Ergo has successfully conducted over 250 projects in over 80 countries across six continents. This interactive map displays a wide range of recent projects, selected for their geographic and sectoral diversity. Click the colored squares for information about the project. A full case study is available for many of the projects. For further information about these projects or others in a particular geography or sector, please contact us.
A private equity firm considering an investment in a specialized aircraft manufacturer hired Ergo to perform rapid due diligence on the company and conduct a comprehensive market study to assess its competitive positioning, growth potential, demand trends, and the regulatory environment.
Ergo collected insights and data from a rapidly assembled panel of the world's leading authorities on all aspects of the domestic and international market for specialized aircraft. Our experts included customers of this particular type of aircraft, executives at competitor companies, technical and engineering experts, potential customers, and airspace regulation authorities.
Ergo presented our client with a comprehensive market study, including a competitive analysis of the target company and its rivals, and an assessment of the company's ability to seize growth opportunities. With this information-compiled over the course of just several days-our client was able to make its investment decision with confidence and a far more complete understanding of the company and the market.
A large international media company approached Ergo to conduct due diligence on a healthcare data company before making an acquisition decision. Our client wanted to gather insider perspectives that could add context to financial data and projections.
Ergo produced a rich report on the company, incorporating management profiles, sector and company growth predictions, an assessment of its competitive positioning, and revealing anecdotes from former company employees. Our findings were based on the insights of 20 experts with firsthand knowledge of the company, including competitors, suppliers, customers, and former employees.
Ergo's extensive one-on-one interviews with these experts elicited unique insights into the reputation of the company and its management team, the strengths and weaknesses of its products and brand image, the company culture, and the company's ability to deliver on its ambitious growth plan and capture market share. With this information, our client gained a deep and balanced understanding of the company and the sector—a new area of business for our client—before making an acquisition decision.
An energy investment firm was exploring opportunities in South America and wanted to understand the current state of Venezuela's energy industry. The client hired Ergo to conduct an in-depth examination of the industry and the political and economic landscape of Venezuela and the region.
Ergo engaged a panel of leading experts to provide insights into the potential construction of gas pipelines through Latin America, politics and corruption within the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company, and Venezuela's economic and political future as it relates to its energy sector. Ergo leveraged these expert insights to make projections on the future of Venezuela's energy sector and to assess its political and economic relationships with other key countries. Our experts included former high-level employees of the state-owned petroleum company, prominent Venezuelan economists and academics, and Venezuelan and international petroleum consultants and energy specialists.
Ergo shed light on a volatile industry in constant flux, and enabled our client to make a thoroughly informed decision about investing in a country whose economic fortunes are so closely tied to its political vicissitudes.
A major bank asked Ergo to examine recent trends in the European payment card industry. The study included a detailed overview of the competitive landscape as well as forecasts for key markets in Europe.
Ergo's investigation enabled our client to develop a market entry strategy based on a thorough understanding of the competitive landscape, customer demographics, usage trends, providers, and technologies. We recruited a team of leading experts, including senior officials at European banks and credit unions, economists, and merchants, and crafted an in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis from their insights.
Ergo's study enabled our client to gain a comprehensive understanding of the European payment card market, and how it is forecast to grow in the coming years. With this knowledge, our client was able to confidently enter the credit card, debit card, and stored value card market in several European countries.
An energy investment firm was interested in opportunities related to Kazakhstan's increasing oil exports to China. The client engaged Ergo to examine the market for transport of oil from Kazakhstan's onshore and offshore fields to various cities in China.
Ergo's regional and China-based in-country teams gathered detailed information about the future of oil transport in the region, with a focus on future supply and demand, geopolitical risk, and obstacles to growth. Our findings were based on the firsthand knowledge of the foremost authorities on the subject, including executives at Kazakh oil companies, leading transportation economists, and Chinese energy experts. We compiled difficult-to-obtain statistics on the volume of oil traffic out of Kazakhstan, detailed insights into proposed plans for growth, and multi-variant scenarios on future supply and demand trends and subsequent winners and losers.
Ergo's findings afforded our client a thorough understanding of the micro- and macro-level issues of oil sales in Central Asia, and provided them with unique insights into opportunities for partnerships, joint ventures, and investment.
