Two top-10 PE firms leverage West Monroe’s award-winning M&A team in their $4 billion carveout purchase

Our Impact 

Our client grew to a multi-million-dollar software business as part of their Fortune 50 parent company—but it eventually came time to separate. The software business, an integration platform, could harness greater flexibility to serve customers by becoming its own entity. It would also ensure the parent company could  focus on its core market—tech infrastructure and personal computers—as our client continued to grow.  

To prepare and complete the separation successfully, the new company needed to design a standalone operating model (for its people, processes, and technology) and prepare an aggressive separation roadmap for Day 1 and Day 2. West Monroe helped them optimize, simplify, and automate processes so they could separate in a timely manner—allowing them to exit an expensive transition services agreement (TSA).  

The Full Story 

The Challenge

This carveout included a number of moving parts and stakeholders. For example, they were dealing with siloed functions and processes, creating additional complexity in the separation process. Leadership was also concerned with meeting their six-month deadline since they had a $4 million-per-month transition services agreement looming over the project. While this was our first large, post-close-out project for the client, our pitch showcased our capabilities and imbued them with confidence.  

We tackled the tight TSA deadline with strong governance, tracking, and prioritization, helping the new company exit the agreement within the six-month deadline. By working side by side with leadership, we were able to find creative solutions to overcome limited data and the limited HR resources coming over with the deal. 

An Undeniably Different Approach  

To ease the mounting pressure on our client, we helped streamline communication and turn chaos into order by serving as the single point of contact for the two firms, a dozen advisory partners, and more than 800 vendors. This streamlining helped expedite decisions and escalate major risks to leadership quickly—establishing a positive working relationship with the parent company resources across all functions. 

But communication was just one of the challenges. Our client also needed to prepare processes for separation from the parent company, something our team helped them do in several fundamental ways: 

• We put together a multidisciplinary team that included mergers and acquisitions and subject matter experts to ensure the steering committee could trust in accurate information reporting.  
• We recruited a nearby project manager to help enable connectivity across functions, ensure the prioritization of critical regions, and develop region-specific communications and plans. 
• We collaborated closely with leadership in getting past HR hurdles, helping us exit the TSA within the six-month deadline.  

Our client’s leadership work with our team on other projects that included digital, carveouts, value creation, and the separation of management offices helped cement their confidence going into this project. And that trust was well founded as our client can now operate as a standalone company with all the flexibility it affords.  

Real Results  

Not only did our client exit an expensive transition services agreement on time, but it now has the digital and people capabilities to function as a standalone company. The new company is now in a better position to grow and meet the demands of its customers. Separation from the parent company has improved its position in the market while allowing the parent company to focus on its core business. Our client’s newfound ability to pivot to customer demands will undoubtedly help them continue to innovate—growing revenue and market share.