This in-depth review at the annual M&A Conference at the University of Chicago, which was held live online, considered the key considerations in communicating the value of a transaction to the Board, equity and debt capital markets as well as employees, customers, vendors, regulators, and local communities.

Throughout the Intralinks Virtual M&A Summit there was a consensus that the functioning of the financial markets makes this period different from the 2008-2009 economic decline.

Nonetheless, dealmakers are strained to evaluate M&A as the highest and best use of capital, if valuation declines make this an opportune time to approach targets, and whether to continue inflight deals.

A recommendation, that was echoed by many of the participants, was to consider more structured tools for...