Protection of businesses in merger and acquisition deals is a major goal, particularly when M&A activity ramps up following the pandemic. These transactions are risky ventures that can cost billions and damage corporate reputations. Security professionals must have complete understanding of the companies that are being acquired in order to find security weaknesses and minimize risks prior to the deal is completed. Threat intelligence can be used to identify the most vulnerable points in the two companies’ systems and make recommendations for improvement prior to the integration process.
While some M&A deals are driven by financial reasons, the most successful transactions take a more holistic approach to business and brand value. The most important aspect of this is the ability to know how a company’s brand is perceived by its customers and markets, as well as its executives’ reputation. A well-organized M&A process is crucial to uncovering all this information and ensuring that the M&A is successful.
M&A agreements contain a variety of deal protection mechanisms. These include termination fees, matching rights, and asset lockups. Since then, courts are more willing to accept these devices. The extent to which these devices boost the amount of money that shareholders receive is contingent on the motivations and behaviors of the directors in the target company who agree to them and how they are implemented. This Article argues that when the conditions of an M&A deal that include termination fees and match rights – are designed to align the motivations of the managers and directors with the interests of their own shareholders, they can significantly increase the likelihood that a transaction will be appraised at fair value.
