the very beginning, an enterprise can quickly upload all documentation and data to a single repository, enable smooth and easy tracking with internal parties, and allow confidential sharing and monitoring of information with external legal counsel or consultants.
Potential partners and financiers can be granted secure, fully controllable access to drug trials, licensing agreements, proof-of-concept or other data. Maintaining this comprehensive business storehouse can deliver ongoing benefits from a company’s earliest days as a startup through maturation as a public entity and beyond.
Along the continuum encompassing all stages of growth, executives, employees and their business partners have secure, frictionless access to necessary documents, with the assurance that the right people will see only the right information. A VDR provides efficiency for internal tasks and transactions, helping to manage regulatory requirements, navigate post-integration planning, issue future disclosures and investor communications, streamline future M&A, initial public offering, real estate or other transactions, and work with auditors and other external business partners.
When the timing is right for a transaction, businesses can avoid potential roadblocks by streamlining pre-diligence with structured information-staging. Take advantage of specialised support and consulting to ensure your asset-staging is done quickly and correctly. Professional guidance and automated tools help an organisation confidently present itself in the best possible light.
Merrill Corporation helps firms around the globe securely protect, share and collaborate on their most sensitive and confidential content. Our signature Merrill DataSite VDR uniquely combines state-of-the-art technology with ironclad security and best-in-class service, backed by deep industry expertise.
Clients, ranging from technology startups to Premier League football clubs, use Merrill DataSite to manage their documents and workflow, keeping them nimble, innovative and able to seize opportunities. DataSite creates efficiencies and savings, provides complete assurance of secure data-hosting, and offers an unmatched user experience to empower faster, better and more cost-effective outcomes. In short, take control of your documents from the start to avoid reacting to situations.
