ACG NY VIP Corporate Development Officer Roundtable Series

Gen Oraa is a partner with CohnReznick Transactions and Turnaround Advisory, who specializes in providing clients with transaction advisory services. Gen has led and executed due diligence for over 120 merger and acquisition transactions for strategic and private equity buyers and sellers. She has advised middle market clients on M&A transactions with purchase price ranging from $10 million to over $700 million. 

She has worked on transactions in various industries, including professional services, industrial/manufacturing, government contractors, aerospace and defense, distribution/logistics, corporate housing, media/online advertising, education, textile, retail, life science and health services, and business/staffing services. 
In addition to financial due diligence, she advised clients on transactions involving letter of interest, net working capital peg, purchase agreements, purchase price adjustments, debt and debt-like items, closing statements and other related assistance.

Prior to joining CohnReznick, Gen served in the transaction advisory services teams of BDO, KPMG, and Grant Thornton in the US. Her professional career began at Arthur Andersen, Philippines (now Ernst and Young), as an auditor and later worked on finance, accounting, and internal audit at a small conglomerate.

David Acharya is the Managing Partner of ACP where he oversees all aspects of the firm’s investing, management, and strategic activities. He brings over 25 years of investing and transacting experience to ACP. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and is recognized by his peers for his expertise in private equity, capital markets, and portfolio value creation.

Before establishing ACP, Mr. Acharya was a partner of AGI Partners, LLC, a private equity firm, and played a key role in the development of the firm including strategy, hiring, and fundraising. He continues to serve on the board of directors for Impact XM and On Location and will be managing until exit. 

Earlier, Mr. Acharya was a Director of an NYC-based private equity firm where he was responsible for investment sourcing and execution. Among other accomplishments, he sourced and executed Revolution Dancewear, co-sponsored with Incline Equity Partners, and was sold to Audax Group.

Previously, Mr. Acharya was a Vice President with Apprise Media, a private equity firm focused on niche media investments, where he worked with the founders of PRIMEDIA, a former KKR founded portfolio company. Mr. Acharya invested over $200 million in niche media companies across digital, events, and print products in North America, Europe, and Asia. He made significant contributions to Apprise Media’s largest portfolio company Canon Communications, a B2B media company. Canon was successfully sold to United Business Media in 2010.

Mr. Acharya spent 10 years as an investment banker in the highly ranked leveraged finance groups of JP Morgan Chase and Toronto Dominion Securities. He advised, structured, and raised over $18 billion of capital for leading financial sponsors, telecommunications, media, and consumer product companies across the globe. He also advised clients on debt tender/consent transactions that affected over $4 billion of debt. While at Toronto Dominion and as part of its merchant banking initiatives, he was involved in numerous equity investments including Rural Cellular Corporation (sold to Verizon), T-Mobile, Bresnan Communications, and Intermedia Communications (Leo Hindery’s Cable Venture).

In 2020, after completing his term as President of the New York Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), Mr. Acharya was elected as Chairperson. Additionally, he was recently elected to the ACG Global Board of Directors. In recognition of his years of leadership and volunteerism, he was honored with the ACG Meritorious Award.

Mr. Acharya is a graduate of St. John’s University and holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees with honors. 

Joseph (Joe) Kadlec is a corporate and securities attorney whose practice is focused on helping clients navigate acquisitions, investments, and sales. He also advises clients on corporate governance matters and other compliance issues, often in anticipation of their acquisitions or investments.

Clients often rely on Joe to negotiate their legal and business terms in order to help them achieve their objectives and to allocate risk. He has over a decade of experience representing clients in a variety of industry verticals, including healthcare services and technology, software technology, insurance brokerage & investment advisory, and food and beverage, for private equity, strategic and family business buyers and sellers.

Joe has an active pro bono practice and is experienced in representing a number of notable boards and nonprofit entities in governance and strategic transaction matters.

Audrey Rojas is a Co-Leader of the U.S. Risk Transaction Advisory Services practice within the M&A and Transaction Solutions group based in New York. Audrey focuses on Insurance due diligence for M&A transactions, involving private equity funds and corporate clients. Prior to this Audrey was the Director for Aon's Latin American Hub since January 2016 after 10+ years of experience exclusively in the international group as a Vice President and Team Leader within the Aon Global Client Network. Audrey’s current role is providing innovative risk management insurance solutions to clients undertaking acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, or growth strategies into new markets and territories. As the Miami Hub Director, Audrey was responsible for the business growth and talent development of the team.

Randy E. Phillips is a senior executive with extensive global experience in all facets of corporate development: strategy articulation, planning and deployment; financial analysis; joint venture development; partnership management; mergers and acquisitions; post-merger integration; and venture capital investments.

Randy is currently senior vice president of corporate development for ASGN Incorporated, one of the foremost providers of IT and professional services in the technology, digital, creative and life sciences fields across commercial and government sectors. He joined the company in August 2021.

Randy’s successful career of more than 40 years spans industries including aerospace & defense, information technology & systems, metals & mining, national security, and education technology. He previously worked for five Fortune 150 publicly-traded companies (TRW, Alcoa, CSC, Boeing and Leidos) as well as two private equity owned portfolio companies (TASC and Ellucian). Randy spent more than 15 years in operations as an engineer, program manager, product line manager and operations executive before moving to strategy and corporate development lead roles. Over the next 25 years, Randy closed 86 transactions in 20 countries, spanning six continents, totaling more than $50 billion in value.

Randy currently serves as a trustee for the Wright State University Foundation as well as an external advisory board member of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Wright State University, where he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science / systems. Previously, he served on the board of the American Tinnitus Association, and was vice-chair, whose focus was on research for managing and searching for a cure for this profound disease. He is a graduate of the Tuck Executive Program at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College. He has a finance and accounting accreditation from Stanford University and successfully completed the Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.