The Contract Network Launches Pioneering Solution to Transform Private Markets Deal Negotiations

TCN Partners with Integreon for first use case – speed and ease for the M&A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) negotiation process

ATLANTA (January 23, 2024)  – The Contract Network (TCN), an AI-powered contract collaboration platform, announced the launch of its private markets solution, focused on bringing private companies, investors and their advisors together more efficiently. Formed by the former CTO of Blackstone and the former President of global contract analytics leader Seal Software (now part of DocuSign), TCN uses generative AI, automation and market data to “cut through the noise” of contract negotiations and accelerate the deal making process for all parties involved.

TCN has partnered with Integreon, a worldwide provider of tech-enabled legal, creative and business outsourced solutions, to launch its first private markets use case – the negotiation of non-disclosure agreements for M&A transactions. Investment banks serving the middle market community negotiate thousands of NDAs every month, often with the same private equity firms. While the agreements typically change from deal to deal, the substantive negotiation points do not.

Through the deployment of generative AI at scale and the analysis of the negotiation of thousands of NDA data points, TCN and Integreon have developed a groundbreaking approach that enables all parties to an M&A NDA negotiation to quickly come to an agreement that meets their standards, while minimizing the amount of negotiation time required. The solution is available through Integreon as a managed service and focuses on automating learnings from one negotiation to the next, incorporating market insights for the benefit of both parties, and rewarding speed and frictionless transactions.

“The private markets community is disproportionately mired in contract negotiation. It’s Groundhog Day. We work on the same agreements and issues every day, and nothing changes,” said Bill Murphy, co-founder of TCN and former CTO of Blackstone. “No one wins when business slows down and no one wants to waste time and money. That’s why I believe TCN is going to have a massive impact for everyone involved.”

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“Current providers of middle-market M&A support are typically compensated by repetitively negotiating nearly identical agreements and issues for every project.  While these providers have reduced the costs of NDA negotiations when compared to a law firm, no one has fundamentally transformed the process to create a fast and frictionless kick-off of an M&A transaction.  The Integreon offering with The Contract Network solves this once and for all to the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Gabriel Buigas, Executive Vice President for Contracts and Compliance Solutions at Integreon.

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“NDAs are the entry point for every middle market M&A transaction, and that entry should be quick and seamless. But that’s not the reality,” said Jim Wagner, co-founder and CEO of TCN. “With the ready availability of generative AI and our purpose-built platform, we’re prepared to eliminate the need for outdated and inefficient negotiations. We view NDAs as the first step in the process of improving private markets transactions as a whole. We look forward to working with every key stakeholder in the market to transform these outdated agreement processes.”

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The Contract Network and Integreon will formally introduce their solution, including a generative AI-powered study on the predictability of M&A NDA negotiations, in New York the week of January 29, 2024. For more information, register for an in-person session or early access on The Contract Network website.