A leading private equity firm considering a multi-billion dollar acquisition of a major Turkish retailer came to Ergo for detailed insights into the retail environment in Turkey and on domestic and geopolitical influences on Turkey's short- and medium-term economic growth.
Using insights gleaned from its in-country Ankara team and vast global network, Ergo built a penetrating and comprehensive study of the current state and future of the Turkish retail sector, using customized scenario evaluation methodologies and economic indicator forecasting. These solutions were powered by a select panel of experts from the highest levels of the Turkish business sector, including former heads of the Central Bank, former finance ministers, and leading Turkish political and military strategists. Many elements of the study were conducted in Turkish via in-person meetings.
Ergo's insights enabled the investment committee to understand aspects of Turkish and EU law of which it was not previously aware, to grasp the complexities of the Turkish economy, markets, and debt structures, and to handicap various global scenarios and their impact on Turkey. The client was able to accurately and rapidly determine the risk of its investment with the exclusive benefit of our unique and proprietary knowledge resources.
A globally-oriented investment firm exploring opportunities in Lebanon sought to understand the effect of recent political turmoil on the economy and investment environment. Ergo was engaged to conduct an on-the-ground investigation of the impact of the instability on local businesses, the nation’s economic recovery plan, and the sentiments of ordinary Lebanese toward economic growth.
Ergo and its teams in Beirut gained deep insights into opportunities in Lebanon through conversations with former cabinet ministers, senior banking executives, members of parliament, political scientists, economists, and journalists. We also used our in-country teams to conduct an in-depth man-on-the-street survey of ordinary Lebanese, to gauge their opinions about consumerism and Lebanon’s prospects for growth and development.
Our client gained a thorough, nuanced understanding of current and future opportunities in Lebanon, the state of its industries and economy, the condition of its infrastructure, and influential political and social dynamics. Our extensive statistical analysis of the survey data provided on-the-ground insights into various Lebanese demographic groups and their perspective on the economic difficulties facing local businesses, as well as their outlook on the future.
Ergo was hired by a large private equity firm considering an investment in a Western oil company with operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Our client sought to understand how political, economic, and historical divisions between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdish Regional Government, as well as relations with the Turkish government, will affect oil exploration and production and the awarding of production sharing agreements (PSAs) in KRG-administered areas.
Using Ergo's vast network and our Kurdish and Iraqi in-country teams, we extracted insights from sources in closest proximity to and at the highest levels of this debate. Our sources were located in Baghdad, Erbil, Istanbul, Ankara, Amman, Washington, and London, and included top officials of the Iraqi, Kurdish, and Turkish governments, senior Western advisors to the Kurdish oil minister, and senior executives of other oil companies currently operating in the region. Much of our information was gleaned from formal and informal one-on-one interviews, many of which were conducted in the local languages.
Ergo's in-country teams and experts gathered information and data that served as the key component of our client's investment decision. Guided by our findings, our client was able to develop a more complete picture of the oil company's prospects for success and expansion in the Kurdish Region, and determine whether the company's existing production sharing contracts will be honored in an evolving political landscape.
A private equity firm considering an investment in an Iraqi oilfield services company hired Ergo to conduct comprehensive, rapid diligence on the company and the oilfield services market in both the Kurdish and non-Kurdish areas of Iraq. Our client wanted its investment decision to be informed by local insights into the company, and to be understood in the context of Iraq's rapidly shifting political and economic landscape.
Ergo devised a three-pronged solution. First, our Kurdistan- and Baghdad-based in-country teams extracted primary insights from 60 experts with intimate knowledge of oilfield services in Iraq, including Iraqi and Kurdish government officials, customers, competitors, and suppliers of the target company, local legal and regulatory experts, and leading oil industry analysts and consultants. Second, several of our in-country teams collected and analyzed data that could only be obtained on the ground. Third, Ergo team members, working in Arabic, traveled to Iraq to interview key company personnel, conduct oilfield site visits and verify assets, and meet with a range of important stakeholders.
Ergo presented a multi-layered deliverable that included a thorough micro analysis of the company and its competitive positioning (including recommendations for the future), as well as a macro assessment of the broader factors affecting the local market landscape for oilfield services. Our client was able to make an informed investment decision based on a comprehensive understanding of regulation and government policies, implications of political alliances and rifts, competitive dynamics in the oilfield services market, and future growth opportunities.
