top of page

What is a

virtual

data room?

Virtual data rooms are websites giving access to secure spaces hosting confidential data. The access of the participants is controlled using a secure connection provided by the authority controlling the data room. This connection can be deactivated at any time by this authority in case of loss of access rights by one of the participants. Restrictions may be imposed on the participants' ability to communicate confidential data to third parties by transmitting, copying or printing, in particular by dynamic watermarks marking each document in the name of the consulting participant and by blocking the printing and downloading of all or part of the files. It must be possible to keep a detailed record of consultations for auditing purposes, indicating who has consulted, when and which document.

Virtual data rooms are used for a variety of purposes, including data storage, document exchange, file sharing, transactions, and more. The main uses are:
  • Mergers and acquisitions, fundraising.
  • Insolvencies and corporate restructurings.
  • Joint ventures involving the sharing of sensitive technological data and the plot of who is bringing what.
  • Tender processes.
  • Real estate transactions.
 
In a transaction, the virtual data room plays the same role as a traditional data room: under the control of the vendor or its counsel, it allows bidders and their advisors to inspect and report on the various data made available to them in a secure and constantly monitored space. Unlike a traditional data room, it allows several bidders to access the files in parallel and without seeing each other. It is also much easier to communicate new documents or new versions of documents throughout the process and it prevents bidders’ teams from traveling.
bottom of page