Selling a company is a time consuming and complex process. Having a data room in place early on in the process gives time to prepare properly and gain a comprehensive overview of the documentation entailed. Many enterprises also make use of a sell-side due diligence process, for an internal review before the interested parties arrive on the scene.
Looking at our data, we see clearly that early preparations are something many of our customers’ value. In fact, 22 % of new data room portals opened in 2019, were preparation portals.
But what should you expect when starting preparations early on, and what is a preparation portal? In this blog post, we will tell you all you need to know about preparing for due diligence using a preparation portal.
What is a preparation portal?
To put it simply, a preparation portal can be described as a limited data room. In Admincontrol we often describe it as a data room with all the features needed before buyer groups are invited in. You have all the features you need to prepare for due diligence, but not to perform the actual due diligence process. You can upload and structure your documents, but not invite potential buyers into the portal nor perform a Q&A (questions and answers).
What is included in a preparation portal?
As mentioned, you should have access to all the features needed to prepare for the due diligence process.
Features worth mentioning in Admincontrol’s preparation portals are:
- Unlimited data volume
- Unlimited number of users
- Set-up and index
- 30 minutes of training and project management
- Easy upgrade to a full data room
In addition, as with all Admincontrol’s solutions, you also get:
- Dedicated support and assistance 24/7/365
- Top-level security
- Flexible, out of the box and scalable software solution ready to use
How early should I open a preparation portal?
There is no fixed answer to this question. As a piece of general advice, we recommend opening it sooner, rather than later, as you never know when an opportunity comes knocking.
Our typical customer uses a preparation portal for 1-6 months before launching the full data room and inviting in buyer groups.
We also see certain use cases where this type of portals are running for several years. Within Private Equity, it is not uncommon that a preparation portal is opened shortly after a company is added to the PE ownership portfolio and runs throughout the ownership period.
PE ownerships are temporary by design, as the whole idea is to help companies grow and increase their enterprise value, and a preparation portal is a valuable tool during this type of ownership.
How do I get started?
You can easily purchase a preparation portal from Admincontrol’s webshop. Once signed up, you get access to your very own portal and can start the preparations. You are also appointed a dedicated Client Manager, that you can contact if you have questions or would like a walkthrough of the platform before you get started.
What is the cost of a preparation portal?
Billed monthly, a preparation portal from Admincontrol costs 250 EUR per month. For an overview of pricing in local currencies and annual billing options, please visit our webshop.
How do i upgrade to a full data room?
You can easily turn your preparation portal into a full-function data room. To do so, you can simply start to invite in users with buyer role(s). Once you invite in buyers, you will get a notification about your subscription being changed from preparation portal to a data room, and you are asked to confirm the change. When the confirmation is given, you have your full data room available and are ready for the next phase of your transaction process: Due diligence.
