Meet the Team

Ron D. Gardner MBA | BSB | MRT | CPhT | RPhT

Chief Executive Officer

Ron Gardner founded Gardner Acquisitions & Closings to acquire and build exceptional lower middle market businesses across essential industries. As an entrepreneur and acquisition executive, he leads the firm's investment strategy, transaction execution, capital relationships, and long-term growth initiatives. Drawing on experience across healthcare, business operations, SaaS, consumer brands, and mergers & acquisitions, Ron combines an operator's mindset with a disciplined investment approach to identify high-quality businesses with durable cash flow and long-term value creation potential. Under his leadership, the firm focuses on partnering with business owners, executing thoughtful acquisitions, and building enduring companies that create lasting value for investors, employees, customers, and the communities they serve.

Bruce Mcdonald CPA | CMA | BSB

Chief Financial Officer

Bruce brings over eight years of progressive financial leadership across multi-state legal operations, defense technology, and building materials distribution. As a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant, Bruce has held controller and accounting leadership roles at growth-stage companies, with experience in GAAP compliance, financial reporting, general ledger operations, budgeting, and cross-functional accounting processes. Bruce and Ron, have known each other since their freshman year of college, giving the firm a long-standing foundation of trust, alignment, and shared business vision.

Our Team

Harper Holden

Harper Holden serves as Chief of Staff at Gardner Acquisitions & Closings, overseeing the firm's day-to-day operations and ensuring seamless coordination across every department. He works directly with the executive team to align priorities, manage strategic initiatives, and keep acquisition processes moving efficiently from sourcing through closing. Harper also oversees team operations, supports cross-functional communication, and helps maintain the systems and accountability that allow the firm to execute multiple transactions simultaneously. His leadership ensures that both internal teams and external stakeholders remain aligned as the firm continues to grow and scale.
Email: harper@gardneracquisitions.com

Chief of Staff

Rachel Zheng

Rachel serves as Director of Executive Operations at Gardner Acquisitions & Closings, where she helps oversee the firm's internal operations and ensures strategic initiatives are executed efficiently across the organization. Working closely with executive leadership, she coordinates cross-functional projects, streamlines operational processes, and supports communication between departments to keep acquisition activities moving forward. Her role focuses on translating strategy into execution, maintaining organizational efficiency, and ensuring teams remain aligned as the firm continues to expand. Through her attention to detail and strong organizational leadership, Rachel plays a key role in supporting the successful execution of the firm's acquisition pipeline.
Email: rachel@gardneracquisitions.com

Director of Operations

Head of Financial & Deal Analysis

Reet Sapra

Reet Sapra serves as the Head of Financial & Deal Analysis at Gardner Acquisitions & Closings, where she leads the firm's financial underwriting team across active acquisition opportunities. She oversees financial due diligence, valuation analysis, and transaction modeling, ensuring each opportunity is thoroughly evaluated before advancing through the acquisition process. Working closely with leadership, Reet coordinates the firm's financial analysts, helping transform complex financial data into clear, actionable investment decisions. Her analytical approach and commitment to understanding the underlying drivers of business performance play a key role in identifying strong acquisition opportunities and supporting successful transactions.
Email: reet@gardneracquisitions.com

Principals

Our Principals provide strategic leadership across acquisitions, investment decisions, and transaction execution, helping guide opportunities from evaluation through closing.