IntraLinks and mergermarket Global Survey: 78 Percent of M&A Practitioners
Expect an Increase in Deal Activity Over the Next 12 Months

LONDON, July 8 /CNW/ - Findings from a new global mergermarket survey commissioned by IntraLinks, a leading provider of critical information exchange solutions, have found that 78 percent of M&A practitioners expect the level of dealmaking in their region to increase over the next year. The survey of 160 global dealmakers from advisory, corporate and private equity companies across the world also found that 52 percent of respondents expect an improved market and financial conditions to be the principal deal drivers behind the expected uptick in M&A activity going forward.

Highlights from the IntraLinks Global M&A Study include:

    
    -  North American dealmakers are most optimistic about deal activity - 89
       percent of North American respondents expect the level of deal
       activity to increase over the next year. 79 percent of respondents
       feel this way in Latin America, followed by 76 percent in Europe and
       66 percent in Asia Pacific.

    -  M&A professionals in the Americas are upbeat about the economy - A
       clear majority of Latin America respondents (73 percent) and North
       America respondents (68 percent) are positive about the prospects of
       the global economy in the next year. However, respondents in Asia
       Pacific and Europe are more cautious. Just under half of the
       dealmakers in Asia Pacific (47 percent) and Europe (37 percent)
       expressed either a neutral or negative view.

    -  Cross-border dealmaking will be at its strongest in Asia Pacific - 71
       percent of global respondents expect Asia Pacific to be among the top
       three regions set to witness the most significant levels of cross-
       border M&A activity over the next 12 months, with North America second
       at 62 percent and Western Europe third at 49 percent.

    -  Using a VDR adds speed and efficiency to an M&A transaction -
       Overwhelmingly, 80 percent of respondents consider this the main
       benefit of using a VDR. 62 percent of dealmakers suggest that using a
       VDR can shave at least a quarter off the time it takes to conduct a
       transaction.
    

"It's very encouraging that the IntraLinks Global M&A Survey shows a significant majority of dealmakers are optimistic about the volume of pending activity, a positive trend that's supported by our recent quarterly Deal Flow Indicators," said Matt Porzio, VP, product marketing, IntraLinks. "The survey findings also reinforce the relevance of VDRs, such as IntraLinks' secure, SaaS-based solution, which significantly accelerate the M&A process from start to finish."

About the Survey

Conducted in April and May 2010, IntraLinks engaged Remark, the research and publications arm of The Mergermarket Group. They canvassed the opinion of 160 senior M&A practitioners from the corporate, financial and legal advisory and private equity community across the globe. Respondents were drawn equally from the Asia Pacific region, Europe, North America and Latin America and were asked to give their opinions on a number of extant issues including the post-global financial crisis, the economic and dealmaking environment as well as the key challenges and opportunities corporations face over the next 12 months. This survey is not intended to reflect IntraLinks business performance or operating results for any prior or future period.

About IntraLinks

IntraLinks is a leading global provider of Software-as-a-Service solutions for securely managing content, exchanging critical business information and collaborating within and among organizations. More than 1,000,000 professionals in industries including financial services, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, consumer, energy, industrial, legal, insurance, real estate and technology, as well as government agencies, have utilized IntraLinks' easy-to-use, cloud-based solutions. IntraLinks users can accelerate information-intensive business processes and workflows, meet regulatory and risk management requirements and collaborate with customers, partners and counterparties in a secure, auditable and compliant manner. IntraLinks counts 800 of the Fortune 1000 as users. For more information, visit http://www.intralinks.com or http://blog.intralinks.com. You can also follow IntraLinks on Twitter at http://twitter.com/intralinks and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/IntraLinks.

For further information: mergermarket, Anna Bengtsson, [email protected], [phone]; IntraLinks, Radley Moss, [email protected], [phone]