“What we were seeing from other community banks was like a 4-16 day window from the time the application was complete to the time they heard anything back. We were turning those applications around anywhere from 12-48 hours (with the help of Vault Rooms).” –– Kate, Small Business Banker
In a time of so much change, mergers and acquisitions are to be found everywhere, possibly within the ranks of your own company. If that’s the case, congratulations! If it’s not yet the case, this guide can give you a headstart to set you up for M&A success.
Your acquisitor or new company partner will need a spread of paperwork and financial information that’s the lifeblood of your own company. Should any or all of this information fall into the wrong hands, it could lead to company damage and/or a cancellation of the deal in process.
Protect your merger and your company’s secure information with Vault Rooms’ industry-leading data room protection. Our secure data practices leave any transfer of information as secure as possible, and add bonuses like customer support, file organization, and 24/7 contact lines.
1. COMPANY FACT SHEET
This will be the first thing that many potential acquisitors will notice. What is your company’s history and what is your company’s mission? Where do you plan to be in five years, and how could that plan improve the status of a competitor looking to join?
List your most valuable assets, whether that means people, information, or inventions and patents. Make your company the shining star you know it to be, and in one page or less of reading.
2. FINANCES
Many companies miss this point, which is why getting it right and having the information readily available will make you the best suited for success. This is also one of Vault Rooms’ specialties, as we handle financial info for M&A as well as loans, healthcare, and other massive networks.
Top sheets and cover sheets will be your best friend when it comes to summating yearly reports. You want your information to be interpreted as easily as possible. At the same time though, should someone want to look deeper, make sure you’re putting transparency first.
Files that will be needed upon a more in-depth look will include: audit results from third-party CPA’s, monthly/quarterly profit reports, outstanding lines of credit or stock information, and company bank account information and status.
3. TAX INFORMATION
In the same way you’ve organized your financials, make sure that your tax information is just as well put together if not more so. This means returns, credits, and more. A data room provided by Vault Rooms is perfect for this purpose.
4. EMPLOYEE ROSTER
The most challenging part of any merger especially is people. At the same time, your employees and executives bring the most value to your company, and communicating this via data room during an M&A process is key.
Disclose everything that you legally can and should about each employee, and work with your HR representative if you’re not sure in this area. Describe what any given employee brings to your company, and organize your data room in such a way that it’s communicated clearly.
For your M&A data room, especially if you’re serviced by Vault Rooms, include worker salaries, benefits, and stock options, including titles, achievements, and their comfort level within a new organization.
5. ASSETS
If your company hasn’t been acquired for its employee skill, then it may instead be for what assets it controls, whether that’s real estate, intellectual property, or factory equipment. Your mergers and acquisitions data room from Vault Rooms will make organizing this information easy.
Asset documentation will include building liens and deeds, machinery inventory, and product ownership, but can also include digital property, patent information, cash availability, or special relationships to suppliers.
6. SALES, MARKETING, PROCESS INFORMATION
In a continuation of section 1, talk about the “secret sauce” that makes your company great, and too what others have said. While this section won’t need the highest level of security, a data room supplied by Vault Rooms will provide you with both security and organization.
M&A Data Rooms from Vault Rooms, Inc.: Top Level Data Room Security for Mergers, Acquisitions, and more
Whether it’s our existing M&A framework profiles, maximum security measures, or round-the-clock commitment to customer service, Vault Rooms is your choice for completing your M&A transaction, and will be a data room you’ll continue to use until retirement!
About Vault Rooms
For more than 14 years, Vault Rooms has been an industry-leading cloud-based virtual data room provider, proudly facilitating tens of thousands of global M&A transactions across a wide range of industries. Business brokers, accountants, investment bankers, attorneys, private equity firms, doctors, hospitals, and banks can safely collect, organize, share and track business-critical documents on the Vault Rooms platform 24/7/365.
About The Author
Karen Perkins is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vault Rooms, Inc. She is a troubleshooter, problem solver, and efficiency expert. Her career experiences have provided a broad foundation of skills that make her uniquely qualified to assist companies with their growth, transition, and operational improvement. She advocates for the use of simple and secure technology tools designed to make work and life easier with the Super S.M.A.R.T. Women platform. Likewise, her company, Vault Rooms, is a technology platform for the simple and secure sharing of business-critical files.
