Don holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Information Systems and a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Cape Town. He is a Chartered Accountant (SA).

He began his corporate finance career at Deloitte Corporate Finance, where he worked as a Senior Consultant, before joining Bridge Capital as a Director.

In 2001, Don founded Clarity Group, an independent corporate finance advisory business focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance mandates across Africa.

His experience spans multiple industries and includes advising shareholders, investors and businesses on transactions, valuations, capital structures and strategic financial decisions.

Alongside his corporate finance career, Don has developed extensive experience in safari tourism and related businesses across Africa.

His involvement has included businesses and opportunities in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania and Gabon, building an understanding of the sector’s financial dynamics, funding environment and network of industry participants.

This combination of financial and sector experience is particularly important in safari investment.

Safari businesses cannot be understood through financial statements alone. Their performance and value are influenced by location, access, wildlife, concession and land arrangements, operating models, capital requirements, market positioning and conservation responsibilities.

Don’s experience extends beyond transactional advisory into corporate governance, investment oversight and board leadership.

He has served as a director and chairman across businesses and conservation interests and has participated in investment committees within private equity and venture capital. This exposure provides an additional perspective on the decisions that follow a transaction: how capital is allocated, how businesses are governed, how risk is assessed and how long-term value is protected.

It also reinforces the importance of considering investment structure and commercial sustainability alongside the immediate requirements of a transaction.

As a Co-Founder and Partner of Safari Investment Advisory, Don brings corporate finance discipline to the specialist realities of safari investment.

His expertise supports investors, owners and shareholders considering acquisitions, disposals, valuations, mergers, refinancing, restructuring, new investment and changes in ownership structure.

Working alongside the broader Safari Investment Advisory team, Don helps clients understand the financial implications of an opportunity while considering the operational, conservation and strategic factors that may ultimately determine its performance.

The objective is not simply to make a transaction work on paper, but to determine whether its assumptions, structure and economics make sense in practice.

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Corporate finance
• Safari asset and business valuations
• Investment and corporate structuring
• Capital raising and refinancing
• Shareholder transactions
• B-BBEE structuring
• Financial and commercial assessment
• Strategic financial advisory

Financial analysis is essential, but in safari investment it is only part of the picture.

A valuation, acquisition or capital structure can only be considered properly when the underlying business is understood. Wildlife experience, access, operating efficiency, market positioning, conservation obligations and future capital requirements can all materially affect financial performance and long-term value.

Don brings these considerations together, helping clients connect financial analysis with the realities of the safari business behind it.