(Bloomberg) -- South African businessman Brian Joffe has wasted little time since raising 2 billion rand ($149 million) for his South African investment-holding company Long4Life Ltd., announcing two acquisition targets within three days.
The founder of food-services provider Bid Corp Ltd. and industrial conglomerate Bidvest Group Ltd. on Monday announced an all-share approach for Holdsport Ltd., the Cape Town-based owner of retail chains including Sportsmans Warehouse. Talks have also started with a second, unrelated company, Long4Life said in a statement Wednesday, without giving details.
Joffe put 100 million rand of his own money into Long4Life, a new challenge for the 70-year old after he stepped down as Bid Corp chairman at the end of last month. The businessman has a long track record of deal making, building up Bidvest with a series of acquisitions since founding the Johannesburg-based company in 1988. Long4Life has pledged to target consumer-facing companies to avoid competing with Bidvest, which has operations ranging from rental cars to fisheries.
Long4Life shares have declined more than 7 percent since its initial public offering on April 7, valuing the company at 2.5 billion rand. Holdsport has gained 4 percent since the bid by Long4Life was announced for a market value of 2.59 billion rand.
To contact the reporter on this story: John Bowker in Johannesburg at jbowker2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, Vernon Wessels, Alastair Reed
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