Mergers and acquisitions are often brimming with ambition, opportunity and innovative thinking, but they’re also breeding grounds for risk. The focus of merger and acquisition (M&A) risk identification and evaluation is usually centered around financial, operational and contractual risk. However, there is an increasing need to review the often-overlooked information security and compliance risk associated with M&A.
At the beginning of 2020, M&A activity declined due to the economic stasis caused by the pandemic. Many non-essential businesses closed their doors altogether and went into hibernation, with countless others switching to remote working as they tried to keep things moving. However, by the end of the year, once the dust began to settle, there was a 90% surge in the number of mergers and acquisitions. With 2021 already shaping up to be one of the busiest M&A years on record, it’s more important than ever to draw attention to the security and compliance risks inherent to the process.
The Cost of Overlooking Risk During the M&A Process
In 2015, the hotel group Marriott moved to successfully acquire Starwood Hotels to grow its portfolio. Three years later, in…
