Data room solutions
Every UK sector and deal type asks different things of a data room. Choose your solution for a shortlist, the capabilities that matter and a typical cost.
A seed round with five angels and a care home sale awaiting CQC registration both use a data room, but almost nothing else about them is the same. The number of outside parties, the sensitivity of the documents, the regulator in the background and the timetable all change which features you lean on and what you will pay.
We cover 20 UK sectors and deal types, grouped below by the kind of transaction. Each solution page has a checklist, a shortlist of providers with the reason for each pick and an indicative cost in pounds.
Buying and selling companies
Share and asset sales of UK companies, from owner-managed businesses to contested auctions. The room carries the disclosure exercise, so the index and Q&A matter most.
Mergers and acquisitions
Mid-market sales and auctions where several bidders need staged access, a disciplined Q&A log and an index that maps onto the disclosure letter.
Shortlist: Ellty, iDeals, Datasite, Intralinks, Firmex
Selling a business
Owner-managed company sales, usually to one or two buyers, where a tidy room shortens the gap between heads of terms and completion.
Shortlist: Ellty, Firmex, iDeals, SecureDocs
Management buyouts
A management team buying from the owners, with the bank or a private equity house running its own diligence alongside the sellers.
Shortlist: Ellty, iDeals, Firmex, DealRoom
Due diligence
The process itself: legal, financial, tax and commercial workstreams answering enquiries against one set of documents.
Shortlist: Ellty, iDeals, Datasite, Firmex, SmartRoom
Joint ventures
Two or more parties contributing assets or know-how, often needing clean-team folders so competitors see only what they should.
Shortlist: Ellty, iDeals, Datasite, Intralinks, SmartRoomRaising capital and finance
Equity rounds, listings and lending. Investors and lenders want a verified, consistent document set, and many rounds run on short timetables.
SEIS and EIS fundraising
Seed and early-stage rounds where angels check HMRC advance assurance, the cap table and the articles before they invest.
Shortlist: Ellty, SecureDocs, CapLinked, Firmex
Private equity
Buy-side and exit rooms run across a portfolio, where the same firm may hold several rooms open at once over a fund life.
Shortlist: Ellty, Datasite, iDeals, Intralinks, DealRoom
AIM IPO
Admission to AIM with a Nomad, reporting accountants and lawyers verifying the admission document over several months.
Shortlist: Ellty, Datasite, Intralinks, Venue by DFIN, iDeals
Debt finance and refinancing
Bilateral and syndicated lending, where lenders and their counsel work through conditions precedent and security documents.
Shortlist: Ellty, Intralinks, Datasite, iDeals, Venue by DFIN
Family office and wealth
Direct investments, co-investments and family governance papers that need tight permissions and a long memory.
Shortlist: Ellty, iDeals, Intralinks, BoxProperty, construction and infrastructure
Asset-heavy deals with large files: title, leases, plans, surveys and technical reports. Bulk upload and a clear folder structure save days.
Commercial property
Single-asset and portfolio disposals in England and Wales, built around title, leases, replies to CPSEs and searches.
Shortlist: Ellty, Drooms, iDeals, Firmex
Construction and engineering
Contractor sales and building disposals with large drawing sets, building safety records and collateral warranties.
Shortlist: Ellty, Drooms, iDeals, Firmex
Energy and infrastructure
Renewables portfolios and infrastructure projects with grid connection agreements, leases and technical reports.
Shortlist: Ellty, Datasite, Intralinks, Drooms, iDealsRegulated and specialist sectors
Deals that need a regulator to approve the buyer or that involve sensitive personal data. Expect longer timetables and stricter access control.
Financial services (FCA)
Sales of FCA-regulated firms, where change in control approval can extend the timetable well past signing.
Shortlist: Ellty, Intralinks, iDeals, Datasite, Firmex
Healthcare and care homes
Care home and clinic sales with CQC registration, staff records and patient data that call for careful redaction.
Shortlist: Ellty, iDeals, Firmex, Intralinks
Life sciences
Licensing deals and company sales where clinical data, patents and regulatory files are shared with partners.
Shortlist: Ellty, ShareVault, iDeals, Datasite, Intralinks
Technology and SaaS
Software and SaaS deals where buyers probe code ownership, recurring revenue and customer contracts.
Shortlist: Ellty, Datasite, iDeals, DealRoom, Ansarada
Charities and not-for-profit
Charity mergers and transfers of undertakings, often run by trustees on a tight budget with volunteer time.
Shortlist: Ellty, Firmex, iDeals, CapLinkedInsolvency and professional advisers
Rooms run by insolvency practitioners and law firms on behalf of others, where speed, repeatability and a clean archive come first.
Administration and insolvency
Administrator and pre-pack sales where an insolvency practitioner has days to market a business with no warranties.
Shortlist: Ellty, Firmex, iDeals, Intralinks, SmartRoom
Law firms
Solicitors running rooms for clients across many matters, with SRA duties on confidentiality and record keeping.
Shortlist: Ellty, iDeals, Firmex, Intralinks, BoxWhich deal, which features
Every serious data room has permissions, an audit trail and two-factor login. The differences show up in the features below, and how much each one matters depends on the deal in front of you.
Which deal needs which data room features
Compare providers feature by feature in the provider summary table, or use the data room quiz for a shortlist.
Data room solutions: common questions
Do I need a different data room for each type of deal?
No. Most providers can run any deal type. What changes is the set-up: the folder index, who sees what, whether you need redaction or clean-team folders, and how long the room stays open. Pick the solution closest to your deal to see which capabilities matter.
Which UK deals involve the most personal data?
Care home and clinic sales, regulated financial firms and any deal with a TUPE transfer of staff. Under UK GDPR you should share only what a buyer needs at each stage, anonymise early, and keep a record of who saw what.
How long does a UK deal room usually stay open?
A small funding round may need a few weeks. An SME sale often runs three to six months from heads of terms. Regulated deals can run much longer while the FCA or CQC considers the change, so budget for extra months.
What does the typical cost on each solution page mean?
It is an indicative range in pounds for that kind of deal, based on published entry prices and typical quotes. It is not a quote. Confirm pricing, minimum terms and VAT with the provider before you commit.
How are the shortlisted providers chosen?
Each solution lists three to five providers whose features and pricing fit that deal type, with the reason in one line. The shortlist uses the same provider data as our reviews and scores.