Lawyer Monthly - October 2021 Edition

44 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | OCT 2021 HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORM M&A DUE DILIGENCE? The COVID-19 pandemic triggered unprecedented economic upheaval and has changed the way in which we do business. However, global mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity re-bounded to reach a new high in the first half of 2021, with deal activity reaching $2.6 trillion. According to a recent report, EMEA markets were at the forefront of outbound and inbound transactions, recording deals worth €578 billion in the first six months of the year – a 15% rise on H2 2020. Moreover, new EMEA projects on Datasite’s platform are up 40% year-over-year through July 2021 compared to the same time last year. This momentum bodes well for sustained recovery and shows no signs of slowing, moving into H2. Still, the actual management of M&A needs to be as secure as possible, or else dealmakers risk financial fines and possible reductions in target companies’ deal value due to insecure data transfer practices. As we adapt to the new COVID-era and embrace hybrid working models, this challenge will only become more pressing as M&A deal activity increasingly depends on collaborative tools. Amid a backdrop of enhanced regulatory scrutiny, dealmakers must focus their efforts on maximising compliance, in addition to minimising risk and privacy incidents during the due diligence process, to ensue deal making activities remain on an upward trajectory. This is where technology can help. With legal teams more dispersed than ever before, communication and collaboration have become an additional challenge, alongside managing an ever-growing workload. Bespoke technologies are now in dire need to improve process efficiencies, extend dealmakers’ bandwidth and retain talent. Doing so ensures lawyers can focus on executing deals, rather than being caught up in endless streams of data. Virtual Data Rooms and Advanced Analytic Capabilities The due diligence landscape has transformed at a rapid pace. Gone are the days where an analysis of the financial and legal documentation was considered rigorous enough. Now the scope has expanded to include areas such as human resources, intellectual property, proof of environmental, social and governance policies, and tax considerations. How Can Technology TransformM&A Due Diligence? Merlin Piscitelli Chief Revenue Officer for EMEA Datasite Tel: +44 20 3031 6300 www.datasite.com/us/en.html Ordinarily a time-consuming process with many regulatory pitfalls, the emergence of new legal technology has greatly simplified due diligence by taking it out of lawyers’ hands and delegating it to automated programmes. Merlin Piscitelli examines how far this trend has come in 2021 and how it will shape the legal sector in years to come. Merlin Piscitelli is Datasite’s Chief Revenue Officer for EMEA. Datasite is the leading SaaS provider for the M&A industry, giving dealmakers the tools and insights they need to succeed across the entire deal life cycle.