The project

• Based in Illinois, USA, Sara Lee Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, brand-name products for consumers throughout the world. Its businesses comprise North American Retail, North American Foodservice, International Beverage and International Bakery
• When Sara Lee embarked on a Euro 2.1 billion divestiture of its complete Household & Body Care (H&BC) units, it chose IROOMS Virtual Data Rooms from Imprima to help investors with their Due Diligence and Asset Management.
• In conjunction with Deloitte, Imprima structured Sara Lee’s H&BC businesses into 18 separate IROOMS VDR’s, each containing data specific to a work stream such as marketing, sales, distribution, procurement, and finance

The challenges

• The deal impacted in over 38 countries in the world – in every single time zone – and took 18 months to complete
• 1,500 active deal managers needed to upload data securely via IROOMS VDR, and full support from the IROOMS VDR project team
• 3,000 members of the various potential investor due diligence teams also needed time-critical access to the IROOMS VDR, alongside timely help and support
• Combined data within the IROOMS VDR amounted to over 300 GB

The solution

• Given the size and scale of its requirements, Sara Lee considered all the leading virtual data room providers before choosing IROOMS VDR, based on its flexibility, security, and unmatched local project management capability
• Using its advanced software, IROOMS’ VDR unique Permissioning System enabled Sara Lee’s 1,500 deal managers to create and manage access rights for all 3,000 users – no mean feat given the complexity inherent in assigning permissions on this scale, and the enormous potential impact on the deal should any users be given incorrect access to sensitive information
• Imprima asset and due diligence software organised simultaneous, continual online training for over 150 users worldwide
• Throughout the whole 18-month project, Imprima’s 24/7 IROOMS VDR teams worked tirelessly alongside Deloitte and Sara Lee, to facilitate the transaction as expediently and efficiently as possible