After almost two years of the GDPR, the fines from the regulators are starting to pile up. Buying or merging with a company that lacks proper cybersecurity, or one that is not in compliance with the GDPR, becomes a considerable risk. For instance, Marriott was fined £99 million by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the UK regulator, after hackers stole the guest records of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide that it had acquired. A study by Merrill Corporation has shown that over half (55%) of practitioners surveyed across EMEA said they had worked on M&A transactions that had not progressed because of concerns around a target company’s data protection and compliance with GDPR. Therefore, non – compliance with GDPR can become a serious issue for the seller.

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