For many M&A teams, the first instinct is still to ask a technical question: where is the data hosted?
That question matters. But in European dealmaking, it is no longer the decisive one.
If the operator of the room remains subject to U.S. legal reach, the real issue is legal before it is technical. The core question is not only where the data sits, but which jurisdiction can compel the provider to preserve, produce, or disclose that data — and under which circumstances the customer may not even be informed.
That is why the sovereignty debate in European M&A should begin with law, not with server geography.