An investment firm interested in opportunities in Algeria was crafting market entry strategies for various sectors and industries. The firm hired Ergo to help navigate the complex dynamics and relationships which influence the country's politics and economy and to act as a local "ambassador" to initiate business relationships.
Ergo's North Africa country teams probed deep into the intricate web of Algerian politics, business, and society, leveraging the insights of dozens of experts from across North Africa and Europe, including former senior Algerian government officials, prominent local business figures, and leading academics. To help identify useful partners and to avoid costly missteps, Ergo designed a unique social network diagram to illustrate the relationships of key individuals and groups in Algeria through political, business, and clan ties.
Ergo's innovative approach and the first-hand insider knowledge gleaned from our experts enabled our client to calibrate its investment strategies in Algeria to current realities and anticipate potential future developments.
Our client, an energy industry investor, was exploring a partnership with an industry insider to invest in a new facility being built in Libya. Before entering into the partnership, our client very quickly needed information about: the personal and professional history and background of the potential partner; his personal and professional connections and linkages; an assessment of his reputation and character; and his overall suitability as a business partner for this particular venture.
Ergo immediately launched our in-country teams in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, and conducted extensive interviews with the potential business partner's personal and professional associates, his family members, officials in the Libyan trade and finance ministries, and Libya-based industry analysts and journalists. Using the information gleaned from our sources, and supplemented with additional data obtained through deep searches of press reports, industry publications, databases, filings, and public records, we painted a detailed portrait of the individual and designed a unique personal and professional network diagram illustrating his extensive and varied relationships and affiliations.
In just one week, Ergo unearthed a vast amount of previously unknown information about the individual, casting new light on his suitability as a business partner. The findings of our investigation enabled our client to weigh the access, experience, and other strengths and weaknesses of the individual and make an informed decision about the partnership.
A frontier debt investor needed to understand the value and types of assets held by the government of Zimbabwe. The client hired Ergo to uncover information which would be used to determine its future debt strategies for the country.
Ergo designed and executed a comprehensive investigation of these assets, using its in-country field teams to obtain large volumes of data on natural resources, bank accounts, corporations, and other government assets throughout the region. Ergo also solicited guidance from Africa experts in the financial, academic, and NGO communities on ways to negotiate with Zimbabwe's top government officials and institutions. Our findings were depicted in an extensive link analysis, which illustrated the country's national and international assets and their relationships to the nation's leaders and ministries.
The extensive and unique information gathered by Ergo allowed our client to understand Zimbabwe's asset base, as well as the most appropriate channels and approaches for working with its government representatives and departments.
An emerging markets private equity firm was exploring opportunities in Pakistan but was concerned about ongoing political and economic instability. Ergo was hired to conduct an in-depth geopolitical risk assessment and forecast developments that could impact the environment for foreign investment.
Ergo used our unique peer-reviewed scenario mapping exercises to identify multiple factors and proxies to help forecast potential outcomes of the current turmoil. Ergo then mapped the effects of each on foreign investment and the general economic future of Pakistan. We also conducted extensive one-on-one interviews with the world’s foremost Pakistan experts, including business leaders, former government officials and diplomats, journalists, and academics.
Ergo provided an on-the-ground analysis of Pakistan’s constantly shifting political and economic landscape, going far beyond what is reported in the newspapers. Through Ergo’s unique scenario mapping methodology, our client was able to make an informed assessment of the significant risk associated with various opportunities in one of the world’s most unstable but promising countries.
A leading financial firm wanted to know which global companies might secure a massive and potentially lucrative government sector procurement contract in India. Ergo was engaged to provide the knowledge that would guide the firm's investment decision in advance of a final bid announcement.
Ergo assembled well-placed experts who provided extensive insights into the country's procurement process, including the influences and pressures that would shape the government's final decision. These former government officials, consultants, academic specialists, and industry journalists also contributed their perspectives to scenario planning exercises to ascertain decision likelihood, wild cards, and indicators of pending decisions.
Ergo's privileged insights into the government's approach to procurement gave our client unique guidance on the likely awarding of the contract, and enabled it to modify its investment strategy to be best prepared for all potential outcomes.
