A fund with three or more active carve-outs is running three or more TSA programs in parallel. Each one has a separate counterparty, a separate exit ramp, a separate cost-plus methodology, a separate governance committee. The portfolio retainer covers them all. Continuous buyer-side coverage on a quarterly fixed fee. One contact at the firm. One escalation path. One playbook applied across every file.
Funds that close one carve-out per year can manage TSAs case by case. Funds that close three or more in an 18 month window cannot. Each TSA has its own Day One, its own milestones, its own renegotiation moment. The operating partner ends up triaging the loudest file instead of running the portfolio.
A fund with three concurrent carve-outs at different lifecycle stages benefits more from a single retainer than from three separate fixed fee engagements. The cost per file is lower and the coverage is continuous.
Platforms that grow through tuck in acquisitions of carved-out divisions accumulate TSAs. The portfolio retainer scales with the bolt on cadence.
One partner covering TSA exposure across five portfolio companies is the function the retainer replaces. The partner moves up to value creation. The retainer covers the work.
Different portfolio companies running different Big 4 firms or no firm at all. The retainer brings one playbook to every TSA in the fund.
Three portcos heading to exit inside a 24 month window. Every one needs stranded cost cleanup, reverse TSA evaluation and final separation. The retainer covers all three.
The quarterly retainer is not a hotline. It is an active operating function for the fund's TSA exposure. Six standing workstreams run continuously, applied to every portfolio company with a live TSA.
One view of every active TSA in the fund. Counterparty, run rate, exit milestone, extension fee exposure, SLA position, current renegotiation status. Updated weekly.
One 90 minute working session per quarter with the operating partner and value creation lead. Every active TSA reviewed. Priority actions agreed for the next quarter.
Senior bench available to any portfolio company CFO or CIO inside 24 hours. SLA escalations, governance issues, midweek negotiation prep, no further authorization required.
Pricing, mark-up percentages, SLA structures and exit fee curves across the portfolio anonymized and benchmarked. Each portfolio company sees its own position against the fund average.
A library of redline templates and clause language that the fund standardizes on. Every new TSA the fund signs starts from the same buyer-side position.
Where a portfolio company needs a Pre-Signing Review, a Day One readiness program, a Renegotiation or a Dispute file, the retainer absorbs it inside the quarter at a discounted fixed fee.
Anonymized results from prior engagements. Full case studies available on request under NDA.
Five active TSAs at fund close. Pricing reset, catalog rationalization and extension term renegotiation across four of five. Total savings over the retained year.
Three bolt on carve-outs into a single platform inside 14 months. Day One on the close date for every one. Standardized redline templates from carve-out one applied to carve-out three.
One operating partner spent roughly 40 percent of their time on TSA issues across six portcos. After the retainer, partner TSA load dropped to under 10 percent.
Fixed fee retainer proposal in 48 hours. Senior team on day one. The first conversation is always free.