FigureAsia 35 Under 35 · Finance
Kohei Habara
Age 31 · Mergers, acquisitions and integration · Japan
The architect of an acquisition and integration system used to build a multi-country operating group.
- Age at the edition eligibility date
- 31
- Field
- Finance
- Country or region
- Japan
- FigureAsia U35 Assessment
- 89.0 / 100
Profile
Career and documented record
Kohei Habara joined GENDA after work in accounting and transaction advisory and built its acquisition function from the beginning. His remit covers the full chain from target evaluation and deal execution to post-merger integration. By March 2025 he had become managing director and chief strategy officer as well as president of GENDA Capital. The significance of that progression lies in the system he created: the company expressly attributes leadership of all its M&A transactions since establishment to him.
GENDA reported 58 M&A announcements over seven years by October 2025 and operations across Japan, North America, Europe and several Asian markets. An announcement count is not the same as a completed-deal count, and group growth cannot be assigned to one executive. The material record is the repeatable finance and integration capability Habara established, together with completed acquisitions that moved the business from a domestic operator toward a multi-country group.
FigureAsia selection
Why Kohei Habara is on the list
FigureAsia selected Habara for turning corporate finance into an operating discipline. At 31, he had already built a transaction workflow, led acquisition processes and carried responsibility into post-merger integration. That combination is harder to execute, and more consequential, than identifying targets or raising capital without demonstrating how acquired businesses are absorbed.
His assessment separates the group's reported expansion from his personal record. Revenue, venue count and country footprint reflect the work of many teams; Habara's attributable contribution is the acquisition machinery and the transactions he led. The evidence is strongest because primary statements about his remit are reinforced by regulatory filings and a detailed account of how he constructed the function.
Verified work
The 2025–26 record
Built GENDA's M&A and integration function
Habara created the acquisition workflow from its early stage and is formally credited with heading the group's transactions since establishment, including responsibility for post-merger integration.
Took expanded strategy and investment responsibility
He became managing director and chief strategy officer of GENDA while continuing as president of GENDA Capital, consolidating transaction, strategy and investment responsibilities.
Field context
The work in its field
Acquisition-led growth is easy to announce and difficult to institutionalise. The financial work extends beyond valuation and funding into diligence, integration, controls and the willingness to stop deals that do not meet a disciplined threshold.
For Asian companies expanding across jurisdictions, that operating system must also absorb different labour markets, consumer habits and reporting regimes. Habara's record is relevant because it connects transaction execution with the less visible work after closing.
FigureAsia U35 Assessment
Assessment breakdown
89.0out of 100
Completed financial consequence
28 / 30
Built GENDA's M&A and integration function is treated as a delivered financial outcome. The score is confined to the completed result described in the record and excludes projections or paper valuation.
Individual agency and execution
24 / 25
The documented role—Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer; President—and the attributed actions in the profile establish accountable execution. Institution-wide results are not assigned to the person alone.
Verified reach and significance
17 / 20
Acquisition-led growth is easy to announce and difficult to institutionalise. The financial work extends beyond valuation and funding into diligence, integration, controls and the willingness to stop deals that do not meet a disciplined threshold.
Innovation and field influence
13 / 15
The record combines mergers, acquisitions and integration with the completed work described in Took expanded strategy and investment responsibility. Credit reflects demonstrated practice, not a claim of novelty by itself.
Stewardship, access and Asian relevance
7 / 10
The Asian connection is explicit: A Japanese certified public accountant who built and runs the acquisition function of a Tokyo-listed group expanding across Asia, North America and Europe. Stewardship credit is limited to the regulatory, governance, access or stakeholder evidence described in the profile.