Merger & Acquisition
During a merger or acquisition, a company may be so engrossed in completing the transaction that it loses sight of safety protocol. However, security breaches during the negotiations could compromise the safety of customer or employee information. This could cost one or both companies involved in the transaction a lot of time, money and goodwill. Therefore, it may be a good idea to create a data security protocol throughout the transaction.
The first step is to identify whether the data is internal data or external data such as customer information. After identifying what the data is, it is worthwhile to check any applicable laws surrounding how that information must be handled prior to sharing it with a third party. A nondisclosure agreement should then be entered into before sensitive or personal information is exchanged.
Employees need to sign consent forms that allow information about them to be disclosed to third parties. A business lawyer may be able to make sure that consent has been granted by all employees before the due diligence process commences. Having a lawyer as part of the transition team may also increase the odds that other industry-specific best practices are being followed during the transaction.
When two companies merge or one is acquired, a lot of data has to be shared between the two parties. This puts a premium on data security and ensuring that privacy and other laws are followed at all times. Companies that are concerned about data security during such process may wish to obtain the counsel of a lawyer who has experience with these types of corporate transactions in order to oversee the process and help to ensure that no one is taking any actions that may put personal or proprietary information in danger.