Independent Sponsor IP Transfer & Licensing in IT Services & MSPs
Securities and M&A counsel for independent sponsors structuring IT services and MSPs transactions, from LOI to close to the capital markets that open up afterward.
The economics on a IT services and MSPs platform deal usually hinge on a handful of structural decisions. IP Transfer & Licensing is one of them.
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.
How IP Transfer & Licensing actually gets structured.
Identify all IP, including informal employee-inventor work product.
Pull assignments and works-for-hire records, with gaps remediated pre-close.
Address open-source license compliance in any software stack.
Plan trademark assignment recordation and continuation filings.
In IT services and MSPs, layer in MSA assignment review with carve-outs noted as part of the IP Transfer & Licensing workstream.
Assuming the company owns its IP because the website says so. Without paper, ownership is a hope.
"Every piece of IP in the deal needs a chain of title. Find the gaps before the buyer's counsel does."Jason Powell · IP Transfer & Licensing
The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.
Capital after close is where the IRR actually gets made. The right introductions at month nine through month thirty are where this practice works as hard as it does at the LOI.
Related deal pages.
Independent Sponsor Economics for IT Services & MSPs
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Management Fee Structuring for IT Services & MSPs
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Transaction Fee Structuring for IT Services & MSPs
The fee paid at closing to the independent sponsor for sourcing, structuring, and closing the platform deal a…
Working Capital Adjustments for IT Services & MSPs
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IP Transfer & Licensing for Healthcare Services
roll-up of physician practices and ancillary service lines
IP Transfer & Licensing for Home Services
regional roll-ups of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical operators
An LOI on the desk, a IT services and MSPs target, and a IP Transfer & Licensing question worth a real conversation.
Twenty minutes of practitioner-grade input from a securities attorney whose first move is to read the deal, not the engagement letter.