Merrill DataSite® and Axial Partner for End-to-End Transaction Support

NEW YORK, March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Axial, the platform for online deal sourcing, today announces a partnership with Merrill DataSite®.

Axial is the largest online network for professionals who run, advise, finance, and acquire private companies, and Merrill DataSite is the leader in virtual rooms for private market transactions.  Together, they now represent a complete end-to-end solution for companies and their advisors to access the private capital markets.

The partnership includes:

• End-to-end integration – Private market professionals can now move easily from deal sourcing and relationship development to process management, easing the transaction process while maintaining the independence of two unique solutions.
• Education and marketing – The changing landscape of technical solutions and financing options means that all participants need education on succeeding in the new environment. Axial and Merrill DataSite will create educational webinars, event experiences, and other marketing programs on deal development and financing for their mutual customer bases.

The two organizations will build integrations on their shared goal of empowering private businesses and their representatives, from the largest companies to specialty and regional teams around the world. The goal of the integration is to ease deal management and provide more predictable access to capital for both growth and exit strategies for the middle market.

"The partnership between Merrill and Axial cements the many ways technology has evolved the capital markets," said Ed Bifulk, President of Merrill DataSite.  "We are looking forward to connecting our customers large and small to a platform that can increase and improve deal flow and real-time private market connections. Axial created the deal sourcing category and we are excited to formally introduce this powerful platform to our 30,000 customer relationships."

"At Axial, we began with a focus on improving the transaction process for the middle market. We look forward to offering our members easier workflows with connections to the industry leader in virtual data rooms," said Peter Lehrman, Chief Executive Officer, Axial. "Merrill DataSite is the pioneer of the data room space and we are incredibly excited to bring its talent and capabilities to the Axial Membership."

About Axial
Axial (www.axial.net) operates the online network for professionals who operate, advise, finance, and acquire private companies. Each week, more than 200 private companies confidentially connect with more than 15,400 different financial intermediaries, capital providers, and strategic acquirers. Professionals join Axial to expand their network, source and share opportunities, and gain access to capital, advice and relationships that help them and their organizations succeed. Current active opportunities on Axial represent more than $41 billion in revenue, with more than 75 transactions closing each month. Axial is headquartered in New York, NY, and is backed by Redpoint Ventures and First Round Capital.

About Merrill DataSite
Merrill DataSite is a secure virtual data room (VDR) solution that optimizes the due diligence process by providing a highly efficient and secure method for sharing key business information between multiple parties. Merrill DataSite provides unlimited access for users worldwide, as well as real-time activity reports, site-wide search at the document level, enhanced communications through the Q&A feature and superior project management service - all of which help reduce transaction time and expense.  Merrill DataSite's multilingual support staff is available from anywhere in the world, 24/7, and can have your VDR up and running with thousands of pages loaded within 24 hours or less.

With its deep roots in transaction and compliance services, Merrill Corporation has a cultural, organization-wide discipline in the management and processing of confidential content. Merrill DataSite is the first VDR provider to understand customer and industry needs by earning an ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certificate of registration – the highest standard for information security – and is certified for operations in the United States, Europe and Asia.  Merrill DataSite's ISO certification is available for review at: www.datasite.com/security.htm. 

As the leading provider of VDR solutions, Merrill DataSite has empowered more than 2 million unique visitors to perform electronic due diligence on thousands of transaction totaling trillions of dollars in asset value. Merrill DataSite VDR solution has become an essential tool in an efficient and legally defensible process for completing multiple types of financial transactions. Learn more by visiting www.datasite.com today.

About Merrill Corporation
Founded in 1968 and headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., Merrill Corporation (www.merrillcorp.com) is a leading provider of outsourced solutions for complex business communication and information management. Merrill's services include document and data management, litigation support, language translation services, fulfillment, imaging and printing. Merrill serves the corporate, legal, financial services, insurance and real estate markets. With more than 5,000 people in over 40 domestic and 22 international locations, Merrill empowers the communications of the world's leading organizations.

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Contact:      Axial, Inc.  
                   Allison Tepley  
                   [email protected] 

SOURCE Axial