Pre-close · IT Services & MSPs

IT Services & MSPs Customer Contract Assignment: An Independent Sponsor's Counsel

Managing Customer Contract Assignment on IT services and MSPs deals, with the structure protection and capital connectivity an independent sponsor actually needs.

EV range $8M to $100M EV EBITDA $2M to $18M Audience Buy-side / Sponsor
The deal context

An independent sponsor closing IT services and MSPs transactions in the $8M to $100M EV range has a defined set of moves at the Customer Contract Assignment stage. Most of them are not in a generic M&A textbook.

The typical IT services and MSPs platform sits at $8M to $100M EV with EBITDA in the $2M to $18M range. The thesis runs on MSP platform with regional or vertical-specific bolt-ons. An MSP at 70% recurring revenue trades at one multiple, at 90% trades at a different one. The mix is the deal.

The moves

How Customer Contract Assignment actually gets structured.

  1. Identify contracts with anti-assignment clauses, especially in government and healthcare.

  2. Plan the customer communication sequence to protect retention.

  3. Map consent collection against the closing checklist, with material thresholds defined.

  4. Address change-of-control notifications even where consent is not required.

  5. In IT services and MSPs, layer in MSA assignment review with carve-outs noted as part of the Customer Contract Assignment workstream.

The common mistake

Asking every customer for consent. You alarm customers who would have been silent.

Jason's take
"Customer assignment is a sales motion, not a legal one. Lead with operations, follow with paper."
Jason Powell · Customer Contract Assignment
Capital after close

The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.

Refinancing, recaps, growth rounds, and the right strategic conversation eighteen months early are all downstream of relationships that take years to build and minutes to use.

MONTH 18
Senior refi
MONTH 24
Dividend recap
MONTH 36
Growth equity
YEAR 4–5
Strategic exit
WORK WITH JASON

Bring the IT services and MSPs deal. Get Customer Contract Assignment done right.

Direct counsel from a securities and M&A attorney with billions in structured transactions, the independent-sponsor-native playbook, and the capital markets network that opens up post-close.