Long4Life: Brian Joffe second act is a bet on SA's Rama-recovery

It’s exactly 30 years since chartered accountant Brian Joffe created Bidvest, a multinational conglomerate which peaked at a valuation of R160bn before the unbundling of its Foodservice arm. With that done, Joffe left his creation. But soon after leaving Bidvest he embarked on a second act called Long4Life. Investors loved the story of this experienced entrepreneur returning to the fray. Especially small punters who saw it as a chance to get in on the ground floor with a partner with legendary deal-making and capital allocating talents. We are among these fans, having allocated 8% of the Biznews SA Champions portfolio to Joffe’s new creation. But it’s been a rough ride. Initially Long4Life shares traded at a generous premium to the pre-listing issue price. But as the South African economy came under increasing pressure, so too has Long4Life’s shares. This year so far the stock has lost a third of its value and now trades just above the level at which Joffe himself invested R100m, chafing the competitive nature of this one-time golf professional… Long4Life’s greatest opportunity, perhaps, could lie in its CEO’s unique insight on where its homeland South Africa heading. For the seven years, from 2005 to 2012, as Bidvest’s CEO Joffe worked closely with the company’s then chairman and now South African president Cyril Ramaphosa.