Brian Joffe, the founder of South Africa’s Bidvest, would list a R2 billion investment firm, Long4Life, on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange next week, the firm said in a pre-listing statement on Friday.
Joffe will provide R100 million of the capital himself and institutional investors will subscribe for the rest before listing the firm on April 7.
The firm will not raise any more capital on its listing date. Long4Life aims to be more nimble than traditional private equity funds and will build up a diversified portfolio of listed and unlisted assets.
The firm would initially focus on South Africa as it needed more scale to invest abroad, Joffe said.
“It’s an opportunistic, entrepreneurial play,” he said.
The firm will most likely not invest in industries such as deposit-taking banks, mining and resources companies, he added.
Read also: Joffe to list new investment vehicle
Joffe will be Long4Life’s chief executive and only employee to start with, and the firm will aim for returns of in excess of 15 percent per annum in the medium to long term.
“Long4Life will pursue investments predominantly with a lifestyle focus. These could include businesses in the beauty, outdoor, sport, retirement villages, and restaurants, among other sectors,” the firm said.
Long4Life will have the share code L4L on the JSE.