In 1997 Intralinks began providing internet-based document management for capital market deals such as syndicated loans. It claims that electronic dissemination can cut hard costs such as phone, fax, overnight mail, messengers, financial printing and paper by up to 30%.
More recently it has branched out to service the municipal securities market, private placements and asset backed transactions. "Our volume in August was a little bit ahead of where we might have anticipated, and in September we had a significant backlog," says IntraLinks president and CEO Mark Adams.
A London office opened in April and has serviced six loan syndications, says Adams. The first non-domestic asset-backed transaction, a $70 million to $80 million offering for California-based First Alliance Mortgage, was expected to close in early October serviced from London. First Alliance was the first asset-backed issuer to use the internet-based service in the US, on a $100 million home equity loan asset based security launched in September.
More international deals are in the works. BankAmerica, which has pioneered the use of IntraLinks for private placements, plans to use it for its 144a-registered Euro deals, which can be sold in the US and offshore.