Why restructuring data rooms differ, and why AI should stay inside them

• In a restructuring, the court-appointed administrator or even the commercial court judges, not the seller, typically organise the sharing of information.
• Short bid submission deadlines mean the data room has to be set up as soon as a case lands with the administrator.
• Because the court rules on the outcome, the process must let you trace and audit that every bidder had the same information.
• Distressed files are often unprepared, with no vendor due diligence and not necessarily a chief financial officer at the company.
• Tessier sees bidders running downloaded documents through public LLMs as a confidentiality risk, and says Admincontrol will build search, summaries, indexing and redaction into the data room instead.
• He expects AI to invert the advisory pyramid, with fewer juniors needed, while decisions stay in human hands.

In a restructuring, the seller is often not the one opening the data room. Julien Tessier, CEO of Euronext Corporate Solutions, the Euronext software subsidiary that owns Admincontrol, says the sharing is typically organised by the court-appointed administrator or even the commercial court judges, and the process isn't the same at all (around 2:05). He was speaking with Mathieu Meffre at the Restructuring and Transformation Summit in France, in September 2026. Admincontrol is one of the data room vendors we cover. The interview was in French, and the quotes here are from the English translation.

“There's an absolute need for equal information, because in the end, the outcome is ruled on, so you need to be able to trace and audit that everyone had the same information.”

Julien Tessier, CEO, Euronext Corporate Solutions (translated from French)

Speed is the first difference. Cases have often gone through a safeguard plan, Tessier says, so when one lands with the administrator the data room must be set up immediately, and bid submission deadlines are generally quite short. Fairness is the second. There is an absolute need for equal information, in his words, because the outcome is ruled on, so you need to be able to trace and audit that everyone had the same information. In a distressed sale, the access log is evidence.

“It's a very particular process where information is opened up to competing bidders, to creditors, to a whole ecosystem of advisers, and the file won't have been prepared: there won't be any vendor due diligence, there isn't necessarily a chief financial and administrative officer at the company.”

Julien Tessier, CEO, Euronext Corporate Solutions (translated from French)

The audience is also wider and the file rougher. Information is opened up to competing bidders, creditors and a whole ecosystem of advisers, Tessier says, and the file won't have been prepared: no vendor due diligence, and not necessarily a chief financial officer at the company (around 2:48). He calls it quite a different moment from a classic M&A deal.

“For advisory professions, it's a fundamental evolution, meaning the pyramid is being inverted: you need fewer juniors, you no longer prepare regulatory monitoring yourself, summaries, first drafts of presentations, formatting, etc. On the other hand, the need for expertise, for being able to make the right calls, to arbitrate, that remains.”

Julien Tessier, CEO, Euronext Corporate Solutions (translated from French)

On AI and advisory work, Tessier says the pyramid is being inverted. Firms need fewer juniors, because monitoring, summaries, first drafts of presentations and formatting will be done with AI. The need for expertise, for making the right calls and arbitrating, remains, and decision-making stays in human hands (around 3:37). AI should assist and save time, he says, not decide or draft without supervision, especially where there are legal implications, as in a turnaround or a restructuring.

“Because the fundamental change with AI is that today you'll have, say, a potential bidder in a restructuring case, or, in an M&A deal, a potential buyer who downloads the documents and runs them through a public ChatGPT, or whatever LLM they use. Ultimately, that's a disaster for data confidentiality.”

Julien Tessier, CEO, Euronext Corporate Solutions (translated from French)

His sharpest point is about leakage. A bidder in a restructuring, or a buyer in an M&A deal, may download the documents and run them through a public ChatGPT or another LLM. For a vulnerable company in restructuring, Tessier calls that a disaster for data confidentiality: its statutory accounts or confidential HR data could end up out in the wild (around 4:42). His answer is to stop documents leaving the data room and bring AI into it, with search, summaries, indexing and redaction in the interface. He also mentions a coming partnership with a European legaltech, so lawyers can scan a target's documents against regulatory constraints from inside the room.

He ends on cost and jurisdiction. Tessier says the market has historically been dominated by American vendors that charge by volume, data or document, so there is no predictability and the bill often arrives at the end. Admincontrol charges a flat fee known from the day the room opens, which he says matters at a difficult time like a restructuring. He also presents Euronext as a European provider that avoids being subject to the Patriot Act (around 7:38). These are a vendor's claims, so check them against any quote you get.

In a distressed sale the data room's audit trail may end up in front of a judge, and bidders will want to use AI on the documents. Ask whether the room can prove equal access, whether its AI tools work without documents leaving it, and what the total price is before the case opens.

0:06 Live from the Restructuring and Transformation Summit, we've just had lunch and now we're resuming our shows with this BSmart set, of course, relocated for the occasion. I'm pleased to welcome Julien Tessier. Hello, Julien. – Hello. – You're CEO of Euronext Corporate Solutions. We're pleased to welcome you today for the 1st time at the Restructuring and Transformation Summit, but of course I have to ask you this: this is a restructuring summit. What is Euronext – which we're more used to seeing on IPO topics, block trades and, of course, stock market matters – doing here? Are you launching an IPO platform for companies in difficulty? – No, no, no. Let me stop you right there, that's not why we're here. Euronext, of course, you know us for stock market topics: IPOs, fundraising, etc.

