ACG Boston Announces Rudy Scarito, RS Finance & Consulting, LLC, as Chapter President, and Gus Phelps, Summit Partners, as Chapter Vice President

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BOSTON, MA – September 8, 2022 – ACG Boston, the Boston Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), has announced Rudy Scarito, Founder & President, RS Finance & Consulting, LLC, as chapter President, beginning in September 2022. Rudy takes over the presidency from John Surrette, Jr., CPA, CFE, CM&AA – Partner, Chair, Private Equity and Venture Capital Services Group, KLR. The ACG Boston board also announced Gus Phelps, Principal, Summit Partners, as chapter Vice President. In this position, Gus will work closely with Rudy to help drive the mission and initiatives of the chapter.

“ACG Boston is a collegial community, where so many friendly competitors have helped me build my business. Boston is a particularly engaged chapter, with marquee networking events that sell out each year,” said Rudy Scarito, President, ACG Boston. “Our leaders have consistently developed formats and content that draw people from all over the country, and Board members actively leverage their contacts to recruit great speakers. We’re fortunate to have such a hard-working and committed team here in Boston. I’m honored to be working with such a great group of people and look forward to helping ACG become even better than it is today.”

Rudy will be introduced at ACG Boston’s upcoming Fall Kickoff Event- “Serving Up Innovation, Investments & Growth in the Food Industry” event on September 21 at 9OFS, and we will also thank and toast outgoing President, John Surrette. Register here to attend.

The ACG Boston board has also elected four new directors to its Advisory Board, further strengthening the chapter’s leadership in supporting important strategic initiatives for the organization. The new board members are: Anabelle Skalleberg, Watermill Group; Drew Collina, Stifel; Kyle Murphy, Hilco Global; and Brigid Morrissey, CohnReznick.

ACG Boston serves over 500 New England members who are directly involved in M&A transactions – including private equity & family office investors, intermediaries, , lenders and M&A service providers – and is dedicated to helping middle-market M&A professionals build and maintain trusted and productive relationships through membership and event opportunities.

Background – ACG Boston’s New Board Members

Rudy Scarito – Founder & President, RS Finance & Consulting, LLC

Ms. Scarito has been an investment banker for over 20 years, working in both global, full-service firms as well as smaller, regional firms focused on middle-market companies. She founded RS Finance & Consulting, LLC in April 2009, and specializes in advising corporate clients on mergers, acquisitions, capital raising and corporate and financial strategy.

Ms. Scarito began her career at Lehman Brothers in New York in the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions department. At Lehman Brothers and at subsequent firms Ms. Scarito represented a variety of corporate clients in the sale of their companies. She also assisted corporate buyers in identifying, evaluating and pursuing acquisition targets. Later in her tenure at Lehman Brothers, Ms. Scarito worked in Equity Capital Markets and Syndicate, where she completed over $9 billion of initial public offerings of equity and convertible securities. Following her experience at Lehman Brothers, Ms. Scarito moved to Goldman Sachs Asset Management where she gained additional public equity capital markets experience. In her position as Portfolio Analyst, Ms. Scarito identified, analyzed and recommended public company investment opportunities for GSAM’s equity portfolios.

After gaining experience on Wall Street, Ms. Scarito transitioned to the middle market to work with smaller, owner-operated companies. During her tenure in the middle market, Ms. Scarito managed the Private Capital groups of Tucker Anthony, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Legacy Partners Group. Ms. Scarito has extensive experience originating, structuring and negotiating private placements of equity and debt.

Ms. Scarito is a past member of the Board of Directors of Industrial Services of America, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDSA), a publicly traded scrap metal recycler and processor, and a past member of the Board of Directors of Fresh Truck, Inc., a non-profit, mobile green grocer that increases access to healthy foods within low-income Boston neighborhoods. Ms. Scarito previously served on the Board of Directors of Ambient Corporation (NASDAQ: AMBT), a publicly traded networking communications and technology company, and Material Sampling Technologies, LLC, a private recycler of precious metals.

Ms. Scarito has served as an expert witness on business valuations and on capital markets matters.

Ms. Scarito holds her Series 7, 24, 63 and 79 securities licenses. She is a registered principal with M&A Securities Group, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC. M&A Securities Group, Inc. and RS Finance & Consulting, LLC are not affiliated.

Ms. Scarito graduated from Dartmouth College, cum laude, and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Gus Phelps – Principal, Summit Partners

Gus is a Principal at Summit Partners in Boston where he focuses on origination activities and handles business development for financial sponsors and investment banks.  He was recently named to the “Private Equity BD Professionals to Watch” list by Middle Market Growth Magazine. Prior to joining Summit, Gus was a founding partner at Seacoast Partners, and he worked for Wachovia Securities and Tucker Anthony.   Gus holds a BA from Trinity College and an MBA from Cornell University.

