Provident Healthcare Partners Advises East Coast Institute for Research in its Partnership with Gauge Capital

BOSTON and NEW YORK, Nov. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Provident Healthcare Partners ("Provident"), a leading healthcare investment banking firm, announced it has advised East Coast Institute for Research ("ECIR") in its partnership with Gauge Capital to provide a growth investment for the Company. ECIR is a preeminent Southeast clinical research site management organization with eight sites in Florida and Georgia, 14 partnered provider practices, and 26 principal investigators. Led by Rushab Choksi and Rebecca Goldfaden, ECIR manages all aspects of the Phase II – Phase IV trial process and holds deep sponsor relationships across several indications including cardiovascular, dyslipidemia, diabetes, obesity, and ophthalmology. The transaction represents Gauge Capital's entrance into the clinical research site sector.

Provident's deal team was led by Managing Director Eric Major and Vice President Conor Duffey. Axia Legal Services served as legal counsel to ECIR and McDermott Will & Emery served as legal counsel to Gauge Capital.

"We're very excited to partner with Gauge on this next chapter of growth for ECIR. Through the process with Provident, we were able to evaluate multiple high-quality partners in parallel and are confident we chose the right team at Gauge to take our organization to the next level. We look forward to continuing to provide the same dedicated clinical research support to other practices nationally," commented Rushab Choksi, Co-Founder of ECIR.

"Rebecca, Rushab and the rest of the ECIR team have developed a differentiated and highly scalable research site network in the Southeast," noted Major. "The Gauge team separated themselves as an ideal partner for ECIR given their dedicated thesis in the research site space and strong track record of providing growth capital for founder-led healthcare organizations."

About East Coast Institute for Research
ECIR is a comprehensive site management organization partnered with specialty provider practices serving the Florida and Georgia markets since 2007. The Company is dedicated to developing innovative research involving the latest medications and devices not yet available to the public. The Company is led by Rushab Choksi and Rebecca Goldfaden who both look forward to driving continued expansion throughout the Southeast and United States. Visit www.eastcoastresearch.net to learn more.

About Gauge Capital
Gauge Capital is a leading middle-market private equity firm based in Southlake, Texas. Gauge invests in five key sectors: business services, food & consumer, government & industrial services, healthcare, and technology. The Firm manages more than $3.0 billion in capital and in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, Inc. Magazine named Gauge one of the top private equity firms for founders. In 2021, 2022, and 2023 Gauge was also named to the Top 50 PE Firms in the Middle Market by Grady Campbell. In 2022, Gauge ranked in the top five out of 517 private equity firms in the HEC Paris – DowJones Small-Cap Buyout Performance Ranking. Visit www.gaugecapital.com for more information.

About Provident Healthcare Partners
Provident is a leading healthcare investment banking firm specializing in merger and acquisition advisory, strategic planning, and capital formation services for healthcare companies. The firm has a comprehensive knowledge of all healthcare services subsectors, including pharma services. Provident also has unsurpassed experience and insight into the M&A process, which includes working with a multitude of investors such as private equity firms and strategic consolidators. For additional information, visit www.providenthp.com or follow Provident on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Provident Healthcare Partners LLC