Datasite, an SaaS-based technology provider for global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) professionals, has completed the acquisition of MergerLinks, a London-based financial data platform used by finance professionals to find deal information, promote credentials and connect with investors, companies, and advisors for capital transactions.
The acquisition supports Datasite’s strategy “to be the home of M&A.” Financial terms are not being disclosed. MergerLinks and its management team are “operating as a strategic product unit within Datasite.”
Rusty Wiley, Chief Executive Officer of Datasite, said:
“Providing global dealmakers with innovative technology to facilitate deals faster and more effectively is core to Datasite’s mission. With MergerLinks’ vetted deal and relationships data, Datasite can now help facilitate the ideation phase of a transaction. Combined with our other deal pipeline, marketing, preparation, diligence and acquire applications, dealmakers now have a unique, single place where they can generate and manage their deals end to end to reduce deal friction and optimize outcomes.”
The MergerLinks platform provides “vetted data on over 240,000 M&A professionals (investors, managers, bankers, lawyers, consultants) and over 9,000 advisory firms, including the transactions in which dealmakers have been involved in, to help users find potential deal partners and advisors.”
Bartosz Jaskula, MergerLinks’ founder, said:
“M&A is a people business built on credentials and relationships. We’re excited to further expand the reach of our insights with the leader in software and services for M&A professionals, helping dealmakers work smarter.”
The acquisition also creates a unique view of the M&A ecosystem, unavailable anywhere else.
Doug Cullen, Datasite Chief Product & Strategy Officer, said:
“Datasite customers can now expand their networks, increase the number of sell-side and buy-side opportunities they compete for, and find the most relevant and active deal makers, advisors and contacts when they need them the most. This combination means dealmakers have a single platform for dealmaking.”
In addition to its virtual data room application for conducting due diligence, Datasite has introduced new applications to address M&A pain points “across the entire deal lifecycle.”
Powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, these applications “support deal pipeline management, preparation, asset marketing, and buy-side acquisition.”
Earlier this year, the company also “introduced Datasite Cloud, a purpose-built platform for managing every stage of the dealmaking process, all in one place.”
To support its growth in new markets and a wider range of use cases, in 2021 Datasite also acquired Firmex, “a virtual data room and subscription file-sharing provider, based in Toronto, Canada.”
Dealmakers in more than 180 countries “make their deals in Datasite, including 74 of the top 100 legal firms and all the top 20 global financial advisory firms.”
In 2022, Datasite facilitated more than “a quarter of the top 100 global deals.”