Don Manifold

An internationally renowned M&A (mergers and acquisitions) leader, Australia’s Don Manifold is also adept at facilitating divestments and preparing expert independent reports and valuations. He serves as the Joint Managing Director of Equity & Advisory, a corporate advisory firm in Adelaide, South Australia.

Born and raised in the small South Australian of Mount Gambier, Don Manifold found his passion for business quite early in life. At a school fair, he briefly embarked on a unique venture selling helium gas to change the pitch of his customer’s voices. “While it was an outstanding success,” he recalls, “it was short-lived, and the school soon had us selling balloons again!”

After high school, Don Manifold chose to attend Flinders University nearly five hours away up the southwestern Australian coast in Adelaide. He received his Bachelor of Economics with honors in 1991. After working in the business world for well over a decade, he returned to the academic environment to secure his Master of Business Administration from the top-rated Australian Graduate School of Management in Kensington. Don Manifold is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia.

Don Manifold has a broad history in financial and general business management in sectors that range from industries that range from agriculture to technology. Over the course of a career that spans three decades, he has garnered 25 years of experience as a corporate finance specialist. 

After graduating from Flinders University and establishing himself as a finance and business professional in Adelaide, he completed significant work in the major Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney. He also went on to serve key positions overseas in England and Croatia. 

Don Manifold’s professional accomplishments include advising on more than 60 completed acquisitions, divestments, capital raisings, and initial public offerings with a total value that exceeds $3 billion. Furthermore, he has produced valuation and independent expert reports for businesses that have a total value that exceeds $25 billion. He has facilitated and guided many of South Australia’s highest-profile transactions including the sales of the leading beef producer S. Kidman & Co and the cloud-based healthcare software company Powerhealth as well as the acquisitions of the publicly listed banking institution Adelaide Bank and the large wheat, canola and barley producer ABB Grain.

Don Manifold assumed his first leadership position in 2004, when he accepted a partnership at the global tax, audit, consulting, and advisory firm Deloitte. He subsequently served six years with the multinational professional services corporation KPMG and four years with the Adelaide offices of Ernst & Young. In 2018, he left his position as the Office Managing Partner for Ernst & Young’s South Australia and Northern Region to go into business for himself as a Managing Director of Equity & Advisory. Since he joined Equity & Advisory to restart its corporate advisory division, he has spearheaded a tenfold growth rate.

Don Manifold lives in Adelaide, South Australia. His wife, Rachel, is a practicing dermatologist, and the couple has three young daughters who still live at home. When he isn’t working, he enjoys spending time with his family and staying fit by running, bicycling, and sporadically participating in triathlons. He is also an avid reader whose favorite books include The Book of Beautiful Questions: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You Decide, Create, Connect, and Lead by Warren Berg and Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't by Verne Harnish.