DEALING FOR DOLLARS

The Deal (thedeal.com) is a source that contains an M&A database as well as a collection of daily briefings and weekly reports. These reports are sector- or transaction-specific and can be set up as email alerts. The primary sec tions are Intelligence, Activism, Auctions, M&A, Restructuring, Private Equity, Middle Market, Sectors, and Events. The M&A content consists of the latest news and a Deal Dashboard high lighting recent mergers and acquisitions, as well as recent Out of Court Memos.

The actual M&A database, containing almost 57,000 transa ctions, is part of its overall Deals database. You have the ability to filter by Bankruptcy Filings/Exits, Auction Characteristics, Bankruptcy M&A Deals, DIP/Exit Transactions, Distressed Warnings, M&A Multiples, Private Equity Returns, Out-of-Court Debt Structures, and New Out-of-Court Financings. Each filter provides a contextual search interface with appropriate parameters. The resulting Deal Memo, for each transaction, provides all of the available information on the transaction in an easy-to-read format.

An Arbitrage Situations Chart is available and regularly updates throughout the day. It provides data showing the spread, or difference between, the target stock of a merger or acquisition and its value in the deal. Two additional databases are Auctions and M&A Opportunities. Almost 11,000 Auctions of corporate assets can be searched as well as approximately 900 M& A Opportunities that have been identified and detailed by The Deal analysts.

The Deal is particularly geared toward M&A analysts and companies currently seeking M&A opportunities. It emphasizes “actionable intelligence” from its analysts and designed the site to facilitate this type of M&A research.

POINTING TO DEALS

A new resource available in the M&A field is Deal Point Data (dealpointdata.com). Developed for both M&A analysts and researchers, its coverage includes deals valued at more than $100 million and announced since 2008 with a U.S. or non-U.S. public target and at least one SEC filer participant. Select deals valued at less than $100 million are also covered. The database includes financial adviser fee information for deals announced since 2008.

The interface is clean and easily navigable, with all of the expected search options available and a scrollable list of recent significant events presented for skimming. Primary search categories are Main (containing all of the transaction elements), Company, Transaction (containing subsections of Source of Funds/Financing, Tender Offers, Target and Acquirer Vote Requirements & Results, to name a few), Negotiated, Advisers, Significant Events, and Text Search.

Deal Point Data has several items that make it particularly interesting for M&A research and analysis. When available, the actual merger agreement is included and linked to from the results screen and transaction display screen. The Significant Events section is particularly notable, providing a timeline of actions and activities. Several include a link to a full-text document detailing the event. This provides a much greater understanding of not just the transaction details but also the overall path to the merger or acquisition.

A second facet of the database is the Chart option, which will easily graph, in a variety of formats, any element within the viewed transaction. This provides an additional layer of visual information for understanding the transaction. Short videos are provided to learn how best to search, chart, and re port, along with any available additional training. While not necessarily a replacement for SDC Platinum, it is certainly a database that brings unique information into an M&A analysis environment.