DEAL MAKING:
Sorbet is in the final throes of being bought by Long4Life
Sorbet founder Ian Fuhr says his company and Brian Joffe’s new venture are ‘quite far down the road’ towards a deal
Health and beauty franchise Sorbet is in the final throes of being bought by Long4Life, the leisure investment company created by business legend Brian Joffe, though a few conditions still remain to be met. Founder Ian Fuhr started Sorbet 12 years ago, and since then outlets have opened in most shopping centres that cater for the upper middle class in urban areas. There are 186 franchised Sorbet stores in this country, and four company-owned ones in London. The parties are not saying much, but if concluded, the deal is set to be Long4Life’s first following the raising of R2bn in the group’s listing just over a month ago. "It’s not finalised, but we’re quite far down the road," says Fuhr, who adds that he can’t comment on the deal. The amount bandied about is about R130m. That would not be bad for a business that was started by a man in his 50s. Fuhr says: "We are keen to do the deal. And we have been talking about it for some time. We’ve been through a due diligence and completed a ...
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