ACG New York International Event at the Hungarian Consulate

Central Bank of Hungary

Head of Representation

Edit Fodor is the Head of Representation in the newly established New York office of the central bank of Hungary. She previously worked as deputy head of International relations in the bank with a few years of interruption. Before joining the central bank in 2003 she worked as an economic advisor at the Hungarian Delegation of the European Commission in Budapest. She started her career in the academic sector where she mainly taught and researched international and EU economic and public finance subjects. She holds MA degree in economics and also completed a 3-year PhD course in the same subject.

Co-CEO

The Riverside Company

Mr. Béla Szigethy founded The Riverside Company in 1988 and serves as its Co-Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Szigethy manages all aspects of The Riverside Company's activities.

Pepper Hamilton LLP

Partner

James D. Rosener is a partner in the Commercial Department of Pepper Hamilton LLP. Mr. Rosener heads the firm's International Practice Group, is managing partner of the New York office and has served as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. His practice is devoted primarily to international transactions, private equity, mergers and acquisitions and corporate financing.

Mr. Rosener has represented domestic and foreign private equity funds in transactions in more than 70 countries throughout the world, including platform and follow-on acquisitions; distressed buyouts, including in bankruptcy; corporate carve-outs and restructurings. He also has represented U.S.-based companies in transactions throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia (particularly, India and China), as well as several European, Indian, South American and Japanese companies in merger and acquisitions, financing and licensing transactions involving the United States. In addition, he also has represented management-led groups in the acquisition of businesses from divesting corporations.

Within the corporate financing practice area, Mr. Rosener has represented domestic and foreign issuers in public offerings (both U.S. and foreign listings), venture and mezzanine capital raising and traditional bank financing transactions. In addition, he has represented a number of issuers and bondholder groups in debt restructuring, recapitalization and work-out plans. Mr. Rosener regularly acts as international legal counsel to issuers and underwriters on off-shore public offerings in India, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Mr. Rosener worked in the corporate finance field for nine years before becoming a lawyer. His experience in senior financial positions included the initial and subsequent public offerings of equity and debt securities of a major international integrated oil producer and a health care company, the acquisition of several publicly held companies and the financing of several stand-alone projects.

CohnReznick

Partner

Claudine Cohen is a principal in CohnReznick’s New York office and a member of the firm’s Transactional Advisory Services (TAS) practice. With over 20 years of business experience, she serves as an advisor to public and private companies both domestically and internationally. Her clients include private equity investors, alternative investment funds, lenders, and strategic investors.

Claudine’s specific advisory services include strategic advisory, quality of earnings analyses, identifying revenue sources and profitability drivers, examining operating cost structures and sustainability factors, investigating business models including cash flow and financial projections, reviewing quality and realization of assets and liabilities, identifying working capital requirements and negotiating positions, and post-close working capital verification and adjustment mechanisms. She has advised on a number of different buy and sell-side transactions including standalone platforms, carve-out of business segments, product line or facility, bankruptcy auction processes, mergers, and industry consolidations.

Prior to joining CohnReznick, Claudine served as the TAS principal at a large accounting and advisory firm. She led the TAS healthcare industry group while also serving other industry sectors including consumer industrial products, retail, distribution, and business and financial services. She began her career in public accounting with PKF, was an advisor for Micofin Corporate Services, and was a founding partner of Nucleus Corporate Finance, a corporate and strategic advisory boutique in South Africa.

Alantra Partners

Partner & Managing Director

Paul Colone, based in Boston, is a Partner and Managing Director of Alantra Partners, a global middle market investment bank with 30 offices across 21 countries.  Mr. Colone has over twenty years of M&A experience and is responsible for the execution of divestiture and acquisition programs for global companies and leading private equity firms.  He has completed successful transactions with a broad range of industrial and consumer clients. Many of his recent transactions have included producers of specialty materials and engineered components for filtration, electronics, medical and other industrial applications. Additionally, Mr. Colone has worked with several clients in the value-added distribution market. He received his MSc degree in International Securities Investment, and Banking from the ISMA Centre for Education and Research at the University of Reading in England where he studied as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. He received a bachelor’s degree with honors in economics from Boston College where he also graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Baird Capital

Principal
John DiGiovanni is a Principal at Baird Capital. Baird Capital makes venture capital, growth equity and private equity investments in strategically targeted sectors globally. The firm has raised and managed more than $3 billion and invested in nearly 300 portfolio companies since its inception in 1989. John has worked as an investment professional with Baird Capital since 2007, focusing on investments in healthcare and technology-enabled services. John has executed platform investments as well as portfolio add-on acquisitions in the United States and Europe. John serves as a Director on the Boards of multiple Baird Capital portfolio companies, including ReMed, MERGE, Alpha Source, and R2i. Prior to joining Baird Capital, John worked in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and equity and debt offerings. John holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and Northwestern University.