JSE-listed IT services group iOCO – previously EOH Holdings – is pursuing out-of-court settlements with former senior executives who it sued over alleged governance failures, especially involving public sector contracts.
This is according to iOCO co-CEO Rhys Summerton, who told TechCentral in an interview on Tuesday that the new management team has actively pursued settlements for many of the outstanding legal claims.
In 2021, on previous CEO Stephen van Coller’s watch, iOCO – EOH at the time – sued its co-founder and former CEO Asher Bohbot and its now-deceased former chief financial officer John King for R1.7-billion in damages each.
EOH filed civil claims against Bohbot and King in the high court in Johannesburg, seeking R1.66-billion from each of them for damages inflicted on the group due to their alleged failure to deal effectively with governance breaches and malfeasance that decimated the IT services group’s share price and valuation.
Specifically, EOH was pursuing the two businessmen on charges of delinquency, breach of fiduciary duties and breach of contract.
It also filed suit against Jehan Mackay, its former public sector head, from whom it was seeking R1.5-billion for a breach of fiduciary duties as well as for allegedly making payments to third parties for no work done. Mackay’s name featured prominently in evidence presented by EOH’s law firm, ENSafrica, at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture.
‘Difficult to justify’
EOH also issued a summons against Ebrahim Laher, who served as head of EOH International, for an amount of R1.58-billion, on charges of negligence and mismanagement.
While reluctant to discuss details of the out-of-court settlements with TechCentral, Summerton confirmed that iOCO has already settled “a lot of the legal claims that were outstanding”.
“We didn’t want to end up paying exorbitant legal fees in the hope of getting something back, which was not going to materialise,” Summerton said, adding that he took a different view to the previous management team regarding the likelihood of success in the civil claims against the former executives.
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“When we looked at it, some of the claims that were made were difficult to justify. So, we decided we would try to reach settlements. Most of the legal issues have been settled. For those that are still ongoing, we are in the process of settling them in the very short term,” he said.
Summerton was not keen to be drawn further on the quantum or nature of the settlements, or with whom the company had already settled. He said iOCO will disclose that information, if it is required to do so, in future financial reports.
He emphasised that iOCO’s new management team is keen to “look forward, not to the past”. With the group’s debt problem largely resolved, Summerton told TechCentral that iOCO plans to embark on an aggressive acquisition programme, which could include blockbuster deals worth as much as R1-billion, as it looks to accelerate its growth and expand its presence in corporate South Africa. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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