Cross-border carve-out: operating model and transition for a major energy asset
ENERGY AND UTILITIES · M&A · OPERATING MODEL
The situation
After a corporate acquisition, the new owners of a major subsea gas transmission pipeline, connecting mainland and regional energy markets, had to carve the asset cleanly out of the seller's corporate systems. Daily functions, pipeline compression, odorisation, real-time gas allocation, and telemetry billing, were embedded in the seller's shared services. Operational control, commercial planning, and the physical asset sat in three different states, and a standalone model would need scarce specialist transmission engineers, exposing the owner to a thin talent market.
The work
We ran a functional transition mapping framework, financial modelling, and a vendor-risk assessment across the separation.
Built a five-option sourcing matrix for asset management, from an internal build, through an on-call expert panel and specialist outsourcing, to retaining the incumbent under tighter terms, each scored on control, risk, and cost.
Modelled a twenty-two-year demand and capital profile, covering forward commitments near 54.7 terajoules a day and growth toward 148.5, a $15.66 million compressor book value, a $14 to $26 million replacement at year sixteen, and a $6 million upgrade to lift capacity to 150.
Designed Day 1 and Day 100 target operating models that ring-fenced asset management from the parent.
Stood up a transition steering committee and an asset-management services agreement, with a data and systems plan to decouple registers and core systems over staged sprints.
The outcome
A continuous, safe transfer of the asset with no transmission downtime.
A scored sourcing roadmap that isolated third-party dependencies and held cost and data control with the owner.
A repeatable carve-out playbook that reached standalone operation inside the 100-day window.