M&A automation: Current challenges regarding company data

M&A professionals face four key challenges related to data on private companies.

First, they struggle to obtain reliable, early financial and company information for non-listed, especially small and mid-sized, targets, which complicates target screening and assessing revenue, profitability, and cultural fit.

Second, there are difficulties in accessing and comparing ownership and company data internationally, particularly outside Germany and in the US, due to differing standards and fragmented data sources, leading to incomplete company lists.

Third, professionals find it hard to structure and prepare large, heterogeneous data sets in a user-friendly way. There is a lack of solutions that can integrate, clean, and standardize data from various databases and open sources to support M&A strategy, target search, and due diligence.

Fourth, they miss clear signals for inorganic growth opportunities and “warm” access to key decision-makers. Consolidating firmographic information from many sources and identifying triggers for sale readiness or transaction interest remain major open issues.

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