Video firm Roo’s new owner KIT Capital is merging with two other investors – MNA Partners (covering Mid-East and Africa) and River Road Ventures (for U.S. VC) – making an all-new acronym… KCP Capital. Headquartered in Dubai with offices in London, NYC and LA, the new group will focus on the intersection of the Gulf and the U.S., and says digital media is the first of four major verticals in its sights – the others: merchant banking, real estate and asset management.
KIT Capital took control of Roo Group at the start of the year, renaming it KIT Digital. KIT Capital’s president Kaleil Isaza Tuzman (a former CEO of both JumpTV (TSE: JTV) and the infamous govWorks) now becomes both CEO and chairman of KIT Digital and a partner in the new entity KCP overall. What was KIT Capital is now the largest unit of the new organisation and will be its investment vehicle. The combined group claims Silicon Spice, Nextivity and JumpTV amongst its portfolio investments. Release.
KIT’s Roo takeover was not without incident. All four independent board members resigned in December ahead of the acquisition, with Roo admitting in a mysterious SEC filing “allegations against our senior management” concerning “improper payments”. KIT Digital then bought Swedish web video firm Kamera and a stake in video searcher Viewdle.