Companies are not only worried about data protection while conducting mergers and acquisitions. Data privacy is also playing a growing role in determining the value of their M&A deals, how difficult it will be to obtain full insurance for those transactions, and whether the deal meets shareholders’ risk and growth expectations.

Data privacy is becoming a pressing issue during M&A because a company’s trove of data can be a “selling point” for an acquirer, noted Imran Ahmad, Canadian co-head of Norton Rose Fulbright’s information governance, privacy and cybersecurity practice. “It’s a value-add if a company is acquiring a huge data set they can use post-deal,” he added.