Mergers and Acquisitions for Data Assets: Evidence from Data Breach Noti�?cation Laws

Abstract

In this paper, we find that the incentive of acquiring data assets is an important driver behind mergers and acquisitions (MA and firms have a higher likelihood of becoming targets after the law enforcement of their states. Furthermore, we find a deal following the law enforcement is more likely to occur in industries where data assets are rich and strategically important. The results confirm that acquiring data assets is indeed an underlying channel for M&As.