ISO 31000 risk management strategies in M&A deals: Avoidance, minimization, and transfer
Subject. Risk management strategies in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in accordance with the international standard ISO 31000. Objectives. To examine the transformation of risk management under the influence of sanctions, technological turbulence, growing ESG requirements, and increasingly complex regulatory regimes, with particular attention to extended due diligence as the core of modern risk minimization, as well as to insurance and contractual mechanisms for risk transfer, including W&I insurance, escrow, indemnity clauses, and SPV structures. Methods. Structural‑functional analysis, comparative analysis, case method, content analysis, and the expert evaluation method were applied. Results. The study covers three key strategies — risk avoidance, risk minimization, and risk transfer — and evaluates their application under conditions of high macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty in 2023–2025. It is shown that the avoidance strategy becomes critically important in the presence of unregulated or catastrophic risks, including sanctions and regulatory restrictions, ESG non‑compliance, technological incompatibility, and cyber threats. The Russian practice of 2022–2025 is analyzed as a special case of heightened turbulence: divestment transactions by foreign investors, limited guarantees, a high burden on buyers, and the adaptation of risk transfer instruments amid the absence of some international institutions. Conclusions. Effective risk management in M&A requires a combined application of all three ISO 31000 strategies, ensuring transaction resilience, predictable integration, and capital protection.