M&A Professionals See Process Automation as Industry's Biggest Game-Changing Technology

Software that automates mergers and acquisitions processes is the industry's biggest groundbreaking technology, according to key findings from a Merrill Insight^TM poll of global M&A professionals. Merrill Insight^TM is part of Merrill Corporation, a leading software provider for M&A professionals around the world.

Of the 223 dealmakers polled across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 34% of respondents cited process automation, such as asset marketing or due diligence automation, as the biggest game changing technology for the M&A industry. This was followed by analytics (30%), task automation, such as redaction or buyer outreach (19%), and machine learning and AI (17%).

"Speed is critical in dealmaking," said Rusty Wiley, Chief Executive Officer of Merrill Corporation. "Tools that help shrink the amount of time spent on administrative or routine tasks will mean more time for M&A professionals to focus on higher value activities, thereby ensuring better deal outcomes."

Dealmakers similarly indicated that current processes for marketing an asset for sale could also benefit from automation. When asked what is the biggest pain point regarding current asset marketing processes, an overwhelming 60% of dealmakers said it is inefficient or too manual. This was followed by no insights on buyer behavior across mandates (17%), poor visibility to what's happening within a specific project (14%), and providing client information on project status (9%).

For more information on the future of the M&A lifecycle, please see the Merrill Insighttm replay. The poll results are based on responses from global M&A professionals in the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who tuned into the event on October 31, 2019.

About Merrill Corporation
Merrill Corporation is a leading SaaS technology provider for participants in the M&A lifecycle. The company's platform, DatasiteOne, powers secure, intelligent due diligence, asset marketing and enterprise collaboration for thousands of deals globally. To learn more, visit www.merrillcorp.com