M&A Deal Room Management

PREREQUISITES:

• Read box:box for Box MCP auth, tool selection, base workflows. If missing, run: npx skills add https://github.com/box/box-for-ai --skill box
• Read box-legal-workflows for risk frameworks, confidentiality, human-in-the-loop requirements, Box AI governance. If missing, ensure it's installed from the same skill package.

M&A Virtual Data Rooms require strict access controls, organized folder structures, and audit trails. This skill guides deal room creation, role-based permissions, and Box AI due diligence.

Core principles: Need-to-know access, audit readiness, compartmentalization, validation before sharing.

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Permission Architecture

Internal Roles

Role	Access Level	Scope
Deal Lead / M&A Team	Editor or Co-Owner	Root folder
Finance Team	Viewer	Financial Statements folder only
Legal Team	Editor	Legal Documents folder only
Executive Stakeholders	Viewer	Root folder (read-only overview)

External Roles

[CONFIRM WITH USER: External permissions] Before granting external access, confirm:

• Permission level? (Upload-Only, Viewer, Editor)
• Which folders? (entire deal room or specific folders)
• Expiration date?
• Shared link or direct collaboration?

Common patterns:

• External Counsel: Uploader on "External Counsel" folder (can upload, can't see others' files)
• Auditors: Viewer on Financial Statements folder only
• Prospective Buyer: Viewer on curated subset (not full deal room)

Always confirm before:

• Granting Editor/Co-Owner to external parties
• Creating Open shared links
• Granting root folder access outside core team

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Standard Folder Structure

[CONFIRM: Folder structure] Before creating, confirm:

• Organization has standard M&A template?
• Additional categories? (Environmental, Insurance)
• Folders to omit?

Standard structure:

[Deal Name] M&A Deal Room/
├── 01 - Financial Statements/
│   ├── Annual Reports/
│   ├── Quarterly Reports/
│   ├── Audited Financials/
│   └── Tax Returns/
├── 02 - Legal Documents/
│   ├── Corporate Documents/
│   ├── Material Contracts/
│   ├── Litigation/
│   └── Regulatory Filings/
├── 03 - HR & Employment/
├── 04 - Intellectual Property/
├── 05 - Commercial Contracts/
├── 06 - Real Estate & Assets/
├── 07 - IT & Cybersecurity/
└── 08 - External Submissions/

Why numbered prefixes: Consistent ordering across users, matches DD checklists, practice area alignment, segregates external submissions.

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Tool Selection

Task	Primary Tool	Notes
Create folders	create_folder	Batch create hierarchy
Upload new files	upload_file	For new documents
Copy from Box	copy_file	Copy existing Box files
Grant internal access	create_collaboration	Viewer/Editor/Co-Owner
Grant external access	CONFIRM, then create_collaboration	Always confirm first
Validate permissions	list_item_collaborations	Audit before sharing
Search documents	search_files_keyword	Find relevant docs
DD Q&A	ai_qa_multi_file	Cross-document analysis
Extract terms	ai_extract_structured_from_fields_enhanced	High accuracy extraction
Organize files	copy_file	Copy submissions to categories

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Implementation Workflow

Phase 1: Deal Room Setup

1. Authenticate: who_am_i
2. Create root: create_folder with deal name
3. Create subfolders: [CONFIRM: Customize?] → batch create
4. Grant internal access: [CONFIRM: Emails and roles?] → create_collaboration

Phase 2: Content Upload & Organization

5. Upload/copy: [CONFIRM: Source?] → upload_file or copy_file
6. Organize submissions: get_file_details → ai_qa_single_file (classify) → copy_file (copy to category)

Phase 3: External Access & Sharing

7. Audit permissions: list_item_collaborations (before external sharing)
8. Grant external access: [CONFIRM: Who, folders, permission, expiration?] → create_collaboration or add_folder_shared_link
9. Verify: list_item_collaborations (confirm correct)

Phase 4: Due Diligence & Analysis

10. Answer DD questions: search_files_keyword → ai_qa_multi_file → surface citations
11. Extract terms: [CONFIRM: Fields?] → ai_extract_structured_from_fields_enhanced
12. Write metadata: [CONFIRM: Template?] → set_file_metadata

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Guardrails

See box-legal-workflows for: Human-in-the-loop requirements, confidentiality, Box AI governance.

M&A-specific:

ALWAYS confirm before:

1. External access grants (any external party)
2. Creating shared links (especially Open)
3. Creating initial folder structure (default template vs. custom)
4. Copying files to externally-accessible folders (if file was NOT already externally accessible)

CONFIRM if uncertain: 5. Risk assessment decisions (if factors are ambiguous) 6. Metadata field selection (if unclear which fields are needed) 7. File categorization (if document type is unclear)

Proceed autonomously when confident:

• Copying/organizing files between internal folders (internal-only to internal-only, or external to external)
• Writing metadata when extraction is clear
• Categorizing documents by type when obvious
• Extracting terms from financial or legal documents with high confidence
• Creating due diligence summary reports

Default behaviors:

• Default to Viewer for external parties
• Prefer folder-specific over root access
• Validate with list_item_collaborations before external links
• Pace Box AI calls 1-2 seconds apart
• Surface citations from Box AI

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Example Workflows

Example 1: Create Deal Room + Internal Access

Request: "Create M&A deal room for Project Thunder, give Sarah editor access, John viewer access."

Flow:

1. who_am_i
2. [CONFIRM]: "Standard M&A structure? Customize?"
3. create_folder (root + all subfolders)
4. [CONFIRM]: "Grant Sarah Editor, John Viewer on root?"
5. create_collaboration (both)
6. list_item_collaborations (verify)
7. Report: folder IDs, access summary

Example 2: External Counsel Upload Access

Request: "Give external law firm upload access to Legal Documents."

Flow:

1. [CONFIRM]: "Email? Upload-Only or Editor? Expiration? Which folder?"
2. list_item_collaborations (audit current)
3. create_collaboration (with confirmed params)
4. Verify and report

Example 3: DD Question

Request: "What was EBITDA for last 3 years?"

Flow:

1. search_files_keyword ("EBITDA", Financial Statements folder)
2. Identify annual reports (last 3 years)
3. ai_qa_multi_file (specific question)
4. Present answer with citations
5. Offer additional metrics extraction

Example 4: Permission Audit

Request: "Check who has access before sharing with buyer's team."

Flow:

1. list_item_collaborations (root)
2. Categorize internal vs. external
3. Present audit report
4. [CONFIRM]: "Buyer's team access: folders? permission? expiration?"
5. Wait for confirmation