IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator™ Shows 19 Percent Year-over-Year Increase in Global M&A Activity Driven by Emerging Markets

NEW YORK, December 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Asia Pacific, Latin American and European Activity Grows, North American Activity Remains Flat

The Q3 2011 IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator™, which provides an early view of current deal flow activity and trends in the global market prior to public announcement, today showed a 19 percent increase in global merger and acquisition (M&A) deal activity compared to Q3 2010. Year-over-year growth across all regions showed positive trends from Q3 2010 to Q3 2011, including Latin America (43 percent), Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) (39 percent), Asia Pacific (APAC) (34 percent) and North America (3 percent).

Despite the overall rise in deal activity year-over-year, the IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator found that quarter-to-quarter M&A deal activity was flat or negative regionally, with North American deal flow activity decreasing 7.5 percent from Q2 2011 to Q3 2011 and EMEA deal flow activity remaining unchanged in the same time period.  The strongest sequential growth from Q2 2011 to Q3 2011 was driven by M&A deal activity in APAC, which increased 44 percent from Q2 2011 to Q3 2011.  

"The results from the DFI, which include deals still in due diligence, shows activity being driven by emerging markets such as APAC, where strategic and more importantly financial buyers are increasingly active, while relatively mature markets like those in EMEA experience flat activity due to overall economic conditions," said Matt Porzio, vice president, M&A product marketing, IntraLinks.  "The significant increase in deal activity this quarter in APAC is likely driven by an overall flight to where investors believe long-term growth prospects are."

IntraLinks' Deal Flow Indicator results are based on the company's involvement in a significant percentage of M&A deals in the early stages of each transaction, providing a leading perspective on global deal activity. IntraLinks has been a global provider of M&A virtual data rooms for more than 10 years, providing a cloud-based platform that accelerates deals from the beginning to the end of the process. In today's economy, the ability to conduct due diligence on opportunities around the world and execute on deals that achieve value requires a concentrated strategy.  

"A new wave of mergers and acquisitions is happening, and contrary to previous M&A periods in which IT was only tactically involved, organizations now draw IT into their plans for cost savings and productivity improvements," wrote Henry Peyret, principal analyst in a Forrester Research report.[i] 

The IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator is calculated using the total volume of IntraLinks exchanges that were proposed for use by deal teams initiating projects during the previous quarter. The totals are then analyzed by global regions and compared to previous time periods. This report is based on observations and subjective interpretations of M&A deal activity and is not intended to be an indicator of IntraLinks' business performance or operating results for any prior or future period.

You can access full results from the Q3 2011 IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator and view video commentary at http://www.intralinks.com/dealflow.

About IntraLinks

IntraLinks (NYSE: IL) 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 million 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. Professionals at more than 800 of the Fortune 1000 companies have used IntraLinks' solutions. 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.

[i] December 21, 2010. "Best Practices: EA Should Take An Active Role In Mergers And Acquisitions," Forrester Research, Inc.