‘Getting Time Back’ and More: The Power of Outsourcing for Dealmakers

In a challenging dealmaking environment, competition for the most attractive opportunities is fierce. Indeed, the adage, “time kills all deals,” has never been more apt. However, numerous friction points exist which can hinder bankers’ and deal teams’ efforts to move quickly from deal prep to diligence to closing.

Our recently published report, The New Outsourcing, takes an in-depth look at the challenges deal teams face today and how they can accelerate M&A, fundraising and financing processes, mitigate risk and offload tedious tasks that drain valuable time and resources.

Deal teams have their hands full

Today, executing transactions involves the review of significantly higher volumes of sustainability, compliance and risk data. Regulatory concerns now go far beyond scale and market consolidation to include data privacy, national interests, equitable consumer access, future competition and more.

Deal teams can easily become overwhelmed while juggling high-level priorities with the time-consuming tasks associated with evolving deal-lifecycle demands. While laborious tasks such as redaction, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), document collection, translation and Q&A are critical elements of the process, they take teams away from higher-value activities like sourcing deals and strengthening client relationships. An overburdened team is also more likely to commit costly errors during deal prep and due diligence. One accidental data disclosure, for example, could jeopardize a deal and a firm’s reputation.

As dealmakers face more challenges than ever, how can they increase their capacity, improve speed and accuracy, and “get time back” to focus on their core competencies? More and more firms are gaining a competitive advantage by outsourcing time-intensive deal tasks. In fact, the global managed services market is expected to surpass USD 300 billion by 2027, according to the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA).

Why outsource?

Outsourcing can offer numerous operational and financial benefits, including speed, cost savings and risk mitigation. Partnering with a managed service provider allows deal teams to expand their capacity as needed without increasing headcount. With purpose-built tools and experts at their disposal, outsourced teams are nimble and can turn around work on short timelines while also reducing human error, significantly accelerating the deal process. As a result, deal teams can produce complete and accurate compliance and due diligence documentation promptly.

What to outsource

Deal teams now have the option to outsource a wide range of essential activities associated with deal prep and due diligence. When deciding what to offload, consider starting with tasks that are burdensome for a dedicated headcount to handle, or areas where an oversight could result in litigation, reputational damage or loss of business.

Redaction, for example, requires significant time and the highest level of accuracy to protect proprietary business information. It is often best left to a service partner that can fully commit its resources to the task. Similarly, drafting, negotiating and collecting signatures for NDAs can be carried out by a managed service provider with legal expertise. In both cases, the outsourced team shoulders most of the workload, so your internal team can focus on moving the deal forward more quickly to due diligence, and ultimately, closing.

What to look for in a managed service provider

More and more dealmakers are creating efficiencies by choosing a partner deeply rooted in M&A, fundraising, financing and capital markets, as well as technology and innovation. Automated, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools are already changing the game for select service providers and their clients by improving the speed and accuracy with which they can comb through lengthy documents. 

While technology provides a critical advantage to dealmakers, having a tech-savvy team on your side that also has deep industry expertise is the best way to get your transaction across the finish line as quickly and smoothly as possible. Whether you’re counting on your service provider to populate, organize and quality assure (QA) files in your virtual data room (VDR), route questions between subject matter experts (SMEs) and buyers or investors during Q&A, or redact large volumes of documents, knowing their technological fluency is backed by practical dealmaking experience gives you peace of mind that your deal data is secure throughout the entire process.

How to get started

No matter what type of deal or project you’re working on — M&A, debt financing, private credit, bankruptcy, an asset sale or fundraising — outsourcing laborious tasks can give your firm a significant competitive advantage. With a dedicated team managing documents and back-and-forth communications, you can avoid errors and shorten deal timelines — reducing costs and increasing return on investment (ROI).

Still, selecting a managed service provider is a pivotal decision, and there are many important criteria to consider as you evaluate your options. Our recently published report, The New Outsourcing, provides valuable insights into the entire selection process, so you can better determine what to outsource and what to look for in a service provider.

Want to learn more about how dealmakers are accelerating M&A, fundraising and other strategic financing projects? Click here to read the report.