New York, June 10, 2010 — A new study was released today on “Trends, Challenges and Technology Usage in a Changing M&A Environment” that was conducted by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by IntraLinks. The study identifies technology as the missing link to help companies institutionalize M&A and that professionals are looking for a broad set of capabilities in a solution, which cover all parts of a deal.
Forrester’s recommendations include: “Point solutions and generic tools are not an effective means to manage the entire M&A life cycle. Only through an integrated portfolio of technologies will companies be able to constantly advance their M&A competence.” Forrester notes the opportunity that this provides to technology vendors, referencing that the more complex the deal is, the higher the requirement is to leverage dedicated tools.
The study also states that M&A professionals indicated that they are looking for a broad and integrated set of capabilities in a management tool. More than 80 percent of M&A professionals said they would find project management and collaboration capabilities useful in a Web-based solution, with other features such as workflow management and email management also cited.
“We believe that Forrester’s findings on the needs of the M&A industry reinforces the relevance and importance of IntraLinks’ secure cloud-based solution for M&A deals,” said Matt Porzio, VP, product marketing, IntraLinks. “IntraLinks enables more efficient project management for M&A professionals by facilitating the secure, compliant and auditable exchange of critical information, collaboration and workflow management inside and outside the firewall. Companies can conduct the entire M&A process on the IntraLinks solution, allowing all participants an easier and more effective way to work together from start to finish.”
IntraLinks, a leading provider of critical information exchange solutions, has been used by the top 50 financial services companies and top 25 law firms in the world for M&A deals. M&A professionals utilize IntraLinks to accelerate deals, whether it’s deal preparation and setup, enabling multiple interested buyers to conduct due diligence simultaneously, or through easing the post-integration process by having electronic copies of all key company information organized and accessible in one place.