Portfolio company onboarding kit: what a PE sponsor sends after close

When should a sponsor send the onboarding kit?

Send it in the first week after close, before the first month-end under your ownership. The CFO then builds the new reporting rhythm once, instead of piecing it together from emails sent by several people at the fund.

The kit replaces separate requests from the deal team, portfolio finance, compliance, the insurance broker and the IT security adviser with one set of documents and one kickoff call. It goes to the CEO and CFO, with the relevant sections copied to the heads of HR and IT. Portfolio operations assembles it; the deal partner signs the cover letter.

What goes in a post-close onboarding kit

Seven components cover the usual first-quarter needs.

Two lines in that table save trouble later. Listing licensing of company IP or data in the approvals matrix means any future license, including one for AI training, reaches the board as a decision rather than a surprise. A short summary of credit agreement provisions that touch new revenue, asset licenses and uses of cash belongs in the same section. The CEO's side of this relationship is covered in how portfolio company CEOs work with their sponsor.

Template 1: the welcome letter

Use this as the cover email for the whole kit. Replace every {placeholder} before sending.

Template 2: the reporting calendar

A dated table settles what is due, when and to whom. Agree each deadline with the CFO before the kit goes out.

Template 3: the one-page assets-we-review note

This page tells management which assets the sponsor examines beyond the operating plan, and sets a firm rule: a screen never starts with a request for data. Include it only for companies that plausibly meet the baseline on the who qualifies page.

Use the {firm_disclosure} line to state plainly whether your firm is a registered SourceX partner. Before the conversation, management should also check what the company has promised customers about their data. In a January 2024 staff post, the FTC said that promises not to use customer data for undisclosed purposes, such as training models, are enforceable whether they sit in a privacy policy, terms of service or promotional material. That post is staff guidance from the agency's previous leadership, not a rule, so check current FTC positions with counsel. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel before acting.

How to personalize the kit for each company

Most fields come from documents the deal team already holds.

Include the assets note when every box below is ticked or likely:

• US company with 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded)
• Several years of documented operations, including archived systems that still exist
• Records the company created itself, not mainly client-owned work product, consumer personal data or patient records
• An owner, CEO, CFO or authorized representative who could sponsor a license
• No earlier AI-training license over the same records

If two or more boxes are unclear, leave the note out of the first kit and raise the topic at the first quarterly review. The guide to assessing portfolio company data opportunities covers the fuller review.

Follow-up timing after the kit goes out

Space the asks out so the kit does not become a folder nobody opens.

If management is still absorbing the close at day 60, wait. The first annual planning cycle is a perfectly good second chance.

What never to include in the kit

• Requests for exports, sample records, customer lists or screenshots of systems on behalf of any third party.
• A price, a range or any suggestion of what a license might pay.
• Wording that makes an optional program sound mandatory or tied to the sponsor's goodwill.
• Typed reward figures. Point anyone who asks to the published program terms.
• Anything implying a licensing deal is likely before qualification has even started.

How partner rewards work if your firm registers

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company, and the reward becomes payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee. No reward is guaranteed, and the reward comes out of SourceX's fee, never out of what the portfolio company receives.

A sponsor earning money in connection with its own portfolio company should treat that as a governance matter. Check your fund documents and firm policy, disclose the relationship to management, and read about the fiduciary duties of a sponsor-appointed director before any board designee votes on a license. Broader context is on the referral page for private equity operating partners.

Next step

List which current portfolio companies would receive the assets note using the network opportunity finder, then register as a partner so each screen runs under your firm's referral link. Companies that prefer to move on their own can apply at sourcex.si/apply.