0:54 But we also have a B2B software subsidiary called Euronext Corporate Solutions, which I head, and which offers solutions in governance, compliance and investor relations. And within our governance solutions, we have one flagship product in particular, Admincontrol, for listed and unlisted companies, with 2 solutions: the data room and the board portal for the board of directors. So at a summit on restructuring and turnarounds, secure information exchange is a critical topic. So, it's a chance to talk about our data room solutions: how to exchange information securely. What's a little specific about restructuring plans is that, unlike more typical M&A moments, M&A transactions, there's often a deep sense of urgency, because, often, cases have gone through a safeguard plan: the case lands with the court-appointed administrator, the data room must be set up immediately and information

1:57 shared. – Yes, because the DLDO, the bid submission deadlines, are generally quite short, so you have to hurry to put in place the right infrastructure. We see it all the time, especially talking with the commercial court judges who are here. We know there's heightened confidentiality in restructuring cases. But in concrete terms, what does a turnaround change in the way you share a file, in your experience, since you're here? – It's very different from a classic M&A deal. First of all, the person in charge isn't the same. It isn't the seller who organises the sharing of the information. It will typically be the administrator, the court-appointed administrator, or even the commercial court judges, etc., and the process isn't the same at all. There's an absolute need for equal information, because in the end, the outcome is ruled on, so you need to be able to trace and audit that everyone had the same information.

2:48 It's a very particular process where information is opened up to competing bidders, to creditors, to a whole ecosystem of advisers, and the file won't have been prepared: there won't be any vendor due diligence, there isn't necessarily a chief financial and administrative officer at the company, etc. So it's really quite a different moment from a classic M&A deal. – That's precisely why you've adapted your solution, or at least why it's relevant in these situations. You're in software. – Yes. – Ultimately, I have to ask you this. It's September 2026: let's talk AI, because this morning there was a panel which, I quote, asked: "AI: revolution or evolution for advisory professions?" What's your answer for restructuring, and beyond that, for advisory in general?

3:37 – Well, of course, we're hugely affected by AI as a software vendor: it lets us move faster, have a more aggressive product, and enrich our offering very quickly. Then, for advisory professions, it's a fundamental evolution, meaning the pyramid is being inverted: you need fewer juniors, you no longer prepare regulatory monitoring yourself, summaries, first drafts of presentations, formatting, etc. On the other hand, the need for expertise, for being able to make the right calls, to arbitrate, that remains. So what we're seeing is an evolution in advisory work, particularly legal advisory, where all the preparation work will be done by leveraging AI.

4:20 Decision-making, on the other hand, will remain in human hands. So we put a lot of emphasis, in our solutions, on using AI in the right place. Not to decide, not to draft without supervision, but to assist, save time, boost productivity, but not to make decisions in place of a human, especially when there are legal implications, as in a turnaround or a restructuring. – Do you perhaps have concrete examples? – In fact, I'll give you a specific example: the features we'll build into our data room solution will be designed to stop documents leaving the data room. Because the fundamental change with AI is that today you'll have, say, a potential bidder in a restructuring case, or, in an M&A deal, a potential buyer who downloads the documents and runs them through a public ChatGPT, or whatever LLM they use.

5:16 Ultimately, that's a disaster for data confidentiality: the company in restructuring is vulnerable, and its statutory accounts could potentially end up out in the wild, or its confidential HR data, etc. So what we'll do is stop documents leaving the data room, and bring AI into the data room. So typically we'll have built-in features for search, summaries, indexing, redaction – blacking out information that people shouldn't be able to see – etc., directly in the interface. So instead of the user leaving the application, taking the confidential documents out and using public LLMs, they'll do everything from our interface. – In practice, in a turnaround case, who really uses AI, and for what? Because we mentioned there isn't necessarily a CFO, that there are bidders, there are of course lawyers, administrators, lots of people.

6:10 Who is it for, among those watching us today, who could change their way of working a little tomorrow to go faster, and above all in a secure setting? – Typically, it will be potential bidders who want to study their target. They have little time: we'll save them considerable time, while letting them stay in a secure environment with no risk of data loss for the company in difficulty. It can be the court-appointed administrator, it can be advisers, lawyers of course. And something we're working on right now is a partnership with a European legaltech. We can't announce it yet, but it will be announced soon. – A British player or another? – No, I can't announce it, never mind.

6:54 But this partnership will allow, for example, lawyers to query legal databases directly and run what's called AI scanning of the target's documents against certain regulatory constraints, etc., directly from our interface, and, once again, without leaving Admincontrol Data Room, querying everything from within it. – It's really the old world and the new world, in fact. – Oh, it changes the data room business enormously, it's a totally significant evolution. – Right, now that we have the use case, and we've said it's the old and the new world, and that it brings a lot of benefits: all of this has a cost. How does it work, how is it paid for in a turnaround case?

7:38 – Yes, well, first, there's an important point: it's a market dominated by American players. Historically, data room software vendors are American, and they built data rooms in the image of their market, for deals that are often large-scale, long and expensive. We offer a twofold alternative. First, a European sovereignty alternative, with a European provider, and Euronext at that – you can't get more sovereign than Euronext in Europe – so typically we avoid being subject to the Patriot Act, etc., and so guarantee absolute data confidentiality.

8:21 And second, our pricing model is quite different from the big American competitors, which charge by volume, by data, by document: so you don't know in advance what the budget will be. There's no predictability, and often the bill arrives at the end of the data room, saying: "That'll be X." We have a flat-fee model where, from the moment the data room opens, you know how much you'll pay, whatever the volume of data or documents exchanged, which gives predictability that, at a difficult time like a restructuring or a turnaround, is particularly important. – Thank you so much, Julien Tessier, for agreeing to come and answer our questions. We're delighted to have learned more about Euronext Corporate Solutions.

9:03 We'll see you again in a few months, in new settings, to talk, I believe, about private equity next time. Thank you very much. And have a great day.