Deal-making, explained for the web.
Short, plain definitions of the vocabulary at the intersection of M&A, private equity, and digital — the terms that show up in mandates, marketing materials, and the sites we build around them.
Add-on acquisition
An add-on acquisition is a smaller company a private equity firm buys to combine with an existing portfolio company, building scale under a single platform.
Buy-side
Buy-side refers to advisory work performed on behalf of an acquirer — sourcing targets, evaluating them, and negotiating a purchase.
Buyer list
A buyer list is the curated set of strategic and financial parties an advisor identifies as potential acquirers for a company being sold.
CIM (Confidential Information Memorandum)
A CIM is the detailed marketing document a sell-side advisor prepares to present a company to qualified buyers once they have signed an NDA.
CIM microsite
A CIM microsite is a permissioned, trackable web environment that presents the contents of a Confidential Information Memorandum to vetted buyers instead of, or alongside, a static PDF.
Confidentiality-first design
Confidentiality-first design is an approach to deal materials and web environments that treats access control, anonymization, and disclosure discipline as the starting constraint rather than an afterthought.
Data room index
A data room index is the structured table of contents that organizes every document in a diligence deal room so parties can navigate disclosures logically.
Deal announcement
A deal announcement is the public communication a firm issues when a transaction closes, confirming the parties, the advisor's role, and the headline terms it is permitted to disclose.
Deal marketing
Deal marketing is the practice of presenting a transaction to its intended audience — buyers or investors — through the materials, channels, and environments an advisor controls.
Deal room
A deal room is a secure, access-controlled environment where the documents and disclosures for a transaction are shared with vetted parties during diligence.
Engagement letter
An engagement letter is the contract between an advisor and its client that defines the scope of the mandate, the fee structure, and the terms of the working relationship.
Exit readiness
Exit readiness is the degree to which a company is prepared to be sold — its records, reporting, and story organized so a sale process can run quickly and command full value.
IR site (Investor relations site)
An IR site is the web presence a firm or company maintains for investors, carrying performance reporting, governance disclosures, and current fund or fundraising information.
LP portal
An LP portal is the secure, authenticated area where a fund gives its limited partners access to statements, capital calls, quarterly letters, and fund reporting.
Management presentation
A management presentation is the session — and the deck behind it — where a target company's leadership presents the business directly to serious buyers during a sale process.
Mandate
A mandate is a firm's formal authorization to act on a specific transaction — the engagement itself, once won.
NDA workflow
An NDA workflow is the process by which prospective buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement before gaining access to confidential deal materials.
Pitchbook
A pitchbook is the presentation a firm uses to win business — laying out its credentials, sector expertise, and proposed approach to a prospective client's transaction.
Portfolio page
A portfolio page is the section of a firm's website that presents its investments, holdings, or completed deals as a browsable, credible track record.
Roadshow
A roadshow is the series of meetings in which a company's leadership and its advisors present a transaction to investors or buyers, often across multiple cities or sessions.
Sell-side
Sell-side refers to advisory work performed on behalf of a company or its owners who are selling, raising capital, or otherwise seeking a transaction.
Sponsor-backed
Sponsor-backed describes a company owned or controlled by a private equity firm or other financial sponsor rather than by its founders or a strategic parent.
Teaser
A teaser is a one- to two-page anonymized summary of a company for sale, sent to prospective buyers to gauge interest before any confidential information changes hands.
Tombstone
A tombstone is the compact announcement of a completed transaction — parties, roles, deal size, and date — traditionally rendered as a formal notice.
Tombstone page
A tombstone page is the web-native version of a deal tombstone — a permanent page documenting a completed transaction and the firm's role in it.
Value creation plan
A value creation plan is the roadmap a private equity firm sets out for growing the value of a portfolio company over its hold period.