BDO customer case study

BDO Belgium chose Virtual Vaults as its new virtual data room provider. Data rooms used by the company in the past were very complicated and expensive. What does BDO value most about Virtual Vaults? We put this question to Alexi Vangerven, Partner Corporate Finance at BDO Belgium. “Virtual Vaults accelerates our process.”

Much easier
“When I first joined BDO, we still had the physical data room and this did have various disadvantages. We have been working with the Virtual Vaults online data room for many years now. It is much easier. We can see when someone accesses the data room. If a prospective buyer has not accessed the data room for a week, we know that something is wrong.”

Why Virtual Vaults?
Vangerven: “We met Virtual Vaults at a networking event in Belgium and had a really pleasant conversation. They presented Virtual Vaults in a very relaxed way. Not pushy, but they asked appropriate, open questions. At that time we were not particularly happy with our existing data rooms for two reasons: they were very complicated and also very expensive. Virtual Vaults thought: “That can be improved”. From a business perspective and as a data room provider, they do a remarkable job.”

Service for the customers of BDO
Vangerven believes that Virtual Vaults helps BDO to work more effectively on their projects: “With data rooms we have used in the past, it was very difficult to upload a large amount of data in one go, to contact the help desk and flexible fees weren't offered. Virtual Vaults always works; I have never had problems with the connection. It works smoothly. Our customers tend to upload their documents in the evenings and at weekends, so if they have questions it is sometimes during out-of-office hours. Virtual Vaults Help Desk specialists can even be contacted at those times and in our customer's own language.”

Smooth process for BDO
Vangerven continues: “Sometimes we are too late opening the Vault. When this happens, it's great to have an open line with Virtual Vaults; they help us to open up as quickly as possible. Sometimes even before the contract is signed. Virtual Vaults never impedes our process; it actually even accelerates our process. The people working at Virtual Vaults are all very young, dynamic and very open. It's great to be involved in their company's growth. I would recommend giving Virtual Vaults a try, I promise you won't be disappointed.”

About BDO Belgium
Vangerven: “I have worked at BDO Belgium for 14 years, as a partner in the Corporate Finance department. My focus is on M&A valuation and due diligence projects. At BDO Belgium, as well as supporting our customers, we try to act as their financial advisor, but also their HR advisor, transformation advisor and full-service advisor. We hope to be able to make a difference by having a great deal of experience in a project. We have juniors, of course, and they have to learn, but I am on hand to guide them. Many of our customers started small and quickly evolved. It's great to see them grow as a company, but also as a manager or shareholder.”