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How ECB STAR Accelerates Asset Research and Stays Ahead of Live Deals

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The Challenge:

Limited information on privately held companies

Use Cases:

Competitor landscape mapping

Deal size and advisor checks

Tracking companies and investors

Live deal tracking

The Results:

Faster ramp-up on new projects and deals

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ECB STAR Group is an executive search firm built around high-performing leadership talent, pairing data-driven insight with hands-on execution across every search. Its Private Equity Services practice supports investors from early market assessment and due diligence through deal execution and into portfolio hiring. The team helps sponsors engage proven operators and senior advisors early in the deal process to strengthen conviction on investment views, and align leadership with value creation plans before and after closing. This case study is how Gain supports ECB STAR's Private Equity Services team in London, UK.

The Challenge:

Researching Private Companies Where Information Is Scarce

Before a fund commits to a deal, ECB STAR's private equity services team has to understand the target quickly and in depth: the risk areas, the value creation plan, and the angle other bidders don't have. But private company information can be difficult to retrieve.

In private equity, you're usually looking at privately held companies, and there's less information around those. When a new project or deal comes across your desk, you really want to research the asset. You want to understand the competitive landscape and find historical financials, the current management team, former executives, like ownership, previous transactions, deal size and advisors. All of that information is very difficult to find if you're searching on Google.

Shiv Dave

Partner, ECB STAR Group

In private equity, you're usually looking at privately held companies, and there's less information around those. When a new project or deal comes across your desk, you really want to research the asset. You want to understand the competitive landscape and find historical financials, the current management team, former executives, like ownership, previous transactions, deal size and advisors. All of that information is very difficult to find if you're searching on Google.

Shiv Dave

Partner, ECB STAR Group

Having used other tools at previous firms, the team knew the depth of information they needed wasn't always there. They needed reliable private company information from a single source.

The Solution:

Detailed Private Company Data Backed by Human Intelligence

With Gain, the team sees the clearest difference in the depth of data. Gain brings all relevant information and insights into one connected platform.

"Gain has all the information we need in one place, which makes it a lot easier. Compared to other tools, the ownership, transaction and advisor data is much more detailed, and the AI capabilities seem more advanced as well."

Shiv Dave

"Gain has all the information we need in one place, which makes it a lot easier. Compared to other tools, the ownership, transaction and advisor data is much more detailed, and the AI capabilities seem more advanced as well."

Shiv Dave

Beyond the data, regular calls with Gain's Intelligence team give them a direct line into the live deal pipeline.

"We have weekly or bi-weekly catch-up calls with Gain's Intelligence team around the pipeline. We never used to get that kind of service at our previous firms. Gain has so many conversations with advisors, investors and companies, and that insight and service has elevated Gain as a product versus the others."

Shiv Dave

"We have weekly or bi-weekly catch-up calls with Gain's Intelligence team around the pipeline. We never used to get that kind of service at our previous firms. Gain has so many conversations with advisors, investors and companies, and that insight and service has elevated Gain as a product versus the others."

Shiv Dave

Use Cases:

Built Into the Team’s Daily Workflow

Reviewing ownership structures, holding periods and deal history on each new company

Mapping the competitor landscape through the Market tab

Checking deal sizes and advisors on previous transactions

Monitoring target investors and portfolio companies through daily watchlist alerts

Tracking live deals through regular pipeline calls with Gain's Intelligence team

"On Gain, I've got a list of private equity investors with $10bn+ AUM and a list of 50+ PE-backed companies, and I've turned on alerts. Whenever there are rumours or updates around a deal they might be looking at, I get pinged early in the morning, so I have something to read through before I start work."

Shiv Dave

"On Gain, I've got a list of private equity investors with $10bn+ AUM and a list of 50+ PE-backed companies, and I've turned on alerts. Whenever there are rumours or updates around a deal they might be looking at, I get pinged early in the morning, so I have something to read through before I start work."

Shiv Dave

The results:

Up to Speed Faster on Every New Deal

The clearest benefit is time savings. Instead of piecing research together from open sources, the team can build a view of a company and its market quickly and trust where each data point comes from.

"Having it all here, sourced and easy to use, makes your life much easier when you start a new project or deal. You can get up to speed on the market and the company you're looking at much faster than you would using any other platform."

Shiv Dave

"Having it all here, sourced and easy to use, makes your life much easier when you start a new project or deal. You can get up to speed on the market and the company you're looking at much faster than you would using any other platform."

Shiv Dave

Together, detailed private market data, daily watchlist alerts and regular pipeline calls give ECB STAR's London team faster, better-informed research at every stage of a project. This puts them in a stronger position to bring funds the angle they need to win.