Provident Healthcare Partners announced that it has advised East Coast Institute for Research (ECIR) in its partnership with Southlake, Texas-based private equity firm Gauge Capital. Gauge Capital has made a growth investment in ECIR as part of the transaction, which represents Gauge Capital’s entrance into the clinical research site sector.
Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, ECIR is a clinical research site management organization with eight sites in Florida and Georgia, 14 partnered provider practices and 26 principal investigators. 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.
Gauge Capital specializes in management buyouts, recapitalizations, divestitures, privatization, consolidation and growth investments in middle-market companies. Gauge invests in five key sectors: business services, food and consumer, government and industrial services, healthcare and technology. The firm manages more than $2.0 billion in capital.
Axia Legal Services served as legal counsel to ECIR and McDermott Will & Emery served as legal counsel to Gauge Capital. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to data captured in the LevinPro HC database, this transaction represents the 38th clinical trials acquisition of the year. Additionally, this marks Gauge Capital’s second deal of the year. In March, the company recapitalized Streamline Healthcare Solutions, a provider of electronic health record software, primarily serving behavioral health providers and state and local departments of health, for an undisclosed price.
