SOURCE: Keemotion
NEW YORK, NY and BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (January 8, 2015) Keemotion SPRL (Keemotion), an innovative sports production company, has announced that it has been acquired by a consortium of investors led by David Abrams.
The new ownership group consists of individuals with ownership interests in sports, media, and marketing companies, as well as co-ownership of an NBA franchise. Abrams, a retired Partner from Apollo Global Management and the founder of its Apollo European Principal Finance Fund franchise, is the Co-Managing Owner of the Scranton/Wilke-Barre RailRiders, the AAA-Affiliate of the New York Yankees. EMC, a merchant bank formed in 2008 in partnership with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has taken a minority ownership stake in the Company and will serve as an operational and business development advisor to Keemotion.
“We are very excited by the partnership we have formed with our new owners,” said Georges Caron, Chief Executive Officer, Keemotion. “Our new partners bring substantial industry expertise and a wide range of meaningful relationships to Keemotion. The additional capital will dramatically accelerate our growth and allow us to better serve our existing customers, and be a solutions provider for the sports production industry.”
Founded in 2012, Keemotion is a technology company that has developed a revolutionary capability for the autonomous live production of sporting events, eliminating the need for an on-site production team, director, or camera operator. The quality content created by the Company stems from Keemotion’s proprietary “Motion Following Technology” system which detects and tracks player movements, and follows the game through additional scoreboard interaction. Keemotion’s dynamic content is live, fully automated and cost–efficient. Keemotion’s technology enables coaches to break-down, analyze and share game footage real-time, while fans can simultaneously watch the event and connect it with others through social media. Games are available either live or on-demand, and accessible for web streaming and mobile distribution.
“Keemotion’s Co-Founders Georges Caron and Damien Delannay have done an incredible job creating the technology and building the company. I am excited to be able to work with Georges, Damien, and their strong team to build a global company that will revolutionize the way that certain sporting events are produced, and how fans can view and share this content,” said Abrams. “My partners and I, including EMC, will provide the necessary capital and strategic direction that will accelerate Keemotion’s growth.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Keemotion, a market-leading sports and production technology company, and look forward to harnessing our reach, resources, and relationships to help further grow the business,” said Jay Adya of Evolution Media Capital.
Keemotion currently produces basketball games and other sporting events for professional leagues, colleges and universities and high schools in nine countries – the USA, France,Italy, Germany, Austria, Finland, Belgium, England, and The Netherlands. The Company’s European customers include the French LNB, Bayern Munich, the Austrian Basketball League and the Finnish Basketball Association. Keemotion’s U.S. presence includes producing games for several Division-I basketball programs, including Northwestern University of the Big Ten Conference. The International Basketball Association (“FIBA”) has endorsed Keemotion to produce games for the thirty-two team 2014-1015 Euro-Challenge basketball tournament. The Company also works closely with content distribution partners including Sky Austria and Dailymotion.
For more information about Keemotion, please visit http://www.keemotion.com.
About Evolution Media Capital
Evolution Media Capital, LLC (EMC) is a merchant bank focused on the media and sports industries, formed as a partnership with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and offering investment advisory, asset management, industry research, and capital-raising services. In the media rights space, EMC provides a wide array of advisory services including strategic analysis, valuation and negotiation of media rights and regional sports network planning and operational strategy. EMC has negotiated more than $35 billion of sports media rights transactions since 2010, including record-setting transactions with the NHL, Major League Soccer, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Celtics, and Atlanta Hawks, among others. EMC's principal investing arm, Evolution Media Partners, was formed as a joint venture with global private investment firm TPG Growth and Participant Media to invest up to $350 million in growth stage media, sports, and entertainment companies.
