Purchasing Services for Portfolio Companies

January 30, 2026

by a searcher from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Campus in Marysville, WA, USA

Hi all! Question for those of you that own multiple businesses -- When you're considering purchasing B2B services (thinking more along the lines of management consulting than janitorial services), are you generally going to purchase services for your entire portfolio of companies, or are you more likely to purchase a service for one particular company based on their needs? Any thoughts on purchasing services for portfolio companies are more than welcome!

Reply by an investor
from Wesleyan University in Dedham, MA, USA

Most platform or Long-Term Hold entities try to keep actual management local but use shared services when/if there are economies of scale and/or strategic leverage. So for things like management consulting, IT support, legal, accounting generally there are economies of scale. Depending on the business there may be cross sell and marketing opportunities the would mean using shared resources strategically.

Reply by a professional
from University of Colorado at Boulder in Fort Myers, FL, USA

^redacted‌ As you noticed, others have provided valuable feedback. The only other thing I would add is that to try and see where AI can be implemented in each organization. There will most likely be overlaps which is when a shared service may work. One of the first places I would look is to add a Voice AI agent to each but use one service. The largest cost will be set up but once that is completed, the cost per call is very low. Hope that helps. Best of luck in your deal! Thanks for the tag ^redacted‌.

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