A two-week holiday in South Africa inspired EOH founder Asher Bohbot to establish a R2.6 billion company.
Moroccan-born Bohbot grew up in Israel and got his chemical engineering degree from Ben-Gurion University.
After acquiring his degree, the then 27-year-old Bohbot set off to South Africa for a holiday, which was only meant to last two weeks.
When he was a young boy, Bohbot’s family, including his five siblings, moved from Morocco to Israel, where they remained after he moved to South Africa.
During his time in South Africa, Bohbot was introduced to a business owner seeking to hire a chemical engineer, a role for which he was qualified.
Bohbot had agreed to stay for six months, which ultimately extended to a year. He then found himself committed to a future in South Africa.
After working in the corporate sector for some time as head of logistics and IT at PG Bison, Bohbot noticed a gap in the market, which led him to leave his position to start his own business.
“At first, I observed the game of IT from the recipient side. I got involved in some IT projects and then had the idea to start a business, a business that is very much what EOH’s model is today: design, build and operate,” he said.
He recognised that IT was becoming increasingly essential for South African businesses, yet many saw it as a daunting challenge.
To meet this demand, Bohbot established Enterprise Outsourcing Holdings, later renamed EOH, to handle the IT responsibilities for various businesses and government departments.
Bohbot mentioned that his business idea came to him one morning at 3 am, at which point he sketched a diagram illustrating how he envisioned the company functioning.
He then approached his employer at the time, who became his first customer. A year later, they agreed to do so. That customer was PG Bison.
PG Bison became its first client. EOH was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in April 1998 and remained relatively unnoticed during its first decade of operations.
However, in 2009, its revenue exceeded R1 billion, attracting the attention of investors.
“I have the same car, same wife and same children I had before I started EOH,” Bohbot said.
The company’s past challenges
In 2017, the media began scrutinising contracts between EOH and several government departments, leading to allegations of corruption.
These allegations included claims that tender bids from various government departments had been manipulated in EOH’s favour, as well as accusations of fraud against customers and suppliers.
Not long after, an EOH executive was implicated in a bribery scandal concerning the acquisition of government contracts from 2015 to 2016.
That same year, EOH’s long-time founder and CEO, Bohbot, stepped down and was succeeded by Zunaid Mayet.
Bohbot’s departure triggered a significant loss of trust in the company, causing its share price to plummet from R171 in December 2016 to under R50 in 2017.
In an effort to enhance corporate governance, EOH appointed former MTN executive Stephen van Coller as the new CEO in 2018.
However, the company’s share price continued to decline. To address its R4.1 billion debt, EOH sold several valuable assets, resulting in a loss of R6 billion in revenue generation and R8.4 billion in net asset value.
EOH implemented a R500 million rights offer to attract investors and help mitigate its debt issues.
By March 2024, EOH’s share price had dwindled to R1.08, and Stephen van Coller stepped down.
Marius de la Rey was appointed as interim CEO, and the company was rebranded as iOCO, unveiling a new growth strategy alongside a newly appointed board.
In February 2025, iOCO announced the appointment of Dennis Venter and Rhys Summerton as joint CEOs, replacing De la Rey, who had departed from the company.
Upon their appointment, iOCO indicated that the CEOs would not receive fixed salaries, as their compensation would be based on share price performance.
iOCO’s share price has increased by more than 100% over the past year, effectively doubling shareholders’ investments.
