Software for boutique investment banks and M&A advisers

Five deal phases, with partners at the gates

Every mandate moves through five phases: pitch and mandate, preparation, marketing and due diligence, negotiation and closing, and closed. A 31-item checklist, built from the roles in a boutique bank, sets out what each phase needs. Numbered deal folders are created automatically. You can hold a mandate, return it to an earlier phase or close it, and the reason is recorded.

Regulatory items per deal

Add the regulatory steps a deal needs to its checklist: SECP, CCP merger clearance, PSX disclosures, SBP approval, a Shariah pronouncement for a sukuk, or GCC regulators such as the DFSA, CMA or SCA. A partner can waive an item that does not apply, with a reason on record. Stowbill tracks the steps; it does not give regulatory advice.

Conflict check

Before a mandate is accepted, Stowbill checks the client, the target and every counterparty against the firm's other clients, mandates and counterparties, ignoring legal suffixes such as Ltd or LLC. A partner reviews any matches. The mandate stage cannot close until the check has been run.

Buyer and investor tracker

• Each party moves from long list to contacted (teaser), NDA signed, information memorandum sent, management meeting, bid received, shortlisted and preferred bidder, or is dropped with a reason.
• No party is contacted before a partner approves the materials.
• The IM goes only to parties with a signed NDA.
• Only partners shortlist or choose the preferred bidder, and there is one preferred bidder at a time.
• A bid table compares every bid with the highest.

Deals pipeline

A board shows live mandates by phase, with deal value, the success fee at stake, NDAs signed, bids received and partner approvals waiting. Partners see the whole book on one screen.

Deal terms and the success fee

Each mandate records its deal type (sell-side or buy-side M&A, equity or debt raising, sukuk, restructuring or asset sale), the target, deal value, retainer, success fee percentage and minimum fee. Stowbill calculates the success fee from these terms. After closing, a partner can draft the success fee invoice in one step. Time is recorded against the mandate too.

Confidentiality inside the firm

• Need-to-know access: people see only the mandates they are assigned to.
• A read-only team role for people who should review but not change anything.
• Six permission levels on folders and files, inherited down the tree.
• A hash-chained activity trail, re-checked on the Activity page, so edits or deletions are detectable.
• Each firm's data is isolated at the database level.

Document control

• Check-out and check-in for drafts.
• Sign-offs tied to the exact version reviewed.
• Partner release before anything goes to the client or counterparty.
• Version history with restore and a 30-day recycle bin.

What is available today, and what is not built yet

We would rather you know exactly what you are buying. Outside buyers, investors, lenders and advisers can now sign in to a data room with an emailed one-time link. A partner must open each room before anyone outside the firm sees it. The viewer deters copying but cannot stop a screenshot, which is why every PDF page carries the guest's name. Excel, Word and CSV files open in the same protected view; PowerPoint and older .xls and .doc files should be uploaded as PDF.

Pricing

Starter $25, Advisory $39 and Firm $49 per user per month, billed annually. A standalone data room is $149 a month. Pricing is also available in PKR.

Questions