Contract data is the missing link that can help across all M&A stages, whether it’s M&A diligence, contract rationalization, post-merger integration, or actual synergy realization. In this video, Knowable SVP of Product, R&D, and User Experience, Nik Reed, shares examples of how Knowable’s innovative approach will help corporate development and M&A teams embrace the right technology to do better deals in the future.
Why Watch: Learn how to improve your M&A diligence process
Transcript Excerpt (edited)
We did this demo to show you how contract data can help you at any phase of the M&A process. We’ve divided it into four buckets: triaged, rationalization, harmonization, and BAU opportunity realization. So bear with me, and we’ll go through an example of each.
Maybe you’re at the beginning of a deal, and you’re either doing diligence, or you’re just about to close. What really matters for you is figuring out the most important contracts, the most important terms, or maybe how many of the contracts are coming up for renewal next month. What you see here is a bunch of charts structured from contract data that we’ve organized in a way that you can quickly find the answers to your questions— whether it’s how many of my targets’ contracts, customer contracts, vendor supplier contracts, or how many contracts are coming up for renewal at the end of August.
This resonates closely with me. When my company was being acquired by LexisNexis, a big legal data provider, it turned out one contract had very preferential language for very big law firm. They were our first customers, and it mattered a lot to us to lock them in and have their logos so we could go to other law firms and say they were using us. But they had gotten really preferential MFM language into the deal, and there was no way that LexisNexis could inherit that language. One of our conditions to close was to renegotiate that portion of that contract for the deal to be consummated. The law firm was gracious enough to do that for us, and we were able to close the deal.
In today’s environment, there’s so much pressure on time — time to close, competition with PE funds, and private money that is coming in — that to have this data at your fingertips and not have to do the review yourself can really help allay fears and find extra opportunity, which really matters in today’s climate.
Learn more about how Knowable can help uncover deal risks, improve transaction outcomes, and power your data to work for your M&A deals.