Drew Collina – Managing Director, Stifel

Drew joined Stifel in 2018 to lead middle- and lower-middle market sponsor coverage. Drew brings a unique perspective and skill-set to Stifel’s private equity clients, having approx. 25 years experience within sell-side M&A, corporate buy-side, and private equity investing. Prior to Stifel, Drew was Head of N. America Sponsor Coverage for Alantra, a cross-border, internationally focused Spanish investment bank headquartered in Madrid, Spain. Previously, he was a Managing Director at BB&T Capital Markets. His experience also includes Principal at Castanea Partners, as well as Director of Corporate Development and M&A at EMC Corporation (now Dell EMC). Prior, Drew held various investment banking positions at RBC Capital Markets and BancBoston Robertson Stephens.

Brigid Morrissey – Senior Manager, CohnReznick

Brigid Morrissey, CPA, MBA, MST, is a senior manager in CohnReznick’s Financial Sponsors and Financial Services Industry Practice.  Based in the Boston office, Brigid works with investment management firms throughout all stages of their lifecycle from formation to wind-down, providing strategic tax planning, compliance, and structuring for both debt and equity strategies.  Brigid assists investment firms and their principals in navigating the complexities of carried interest and tax allocations, with an understanding of their unique investor needs, as well as addressing multi-state and international tax issues.  She is active in CohnReznick’s Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) niche practice.  Brigid’s responsibilities include client and engagement management, as well as business development throughout the New England market.

Throughout her career, Brigid has worked with companies across multiple industry segments, including manufacturing and distribution, real estate, retail, international shipping, and technology, many of which are held by private equity and venture capital sponsors.  She has provided closely-held corporations, partnerships, and high-net-worth individuals with a wide range of tax-related services, including selection of and changes in accounting methods, tax credit advisory services, cost segregation studies, representation before the IRS and other taxing authorities, choice of entity analysis, and tax advisory services to businesses and their owners for various M&A transactions.

Brigid currently serves as a board member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), Boston Chapter and is the Co-Chair of the Women’s Connection Committee.

Brigid is a proud Double Eagle, earning both her BS in Management with a concentration in Accounting and Marketing as well as her MBA from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.  Brigid earned her MS in Taxation from Bentley University.  Brigid is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts.

Kyle Murphy – Managing Director, Hilco Global

Kyle Murphy currently serves as a managing director at Hilco Global, a special situations merchant bank headquartered in Chicago. He leads their business development & private equity sponsor coverage efforts for New England.

During Kyle’s 16 + year career in banking, he has served roles at J.P. Morgan’s Middle Market Banking Group and Wells Fargo Capital Finance.  Mr. Murphy began his career at New Stream Capital a multi strategy credit opportunity fund. He has been involved in ACG and attending events around the Northeast for over 14 years. He recently chaired the Deal Hunters committee for ACG Boston. In 2019, he was the recipient of the ACG Emerging Leader Award. Kyle’s also an active member of the Secured Finance Network and Turnaround Management Association.

Kyle graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in economics. He’s a licensed investment banker holding his Series 79 and 63 with Hilco Corporate Finance, LLC member FINRA and SIPC. Additionally, Mr. Murphy is an active committee member of the Cape Cod YMCA. He’s also an avid power boater and saltwater angler.

Anabelle Skalleberg – Principal, Watermill Group

Anabelle Skalleberg is a Principal at Watermill Group responsible for business development efforts and executing transactions. Prior to joining Watermill, Ms. Skalleberg worked for Flight Centre Travel Group (ASX: FLT) as part of the mergers and acquisitions team. Before joining FLT she worked for Pine Street Capital Partners from 2012 – 2018 and was primarily involved with deal sourcing, portfolio management and investment evaluation and execution. Before her role with the Wellesley based mezzanine investment firm, she was an Assistant Vice President at Meketa Investment Group. While at Meketa, she was part of the Private Markets team responsible for researching private equity funds, leading diligence efforts on Latin American focused funds, and implementing the firm’s business development efforts in the southeast U.S. and Latin America regions. Prior to Meketa, Anabelle was the Head of Finance and MIS for the Cards Business at Sovereign Bank / Santander. Early in her career Anabelle interned at Consilium Partners as a Financial Analyst and also worked at Grant Thornton in its Corporate Finance advisory practice as a Consultant.

Anabelle is on the Board of Directors of United South End Settlements, a Boston-based non-profit that offers programs that support the whole family in achieving economic mobility.

Anabelle is a graduate of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (BA) and the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College (MBA).

Upcoming ACG Boston Events

ACG Boston is hosting several events this autumn.  For more information and to register, visit www.acgboston.org. 

About ACG Boston

ACG Boston (www.acgboston.org) is one of 59 local chapters around the world that form the international ACG organization, which focuses on corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. With over 500 members, ACG Boston offers in-person events geared towards this audience, including the annual DealFest and DealSource Select, speaker series aimed at highlighting hot topics in the deal environment, events for women and young and mid-level professionals, and more.

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