The top 10 ways to use a secure virtual data room

SOURCE: HighQ

Did you think virtual data rooms were just for mergers and acquisitions? Think again. There are many various deals and transactions which virtual data rooms can help you with. Below are our top ten.

1. Selling your business

This is the most common reason for needing a virtual data room. In this case, the VDR replaces the physical deal room, and allows prospective buyers to review your business’s details in a secure online space, ask questions through the Q&A module, and place bids.

2. Asset sale

Similarly, sell individual or multiple assets via the virtual data room. Interested buyers can review relevant documents securely online and make decisions and bids more efficiently. Detailed reporting enables ease of auditing to evaluate the interest of prospective buyers.

3. Corporate repository

Most large businesses have teams in multiple offices, often in different countries. Use a virtual data room as a private, secure cloud to store documents and data that can be accessed by employees across the company, regardless of their location (subject to permissions).

4. IPO Diligence

Preparing for IPO involves the preparation of masses of sensitive documentation. Store, share and access all the documents in a virtual data room where all authorised project parties can gain access. Track the stages of the deal with advanced tasks modules to keep on schedule.

5. Joint ventures

If you’re joining forces with another company to make an investment, use a virtual data room as a space to work together during the deal. Share documentation, set milestones and communicate with one another through the secure online portal.

6. File sharing

Often you will need to share large or sensitive files with colleagues or external parties. Email simply isn’t an option, and couriering hard-copies or CDs is time consuming and costly. Instead, store them in a virtual data room and give recipients access to it within the system.

7. Mergers and acquisitions

The most prevalent use for data rooms is to facilitate mergers and acquisitions. Manage the complex processes involved in closing an M&A deal within a secure virtual data room, where you can design workflows to manage each part of the deal’s lifecycle.

8. IP licensing

IP documentation is one of the most sensitive types of data that businesses hold. Sharing this information with third parties needs to be managed carefully to ensure the documentation stays secure. Documents in virtual data rooms can be set as read only, so there’s no risk of information leaving the system.

9. Bankruptcy and restructuring

Many separate parties must be involved in bankruptcy and restructuring processes, such as under Chapter 11 or the UK Scheme of Agreements. A virtual data room is the ideal workspace for the parties to communicate and access documentation in a secure environment.

10. Fundraising

When it comes to applying for funds, companies need to be able to demonstrate past performance to prospective investors. Store financial and business reporting within a virtual data room and grant possible investors access for reporting and auditing purposes.

These ten uses are those that our clients use HighQ Dataroom for most often. But it doesn’t stop there; in fact, almost all business processes that require sharing information with a third party could benefit from using a virtual data room. Secure virtual data rooms are perfect for any transaction, deal or process where parties must view or access information, particularly sensitive data without the need to physically travel to another office.