8 June 2021, Johannesburg: EOH today announced it has entered into a share purchase agreement for the sale of Sybrin Limited to a consortium group comprising of One Thousand & One Voices Management (Mauritius) Ltd (“1K1V”) and Crossfin Technology Holdings (Pty) Ltd (“CFTH”) and their black economic empowerment partners led by Isaac Mophatlane, (together “the Consortium”) for a cash consideration of R334 million (“the Base Purchase Price”). The Base Purchase Price, after adjusting for net debt, non-operating assets and working capital, equates to an enterprise value (“EV”) of R410 million implying an EV/normalised EBITDA multiple of 5.3x on Sybrin’s 31 July 2020 (“FY20”) normalised EBITDA of R78 million.

1K1V is a private equity fund backed exclusively by industry-leading families from around the globe while CFTH is an investment holding company that offers investors a blended exposure to technology investments in Fintech. Established in 1991, Sybrin is a market leader in the provision of bespoke solutions to the banking, financial services and insurance sectors as well as central governments. Utilising its proprietary low-code platform, Sybrin specialises in developing, implementing and integrating end-to-end systems and solutions.

EOH CEO Stephen van Coller said “EOH acquired Sybrin in 2013 as it was a great fit with the EOH strategy at the time, which included a stronger vertical focus and the opportunity for African expansion. We are excited for the new opportunities that this disposal brings for Sybrin. The sale of Sybrin is in line with EOH’s stated strategic goals of deleveraging the balance sheet as well as refining the business model. Over the past two years, EOH has been focused on establishing an appropriate capital structure. This transaction allows Sybrin to unlock its full potential and brings EOH a step further towards building the “EOH of the Future” by reorganising the group and strengthening EOH’s capital structure.”

Sybrin CEO Marius Maree said, “Sybrin has benefitted from being part of the EOH journey and is now at a stage where it is well positioned to leverage its proven track record and significantly scale its innovative technology across several geographies and as such is looking forward to starting the next growth chapter with its new partners.”

This transaction represents a significant milestone in EOH’s deleveraging plan and the proceeds of the transaction, net of costs, will primarily be applied to reduce debt with the remainder utilised for working capital requirements.

Concluded van Coller: “We are confident that Sybrin will be enabled to further grow its digital assets
under the new management and wish them the best for their future.”

About EOH

EOH is one of the largest technology services companies in Africa and has a wide range of solutions in Industry Consulting, IT Services, Software, Industrial Technologies and Business Process Outsourcing. The Group continues to be an undisputed market leader in its core ICT businesses which operates principally under the iOCO brand name. The nature of this business is systemic to both the public and private sector and is an integral technology partner for a number of South Africa’s leading JSE-listed, blue-chip companies as well as key metros and government departments. It’s other business, NEXTEC collaborates with world-leading technology providers to design, implement and manage intelligent value-adding infrastructure and people solutions that make a positive and lasting impact.

The Group’s 7000 employees deliver services to over 5000 enterprise customers across all major industries throughout South Africa, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. As a proudly South African business, EOH is committed to sustainable transformation, making a positive, meaningful contribution to society, and is a Level 1 Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (‘B-BBEE’) contributor.

For media enquiries or interviews

Please contact Michael Rubenstein – Aprio
082 903 7797
michael@aprio.co.za

OR

Head of EOH Investor Relations and Group Communications
Zihle Nonganga
zihle.nonganga@eoh.com