Investment Teams Need Access to Unique Data
Private equity is a high-risk, high-reward industry, and the right information can make or break a deal. Investment teams on the buy side face a demanding environment and need access to data that no one else has to source the next winning deal.
While there is no shortage of data available on companies that could be considered for investment, data alone is not knowledge. Many firms have teams of data scientists to run AI algorithms and LLMs to identify patterns, and they require unique insights to help them identify and evaluate new investment opportunities.
One private equity firm, known worldwide for its investments across a variety of industries, chose Dun & Bradstreet’s comprehensive data and analytical insights to help predict viable acquisition targets for investment. This engagement signifies an extension of Dun & Bradstreet’s work in the capital markets sector, equipping investors with unique and trusted data on their most critical investment decisions.
The firm uses Dun & Bradstreet’s vast coverage and in-depth private company data, including unique analytics on a company’s financial health, supply chain risk, fraud, and ESG rankings, so the team can assess each company based on their specific investment criteria.
The Benefit of Private Company Data
Due diligence requires teams to understand everything about a potential investment target, including key activities and events that result in growth or decline, to better prioritize investment targets at the appropriate time and predict potential for profitability.
To that end, the firm was excited to tap into Dun & Bradstreet’s extensive database of archive data on private companies to analyze and compare point in time or trending data to track business health and performance, strengthen models, identify incremental risks, and ultimately validate decisions.
In addition, Dun & Bradstreet’s Enterprise Data Management (EDM) capabilities is used to match and link the firm’s internal (first party) data to the D-U-N-S® Number and more than 16,000 D&B data attributes. The D-U-N-S Number is a unique business identifier and, coupled with the firm’s hierarchies and linkages, provides the ability to identify opportunities that others can’t provide.
“Access to precise and trusted data is a catalyst to success for all private markets and our data-driven approach allows investors to navigate deal-making with confidence in the areas of origination, due diligence, monitoring, and EDM with more firms, relying on our data,” said Gary Kotovets, Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Dun & Bradstreet. “By harnessing this wealth of information, investors gain complete insights into potential targets and can uncover hidden opportunities with robust risk assessment.”
The firm also has use of the D&B Analytics Studio, a secure cloud-based analytics platform, that allows access to the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud providing proprietary data on more than a half billion public—and private—businesses and offers corporate linkages for a holistic view of company overview structures, including ultimate beneficial owner (UBO), subsidiaries branches, and other assets.
Trusted Data Shapes Successful Investment Strategies
With these insights, the investment team can gain a granular understanding of an organization’s business connections and are better positioned to optimize investment strategies.
“We recognize the critical role of timely and trustworthy data in shaping successful investment strategies and remaining competitive,” the company’s data leader said. “The power of Dun & Bradstreet’s data, insights and EDM capabilities equip us with mission-critical information to drive our investment decisions in private companies. With clean data that is normalized and linked through the D-U-N-S Number, and that meets the latest compliance requirements, we gain a comprehensive view of potential risk and opportunities across our portfolios and improve our modeling lifecycle.”
Learn More about Dun & Bradstreet’s Private Equity Solutions
We like to share our customers’ successes and inspire other teams that face similar challenges. Due to the sensitive nature of some customers’ businesses and their data strategies, we respect their privacy and do not identify them by name.