An investment firm hired Ergo to analyze telecommunications reconstruction in Sichuan Province after the May 2008 earthquake. Our client was interested in investment opportunities tied to the rebuilding of the region's telecom infrastructure, and relied on Ergo to investigate the extent of the damage, the steps public and private sector entities were taking to restore communications, and the various local and foreign companies that were poised to win reconstruction contracts.
Ergo and our in-country teams in Beijing and Sichuan engaged Chinese telecommunications experts to provide insights on this complex issue, based on their professional experience with the relevant technologies, the recovery operations, and the regional companies and infrastructure. Experts who contributed their perspectives-many of whom were on the ground in Sichuan shortly after the earthquake-included presidents of leading telecommunications firms, current and former government officials from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and leaders from the Earthquake Rescue and Relief Group.
The information obtained by Ergo served as a critical element in the client's investment calculus. Based on the data and insights that Ergo assembled, the client attained a comprehensive understanding of the earthquake's impact on the province's communications system, the government's plans to rebuild it, and the investment opportunities into specific companies and equipment makers that would be involved in those large-scale projects.
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A technology-focused investment firm hired Ergo to help develop an entry strategy into the new and rapidly developing internet sector in Vietnam. The client sought both precise technical details on network specifications and capacity, information on current and future usage, and scenarios of potential market development.
Ergo created the most comprehensive study of Vietnam's internet connectivity and capacity to date, by harnessing the expertise of select senior IT engineers with intimate knowledge of the Vietnamese network infrastructure. To assess market prospects Ergo also culled unique insights (in one-on-one meetings and in Vietnamese) from a spectrum of government officials, internet usage analysts, local new media actors to understand the evolving interaction of internet usage and regulation in Vietnam.
Ergo delivered a detailed compendium of the equipment and network infrastructure comprising the internet backbone in Vietnam as well as an incisive study of the potential barriers and motivators to internet usage and growth. Our client was afforded a level of clarity on the sector that enabled them to confidently plan their business strategy in the short to medium term.
North Korea's decision to dismantle its nuclear program and its strengthening of commercial ties with other countries has enabled Western firms to conduct business in the country for the first time in decades. A large financial services firm hired Ergo to examine the nascent North Korean investment environment and to identify opportunities and assess risk.
Ergo collected firsthand information about North Korea's attitudes and receptivity toward foreign investment, as well as current and future investment opportunities, through extensive interviews (many in Korean and Mandarin) with well-placed sources in Pyongyang, Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo, London, and Moscow. Our sources were selected for their direct experience operating in both the public and private sectors of one of the world's most inaccessible countries.
Ergo's findings provided the client with exclusive insights into the uncharted North Korean investment landscape. Guided by our analysis, our client developed a thorough understanding of the various opportunities and inevitable risks present in the enigmatic country.
A leading global communications and public affairs firm needed to understand healthcare policy decision-making processes in 30 countries on six continents, with a specific focus on drug and vaccine policy. Ergo was hired to conduct an extensive comparative analysis—both at the national and regional level—of several issues, including: healthcare agenda drivers and agenda prioritization; processes for approval/registration and pricing/reimbursement; and the roles and responsibilities of the legislative and executive branches in the policy-making process.
For each country, Ergo provided written and graphical analysis of the step-by-step the processes of registration, recommendation, and pricing for new drugs; the key issues that drive healthcare policy-making and their relative influence and significance; and the formal and informal interplay among the various power centers involved in the process. We then conducted an in-depth comparison study to identify similarities and differences and detect market entry opportunities. Our findings were based on the insights of leading healthcare and health policy experts from each of the 30 countries.
With this information, our client successfully entered the drug and vaccine market in each of the 30 countries with unique targeted strategies based on individual policies and processes, and understood key aspects of decision-making based on unique cultural and political characteristics.
A leading consulting firm hired Ergo to conduct a comprehensive study of the emerging algae biofuel industry, which is blossoming in many countries around the world. Our client was interested in several aspects of algae biofuel, including the science behind it, the economics and dynamics of regional markets, and the international players in the space.
