An M&A data room for advisers who run the whole mandate

Sell-side: building the room

• Create the index as nested folders before the client starts uploading. Folders are numbered 1, 1.1, 1.1.1 automatically, and every party sees the same numbers.
• Upload whole folders with their structure intact, with files up to 250 MB each.
• Send the client a secure upload link. They do not need an account.
• Every upload is checked before it is stored and lands in the right folder.
• Use version history when the client sends a corrected set of accounts, so the old copy is kept but not confused with the new one.
• Download any folder as a ZIP when you need an offline copy.

Buy-side: organising what you receive

When you act for the buyer, you still need somewhere to file the target's documents, your workstream notes and the advisers' reports. Folders shared by workstream (financial, legal, tax, commercial) let each team see only what it needs, with read-only access for people who are reviewing rather than drafting.

Deal phases with partner gates

Each mandate moves through five phases: pitch and mandate, preparation, marketing and due diligence, negotiation and closing, and closed. A 31-item checklist sets out what each phase needs. Partners alone clear conflicts, accept the mandate, approve the teaser, IM and long list, open the data room, choose the shortlist and preferred bidder, and confirm closing. Holds, returns and closures are recorded with a reason.

Tracking buyers through the process

The buyer tracker follows each party from the long list through teaser, NDA, information memorandum, management meeting, bid, shortlist and preferred bidder, or records why it dropped out. Nobody is contacted before a partner approves the materials, the IM goes only to parties with a signed NDA, and there is one preferred bidder at a time. A bid table compares each bid with the highest.

Document control for deal papers

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.

Security basics

• Files are encrypted at rest in Amazon S3 with AES-256.
• Each firm's data is isolated at the database level using row-level security.
• Two-step login (MFA) for your team.
• Every upload is checked before anyone can open it, and programs and scripts are blocked. Antivirus scanning can be added on the Firm plan.
• An append-only activity log records each view, download and share. Each entry carries a hash of the one before, so an edit or deletion shows up when the chain is re-checked. You can export it to Excel.
• Each user can see their signed-in devices and sign out the others remotely.

Cost

Plans are per internal user per month on annual billing: Starter $25, Advisory $39, Firm $49. A standalone data room is $149 a month. Third-party guides put a single mid-market room from established VDR providers at roughly $500-625 a month (approximate, third-party figures as of November 2026).

Questions