Role of Data Privacy in M&A Transactions

One of the most pertinent issues which has come to the fore in recent times is the implication of Data Protection Laws on M&A transactions. Since the concerns revolving around the development and shaping of Data Protection Laws in India have gained popularity, these implications have also been widely discussed since the parties to M&A transactions shall also be bound to comply with these new Data Protection and Privacy norms and regulations. If such norms are not complied with by the Target Firm (viz. the firm that is being acquired), it will not only lead to a conflict between the parties involved, but will also instill a sense of apprehension in the parties while engaging in such similar M&A transactions in the future. In this paper we will be dealing with some emerging issues of data protection, current regulatory regime for data protection laws in India and the ways in which parties can mitigate the risk of data protection & cyber security issues in a M&A transaction.