When choosing a virtual data room provider (VDR) for your M&A, IPO or fundraising deal, there are plenty to choose from. Selecting a good data room service is another matter though.
When you are sharing critical information you need to make sure that the data room you use is right for you. To make your life easier, here is a brief overview of how EthosData’s data room compares to Caplinked’s.
First, some introductions:
Since 2007, EthosData’s data room service has been used across thousands of M&A, IPO, asset sales and fundraising deals, and is trusted by more than 100,000 users in financial organisations, law firms, and advisory groups.
The company gives you both a very simple platform, and the professional experienced service you need – handling all your data room management so you can focus solely on your deal. EthosData founded by M&A experts and dealmakers so, compared to Caplinked, they have a better understanding of what all the different parties involved in a transaction require.
Caplinked was founded in 2010 so they are less experienced than EthosData in running deals. They also provide a very different service model to EthosData. Unlimited dedicated service is not included in Caplinked’s standard package and the only way they offer support with their standard package is by email. The number of administrators is also restricted to only 10 compared to unlimited administrators with EthosData’s standard plan.
Who gives a better service?
What separates a good data room from a great one is the level of service you get from a provider’s team.
You don’t want any surprises after your data room is up and running, or any additional costs for adding more users or getting a deal bible of your project. It’s important to take the time to understand what’s included in an initial proposal and what isn’t.
EthosData and Caplinked have very different models for how they provide you with support and service.
At EthosData a dedicated DataRoom Specialist is included in their service. This person handles all user, permission and document management for you – from uploading content to preparing activity reports – to make your life easier.
Caplinked doesn’t include unlimited dedicated service in its standard package. That means you’ll either need to spend a lot of time setting up the data room instead of focusing on the deal or upgrade to a higher package, something that can quickly rack up the cost. Leading any negotiation it is very stressful and time-consuming by itself, you should work with a provider that helps you and saves you time. EthosData is the best option to rely on to manage your data room.
Furthermore, you won’t have one person dedicated to your deal so there can be delays in customer service as individuals are less aware of what’s happening on your deal.
Given that you have a team dedicated to your deal from the word ‘go’, EthosData will get your data room launched faster than Caplinked. Also, one of their users have mentioned in an online review that they take certain requests only on Thursdays. Now you definitely don’t want that in your data room provider.
Which is better for value?
When you look at the cost of a data room the important thing to consider is how much time you think a service will save you. You want a provider who can simplify your deal admin and free you up to focus on your deal, not your documents.
In this regard, EthosData’s additional benefits (see table below), transparent and inclusive fees, and service make their data rooms better value for money. If you go with EthosData you’ll be saving more time and money, and you won’t face surprising charges down the line.
Caplinked have been blamed for not honoring the deal they offered in the beginning and tried to increase the fee by 300%.
A final word:
Before you commit to one provider you should do two things.
The first is get a demo of the platform. The second is to ask what they can do for you: upload 5 GB of documents (that is around 60,000 pages!), set up the different access, add 100+ users, prepare activity reports, help me managing the data room…?
A provider that does that – and doesn’t extra charge you for any of this – it is a provider you should trust and work with.
Want to learn more about how EthosData’s VDRs work?
Book a free demo of the service:
