Transactions are stressful. There’s limited time, and the process requires asking exactly the right questions at the right time. Normally when understanding how data flows within an organisation works, you’d have a back-and-forth conversation to really understand what makes that business tick. That’s not possible in a transaction context.
As a buyer, you’re wanting to understand the true performance of that business, how their fundamentals and unit economics behave and how much work it might take to really grow that business. You’ve also got an eye on how much risk is involved, both from an information security and privacy standpoint - but also the operational risk of their existing technology landscape. It’s important to be precise in exactly what questions you ask - and to really understand what information is provided (and what isn’t provided) in response to those questions.
As a business raising funding, you need to ensure you can efficiently and consistently provide data agreed for the transaction data room. This is a delicate balance of ensuring you paint your performance in the best possible light while also making sure everything adds up and doesn’t raise any red flags from the diligence teams.
We can provide support to both sides of this process, having been involved with processes involving Venture Capital, Private Equity and trade bidders.
