Why separation specialists are well placed
A carve-out forces a company to answer questions most businesses never ask: which systems belong to this business, which records are its own, how far back they go and who will own them on Day 1. Separation teams answer them in application inventories, data ownership matrices and TSA schedules. That same work covers most of what a data licensing review needs.
You also sit beside the people who make the decisions: the parent's corporate development lead, the divested unit's incoming CEO and CFO, and often a private equity buyer's operating team. When the data mapping reveals a business with years of connected operational records, you are the natural person to raise a second question: could those records earn a one-time payment through a license to SourceX?
A license leaves the company as owner of its records, with the final say on scope and price and no obligation until it signs. Your part is the introduction. SourceX is the company's direct licensing partner, licensing approved business data for AI training and evaluation and managing the agreement, rights review, data preparation, delivery and payout, subject to acceptance at Closing and agreed terms.
Which separated businesses fit
The candidate is usually the business being separated, though a parent sometimes holds records it no longer needs. Screen the candidate as if it already stood alone.
| Signal | What to look for in the separation workstreams | Why AI labs and data users care |
|---|---|---|
| Headcount | The employee transfer list shows 50+ full-time employees at peak, contractors excluded | Enough people generate enough connected records of real work |
| History | Several years of operating records that will transfer, not just the new entity's formation date | Longer histories show how processes and decisions changed |
| System breadth | The application inventory lists email, chat, CRM, ERP, ticketing, engineering and document systems; strong companies often have 10-15+ | Connected systems show complete workflows |
| Clean separation | The data ownership matrix assigns records to the unit without heavy commingling | Buyers need a clear owner for every record they license |
| Outcomes | Closed tickets, won and lost bids, approved and rejected changes | Outcome-labelled records are what agent training and evaluation need |
| A sponsor | A named executive with signing authority on each side of the close | Someone must be able to approve the license |
B2B software, IT services, engineering, professional services and the back offices of logistics and distribution businesses tend to screen well; the full baseline is on the who qualifies page.
The title-access-authority test
Every dataset in a carve-out has three properties that decide whether it can be licensed. Check them system by system, not company by company.
- ☐Title: under the separation or purchase agreement, who owns the records after close: the parent, the divested business, or both under a shared-data clause?
- ☐Access: who can actually export them, and until when? A TSA may give the divested business access to parent-hosted systems for a period, which is not the same as owning the data or being free to license it.
- ☐Authority: which executive can sign a license today, and does an approval from the parent, the buyer or a lender also apply?
The drafting matters because rights in content can be divided. US copyright law lets ownership be transferred in whole or in part, and lets any exclusive right be transferred and owned separately (17 U.S.C. 201). A separation agreement can therefore split rights in documents and other material between parent and divested business, and counsel on both sides should confirm who may license what.
When to raise it in a separation
Raise it once the data mapping shows what the business holds, and before any system is cloned, migrated or retired.
| Separation phase | What is happening | What to do about data licensing |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic review and announcement | The parent decides what to sell and how | Note which units have deep records; nothing more yet |
| Separation planning | Application inventory, data ownership matrix, disposition decisions | Use the outputs to run the title-access-authority test |
| Signing to close | Day 1 readiness, TSA drafting, purchase agreement schedules | Flag any license discussion to deal counsel so exclusivity and records schedules line up |
| TSA period | The divested business still runs on some parent systems | Confirm exports of history before each TSA service ends |
| TSA exit and decommissioning | Parent instances are retired or wiped | Preserve a complete export first; deleted records cannot be licensed |
| First year standalone | New owners review value creation levers | Introduce the business to SourceX if the sponsor is interested |
If a sale process is live, any license has to fit the transaction rather than complicate it, and the buyer will want to know about exclusivity it would inherit.
A license can also touch the numbers you prepare. Under ASC 606, whether a license gives the customer a right to access intellectual property over the license period or a right to use it as it exists when granted affects when revenue is recognized (Deloitte roadmap on identifying the nature of a license). If carve-out financial statements are in scope, the company should ask its auditors how a license would be treated.
How the introduction works
You introduce the client, not its data; the company authorizes any sharing and delivery of records.
- Register as a partner, then either share your referral link with the sponsor (it carries your code to sourcex.si/apply) or enter the company in the referral form.
- SourceX confirms size, track record, how many systems hold records, and rights, including how the separation agreement allocates them.
- The company builds its own data inventory. Its separation application list is a natural starting point, and the data inventory builder helps it list systems and records.
- Pricing is settled with the company as a single net payout, together with the license terms, before buyers are approached.
- AI labs and data buyers look at the opportunity; a deal-ready company usually hears back within about two weeks.
- The company signs the license with SourceX, which manages preparation under the company's approved redaction rules and delivery, with payout subject to acceptance at Closing and agreed terms.
- A reward becomes payable after SourceX has paid the referred company under its signed agreement and the payout conditions in the program terms are met, including finance approval and your tax and payment details.
At no point does the partner export, upload or describe the client's confidential records, and delivery waits for an executed agreement and the company's authorization.
What to say to the incoming CEO or the parent's deal lead
"The separation work has already mapped which systems and records belong to the business. Some companies license records like these to SourceX for a one-time payment while keeping ownership and approving scope and price. Before anything is retired at TSA exit, would a short screen help, to see whether the business qualifies and who would need to sign?"
How rewards work for separation advisors
Partners earn 25% of the Actual Supplier Payout: eligible licensing compensation SourceX actually pays the referred company, excluding separately itemized taxes and expense reimbursements. Rewards are capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company, subject to any signed Schedule A or addendum. A reward becomes payable after SourceX has paid the referred company under its signed agreement and the payout conditions in the program terms are met, including finance approval and your tax and payment details. A lead, a meeting or a signed agreement on its own earns nothing, and no reward is guaranteed. SourceX funds rewards separately; they never reduce the company's payout.
Separation work is often delivered by regulated professionals, so check your own rules first:
- Registered representatives at investment banks should tell their firm's compliance team about any paid outside activity. FINRA reported that the SEC approved new Rule 3290 on outside activities in September 2026, replacing Rules 3270 and 3280 from an effective date FINRA will announce; until then the existing rules apply (FINRA weekly update, September 16, 2026).
- CPAs in transaction advisory practices should check the AICPA Code and their state board, because state rules on commissions and referral fees can be stricter than the AICPA's (New Jersey Society of CPAs on commissions and contingent fees).
- Firm policies at consulting and advisory firms may restrict fees connected to client engagements even where professional rules allow them.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel, compliance team or professional body before acting. See rewards and the program terms for how payouts work today.
When to pass on a separation
- The records are deeply commingled with the parent's, and the separation plan leaves them with the parent.
- The divested business never reached 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded).
- The unit's data mostly belongs to its clients, or consists of consumer personal data or patient information.
- TSA exit has already happened and the parent's instances were wiped without an export.
- The parent has a policy against licensing data, and the divested business does not yet control its own records.
Next step
Take one live separation and run the title-access-authority test on its five largest systems. If the business passes and the sponsor is open to it, register as a partner and introduce the business. Related playbooks: the ESOP advisors' page for employee-ownership transactions and the M&A advisors' page for whole-company sales.