Ergo provided our client with a layered understanding of algae's prospects as an alternative energy source. We addressed each of our client's questions with in-depth analysis from leading biofuel experts from the world's centers of algae biodiesel innovation, including the UK, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. We also created a graphical representation of algae's lifecycle, from "flask to fuel", and supplemented our primary findings with extensive information from scientific and technical papers describing the most current research in the field.
Our client gained a strategic and technical understanding of the algae biofuel market. Our findings revealed the opportunities, risks, and costs of investing and operating in the developing industry by examining the various companies involved, the technologies being used, and potential market growth in future years.
A client seeking to invest in international alternative energy markets wanted to understand national climate change polices in 15 countries across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and East Asia. The client hired Ergo to forecast the impact these polices would have on the growth of alternative energy markets in each country.
Ergo designed a comprehensive climate change profile for each country, including a detailed overview of climate change policies, forecasts of policy shifts, and an assessment of short- and long-term alternative energy market opportunities. Ergo's analysis was informed by the insights of over 40 experts in each of the 15 countries, including delegates to major international climate change conventions, current and former government officials, leading journalists, analysts, and academics, and private sector alternative energy leaders.
Ergo's client gained a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between national policies and energy markets in each country, and the unique local regulations that will impact the growth of alternative energy markets. Guided by these insights, our client was able to optimize its investment strategy in order to focus on the most promising areas of potential growth.
In the wake of the A/H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak in Mexico, Ergo undertook a comprehensive study of 18 countries, including an assessment of local risk factors, an evaluation of national pandemic preparedness plans, and predictions regarding the likelihood and possible impacts of further spread of the virus.
Leveraging the access of our in-country teams, we engaged 52 leading experts using several tools: in-depth online surveys; an online forum in which nine select experts responded to specific questions about the virus, and peer reviewed and challenged each other's theories and assumptions; and in-person and telephone interviews conducted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Dari, and Azerbaijani. Participating experts included health ministry officials, renowned epidemiologists at leading public and private health facilities, and a range of experts on specific aspects of influenza outbreaks and containment.
Ergo's real-time coverage of the outbreak provided a critical evaluation of the swine flu threat in each country, based on local vulnerability factors, pandemic preparation levels, and expectations regarding the future trajectory of the virus.
A global strategic security company was seeking to expand into new markets and hired Ergo to explore opportunities and develop market entry strategies in 35 countries across 6 regions.
Ergo conducted an exhaustive study of 11 critical infrastructure sectors and homeland security spending priorities in each country using 140 on-the-ground experts. To assess the client's potential for success in each distinct market—nearly 400 in all—we examined several important factors, including the client's ability to access the market and its potential to capture market share. We also devised and employed three distinct methodologies to "triangulate" five-year estimates of market size (in dollars) for each sector in each country. Through our research, we generated a catalog of over 800 greenfield and brownfield infrastructure projects across all 35 countries.
As a result of our study, our client was able to make highly informed decisions about which sectors in which countries to target first as part of its global expansion plan, which markets were the most promising and offered near-term prospects for success, and which markets were not worth pursuing. Our catalog of infrastructure projects provided a detailed database of opportunities the client could immediately target.
A sovereign wealth fund engaged Ergo to develop a strategy to secure the supply of seven critical imported foodstuffs through a series of targeted, high-return investments at key stages of the supply chain. The client needed to understand the political, regulatory, and supply-chain vulnerabilities in a broad range of producing countries to make strategic, synergistic investments that would stand the test of time.
Ergo identified seven foodstuffs of critical importance to the client's home country and — using input from leading agricultural experts — identified key producing countries with advantageous investment opportunities for each foodstuff. After pairing foodstuffs and producing countries, we leveraged 41 leading on-the-ground experts and mapped and "stress tested" every stage of the supply chain, from production to processing to internal transport to international shipping, to identify its strengths and vulnerabilities. We subsequently engaged top experts to participate in an extensive peer-reviewed scenario mapping exercise to envision scenarios in which production and global supply of each foodstuff would be endangered.
With deep local knowledge, Ergo identified investment opportunities across the supply chains, formulated sequencing strategies to time and coordinate investments, and shed light on regulatory hurdles, export reliability, and political risk. Our analysis helped the client build the foundation of a comprehensive, multi-stage food security strategy.