Having pivoted into profitability and resolved legacy issues stemming from its time as EOH, iOCO has announced its second acquisition in four months, buying South African enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions provider Astraia Technologies.
The deal follows iOCO’s purchase of the MySky Group of Companies in March – its first acquisition in eight years – as the company accelerates growth following its turnaround from EOH.
CEO Rhys Summerton says: “The strategy of making smaller acquisitions who [sic] can access iOCO’s diverse and broad platform allow immediate scalability across products and customers. We see the opportunity to accelerate iOCO’s growth with our acquisition strategy.”
iOCO’s acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, is aimed at enhancing its “infrastructure and managed services capabilities, while broadening the group’s access to enterprise customers and vendor ecosystems,” it says in a voluntary announcement.
Founded in 2010 by chartered accountant David Bryant, Astraia Technologies is a Cape Town-based cloud ERP specialist. The company, led by Bryant as CEO, focuses on cloud ERP implementations, financial software integration and business process optimisation, serving customers across South Africa and the Middle East and Africa.
The Astraia agreement could involve a performance-based earn-out consideration if growth targets are met over the next 18 months, iOCO says in a note to shareholders. It expects the deal to come into effect within six weeks of the binding agreement, subject to conditions typical of these sorts of acquisitions.
The comeback kid
iOCO rebranded from EOH in December 2024 after a 2019 ENSafrica investigation uncovered governance failures and around R1.2 billion in suspicious transactions, largely linked to public sector contracts.
Over the past two years, the group has streamlined its operations, selling eight legacy businesses inherited from EOH between November 2023 and July 2024.
For the first half of its current financial year, it reported profit of R180 million, an increase of 45.6%, from revenue of R2.8 billion. At the end of the six months to January, it had no overdraft and reduced interest paid on bank debt to R27 million for the half-year, from R39 million a year earlier.
The company repurchased more than 6.4 million shares between August 2025 and January 2026. Summerton noted the company is highly unlikely to pay dividends, as it intends to return cash to shareholders through share buybacks, which decreases the number of shares in issue, theoretically pushing up the value of each share.
iOCO reported a net gain of R179.8 million in its first profitable reporting period since the rebrand in its interim results for the six months ended January 2025. For the full year to July 2025, it reported a net profit of R258 million, its first full-year profit since the EOH era.
Hungry for more
Having completed the first two phases of its turnaround by the end of January 2026 – cost rationalisation and decentralisation – iOCO said in March it had shifted its focus to capital allocation and growth.
iOCO has been strengthening its balance sheet and investing in future growth, pursuing strategic acquisitions to expand its managed services, cloud, cyber security, digital transformation and infrastructure businesses.
“Our strategy is growth-focused with a view to continue expanding our market and region reach, as well as our key business areas, including managed services, operational technology, digital transformation, global cloud solutions, cyber security advisory and infrastructure solutions,” it said.
iOCO also noted that, with a strengthened operating platform, a clear strategic road map and an increasingly competitive market position, it was “well-positioned to maintain momentum through the second half of the year, and we remain confident in our ability to deliver sustainable growth and long-term value for shareholders”.
Eight years later
The MySky transaction includes an initial R52 million payment − R47 million in cash and R5 million in shares − with additional payments subject to the business achieving agreed performance targets.
Founded in South Africa, MySky delivers enterprise connectivity and infrastructure solutions to businesses across the country. The company is recognised as one of only two HP Enterprise Aruba Platinum Support Partners in South Africa and is the recipient of the 2025 HPE Managed Service Provider award.
“Partnering with iOCO marks an exciting next phase for the business,” founders brothers Dylan (CEO) and Dean Horsten (CTO) said at the time. “Being part of a diverse and exciting company such as iOCO allows us to scale further, while continuing to deliver high-quality services to our customers.”
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