The operating partner is the person who owns the value creation plan and answers for the carve-out exit window. Big 4 timelines do not fit that cadence. TSA Advisory is built around it. Senior team on the engagement in week one. Specific edits to the service catalog, specific counters to extension fee invoices, specific recovery of dormant SLA credits. Outcomes measured in weeks, not in steerco decks.
Operating partners sit between the deal team that bought the asset and the management team that has to run it. The TSA is the contract that touches both sides, and it surfaces at predictable moments. The work is timed to those moments, not to a consulting methodology.
Each one of the situations below maps to a fixed fee engagement that lands a specific outcome inside a window the sponsor cares about.
The deal team is preparing the bid. The seller's TSA draft is on the table. The operating partner wants a buyer-side read on whether the service catalog, pricing methodology and exit ramp are sponsor friendly. Two week pre-signing review, leverage memo for the deal team.
The deal closes. The operating partner needs a 90 day readiness program that the new CFO and CIO can stand up without a six month consulting build. Buyer-side workstream leads on the ground inside week one.
The TSA cost run rate is above plan. Extension fees are being signaled. The operating partner asks for a renegotiation that resets cost-plus mark-up and tightens the exit ramp. 6 to 10 weeks fixed fee.
The carve-out is being readied for a second sale or a strategic sale. The operating partner needs the TSA off the operating model before the bid book goes out. Exit acceleration program, stranded cost analysis, clean separation.
The operating partner covers multiple active carve-outs in parallel. A portfolio retainer covers every active TSA, one advisor, one point of accountability, quarterly cadence aligned to the operating committee.
The work is structured around the levers operating partners actually pull. Cost reduction, margin protection, exit readiness, dispute remedy, portfolio governance. Every engagement maps to a board reportable outcome.
Two week diligence stage review. Service catalog stress test, pricing benchmarks against comparable PE deals, exit clause leverage points. Lands as a redline package for the deal team.
90 day operational stand-up across IT, finance, HR, procurement, treasury and cybersecurity. The buyer-side counterweight to the seller's separation office. The Day One that holds.
When cost-plus inflation has lifted the run rate past plan. Catalog rationalization, pricing reset, exit ramp rewrite. 6 to 10 weeks fixed fee.
When the exit milestone is slipping. Workstream rebuild, extension fee minimization, weekly cadence with the seller's transition lead. Delivers a defended exit date the operating partner can present at the next investment committee.
Service level breach claims, service credit recovery, governance reset, escalation. Recovers dormant remedies before the filing window closes.
Quarterly retainer for operating partners with three or more active TSAs. One advisor across the portfolio, single point of contact, quarterly review tied to the operating committee cadence.
Anonymized results from prior engagements. Full case studies available on request under NDA.
$9M annual TSA at cost-plus 28 percent mark-up. Catalog rationalization, pricing reset, extension term renegotiation. Savings booked into the value creation model.
18 month TSA. Exit ramp was four months behind plan. Workstream rebuild and seller cadence reset pulled the exit back to the original IC date. Zero extension fees paid.
24 month TSA. Repeated SLA breaches across four service families. Built the claim file, ran the governance escalation, recovered credits that had not been invoiced.
Fixed fee proposal in 48 hours. Senior team on day one. The first conversation is always free.