After being admitted as an attorney, notary and conveyancer, William joined the team that started Boland Financial Services (Pty) Ltd (now Mettle Investments Proprietary Limited) in 1995. In 1996 he accepted a partnership position in the corporate law department of Jan S de Villiers and Son in Cape Town. From 1996 until 1999 William advised clients in the agriculture, media, retail, financial services, and property sectors on a wide range of transactions ranging from acquisitions, sales, listings, unbundlings, and restructurings, to structured commercial lending arrangements. William’s clients included Naspers Limited (“Naspers”), Pepkor Limited and Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (now part of Distell).
Following a short period as a Director of Corporate Finance at PwC, during which he was a member of the team that advised Ceres Fruit Growers on the acquisition by Pioneer Foods Group Limited of a minority shareholding in Ceres Fruit Juices, William accepted the position of Business Development Director at M-Web Limited (“M-Web”) in 2000. In 2001 William took control of the newly formed eMedia Division at M-Web. During this time William was intimately involved in the turn-around of Computicket from a loss-making business to a solid performer in the M-Web group of companies.
William left M-Web at the end of June 2002 to join Pointbreak to start its corporate finance business, which he headed. During his time at Pointbreak, William was able to establish a sizable client base and was involved in numerous transactions for Pointbreak’s clients, which ranged from companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange such as Naspers, M-Web and Santam to private companies such as Media 24 [diversified media company], Paarl Media [printing], Beekmans Super Canopies [motor vehicle accessories], Boland Vineyards [wine production], Simonsig Wines [wine production], Vinimark [wine marketing and distribution], Agra (Co-Operative) of Namibia [agricultural co-operative], and GoReefers [perishable fruit logistics], Hexkoel [table grape cold storage], Cavalier Foods [red meat supplier], and Mission Holding Group [affordable housing developer]. William was also involved in the establishment of Pointbreak’s private equity business in Namibia and its property investment business in South Africa.
Pointbreak’s corporate finance business was acquired by Tradehold Limited in September 2014, and now trades under the name ‘Mettle Corporate Finance’, which business William continues to lead. William is an authorised financial services provider and key individual registered in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. In 2017 William successfully completed the JSE’s Sponsor Development Programme.