Announcing Digital Most Favored Nations Elections, a New Standard for Efficient and Transparent MFN Elections

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Nov 01, 2023, 09:00 ET

Ontra extends its Insight functionality to include digital MFN election capabilities.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ontra, the leader in contract automation and intelligence, today announced the launch of Digital Most Favored Nations ("dMFN") elections, a new purpose-built solution designed to help private fund managers accelerate the investor MFN election process. The dMFN feature is available within Ontra's Insight platform. It streamlines the MFN process, simplifying form creation and ongoing obligation compliance, while reducing fund expenses and the risk of election errors.

Introducing Digital MFN Elections - A purpose-built capability in Insight that streamlines the cumbersome and expensive MFN process for private funds

With this new functionality, fund managers and their counsel can collaborate to negotiate favorable side letter terms, run an efficient MFN process, and manage all resulting obligations in a single platform.

With the addition of dMFN, Insight now allows users to:

Convert side letters to digital agreements and contract obligations
Generate MFN election forms using commitment thresholds and investor characteristics to determine the display of electable provisions and disclosures
Review investors' elections in a single platform
Reflect elections in the Insight platform to manage obligations over the fund life

As investor side letters increase in frequency and complexity, managing MFN elections is becoming exponentially more costly and time-consuming for private fund managers. Traditional processes – such as relying on outside counsel to manually create forms, collect and review elections, and assemble lengthy compendia – leave managers with limited visibility and control over the cost and timeliness of MFN elections. Slow, manual processes are undesirable for managers of venture capital, private equity, direct lending, and hedge funds, and for their sophisticated investors. As compliance dates for the SEC's new private funds rules approach, particularly the Preferential Treatment Rule, fund managers will need to process MFN elections quickly, to ensure they can understand and comply with the full scope of their obligations.

"Customers have consistently expressed frustration with the way their MFN processes have historically been run. The existing manual processes create significant uncertainty, risk, and cost for many GPs, while also creating frustration and confusion among LPs," said Miles Chan, GM of Insight at Ontra. "By adding the dMFN capability to the Insight platform, we've designed an integrated solution that unifies MFN elections with side letter and fund compliance to reduce expenses, increase transparency, and create a positive MFN election experience."

Insight's dMFN functionality is the newest capability within Ontra's Legal Operating System and adds core functionality to its suite of AI-enabled solutions that digitally transform mission-critical legal processes across the full fund lifecycle.

Ontra's Legal Operating System comprises:

Contract Automation - Streamlines negotiation, execution, and reporting for routine contracts such as NDAs and NRLs
Insight - Facilitates fund formation and fund document and side letter compliance
Ontra Synapse - Industry-specific AI that drives critical legal processes
Ontra Atlas - Modern entity management built for private equity

"We're thrilled to work with Ontra to develop a digital tool for MFN elections," said Lindsay Rutishauser, Chief Compliance Officer at Motive Partners. "We're excited to use Insight to complete MFN elections quickly, reduce costs, and create a best-in-class investor experience. Streamlining the election process is a natural next step in Motive's strategy to use technology to innovate, improve efficiency across the organization, and comply with our legal and regulatory requirements. Ultimately, a streamlined and efficient MFN process is a win-win for everyone."

For more information about how Insight's dMFN functionality is transforming the way private equity completes the MFN election process, visit www.ontra.ai/solutions/digital-mfn-election-process/

About Ontra

Ontra is the global leader in contract automation and intelligence for private asset management firms. Ontra's legal operating system combines AI-enabled software with a worldwide network of highly trained lawyers to digitally transform recurring legal workflows across the full fund lifecycle. Ontra works with the world's leading investment banks, private equity and venture capital firms, and direct lenders to reduce the time, expense, and risk associated with contract management.

Ontra is headquartered in San Francisco, with global operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. Learn more at www.ontra.ai.

SOURCE Ontra