O. D. Kobo

O.D. Kobo (עודד קובו)
Born Oded David Kobo
Hong Kong
Alma mater London School of Economics (did not graduate)
Title Chairman of PIR Equities, SinoSheen
Spouse(s) Etos Ovadia
Children 2
Parent(s)
Website pirequities.com

Oded David "O.D." Kobo (Hebrew: קובו עודד) is an Internet entrepreneur and businessman. He is the founder and chairman of PIR Equities, a private equity firm.[1]

Early life

Kobo grew up in Hong Kong, born to Eliezer "Bebo" and Ruth Kobo.[1] He is the eldest son of Bebo's six children.[2][3] He moved to London at the age of 16.[2] At the age of 17 he attended the London School of Economics for business administration, until he dropped out at the age of 19 to pursue his entrepreneurial goals.[2] He also received education in New York, NY.[4]

Career

Kobo's business interests have ranged from technology to property to private equity with nearly US$1 billion in exits.[5]

Kobo started his career at the age of twenty-one by licensing patented technology to the online lottery industry with e-Lottery (once the domain holder of Lottery.com). He later established several China based investment firms namely KGIM and SinoSheen of which both were partnered with the Prime Minister of Qatar Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani. KGIM was acquired in 2010 for US$120 million by East River Capital (a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority) and SinoSheen had invested in companies such as Tencent, Netease and Alibaba pre-IPO before it was too acquired in 2011 for US$52 million.[6]

In 2008, Kobo founded PIR Equities, an employee owned private equity firm. The firm raised US$980 million that year to pursue value based investments within the financial services, technology and real estate industries.[5]

In 2014, Camden Market Holdings the proprietor of landmark properties such as the Camden Market, Stables Market and Camden Lock Developments in Camden, London was acquired for $680 million by billionaire businessman Teddy Sagi of Playtech.[7] Kobo invested in Camden Market Holdings via PIR Equites and was a member of the board of directors alongside Bebo Kobo, Richard Caring and Chelsfield Partners.[8]

Also in 2014, Kobo sold Pheed - a mobile pay-per-view technology to Carlos Slim and American Movil for US$40 million.[9] The transaction was brokered by Moshe Hogeg and Mobli Media.

In 2015, Kobo established Shellanoo Group, a technology venture builder, with partners Roman Abramovich and Gee Robseron, the former Chairman of Geffen Records who invested US$30 million in the group.[10][6] [11] In 2016, it was reported first in the Huffington Post that two properties from their portfolio had been sold to a consortium of Chinese investors led by Ding Lei for US$32 million.[12][13][14][15] Kobo had invested $40 million in various technology projects in 2017 and in January 2018 it was reported to have been acquired and relocated to Hong Kong. [16] [17]

Kobo had led several failed attempts to purchase MTV Networks from National Amusements in 2008, as well as an attempt to purchase Golan Telecom in Israel in 2016, which was highly criticized by the press and caused a public backlash resulting to Kobo withdrawing his IPO on the TASE for Shellanoo Group.[18][19][20][21]

Personal life

In 2015, Kobo married long time girlfriend fashion photographer Etos Ovadia; they have two children.[22][23]

References

  1. 1 2 "PIR Equities Team". PIR Equities. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Sadeh, Shuki (10 June 2016). "Who Is Oded Kobo? Natural-born Businessman or Celebrity Sidekick". Haaretz. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "Bebo Kobo - London, United Kingdom". About.me. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
  4. ↑ "Executive Profile: Oded David Kobo". Bloomberg. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  5. 1 2 גאוני, יעל (14 December 2008). "איש העסקים עודד קובו גייס כמיליארד דולר להשקעות בתחום המדיה (Businessman Oded Kobo raised about US$1 billion for media investments)". Globes (in Hebrew). Bloomberg. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  6. 1 2 "7 Months From Launch, Music Messenger Closes $30 Million Funding Round". 22 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Rochvarger, Michael (March 16, 2014). "Israeli Tycoon buys Camden". Haaretz.
  8. ↑ "Teddy Sagi buys London's Camden Stables Market at $664 Million". Jewish Business News. March 16, 2014.
  9. ↑ Pozin, Ilya (28 September 2014). "Launch To Exit In 18 Months: Pheed Acquired For $40M". Forbes. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  10. ↑ "Abramovich leads $30m round in OD Kobo's music start-up - Globes English". Globes.
  11. ↑ "Music Messenger, the App That Nicki Minaj and David Guetta Invested In, Is Exploding -- Here's Why".
  12. ↑ "Roman Abramovich, Oded Kobo's Shellanoo sell anonymous app BLINDSPOT and MrC app to chinese for $32 Million". Jewish Business News. 27 September 2016.
  13. ↑ Kobo is one of the founders of Music Messenger an online music and audio distribution platform launched in 2014 partnered with Nicki Minaj, Will.I.Am, Avicii, Sebastian Ingross, Tiesto, Dave Holmes (manager of Coldplay), Benny Andersson, and David Guetta. http://www.geektime.com/2015/04/20/israeli-startup-music-messenger-raises-30-million/
  14. ↑ "Chinese investors to buy Israeli app BlindSpot - Globes English". Globes.
  15. ↑ http://www.wealthx.com/articles/2016/chinese-investors-to-buy-israeli-app-blindspot/
  16. ↑ Shay, Shalev. "Oded Kobo and Roman Abramovich's Shellanoo cuts Israel ties". Globes.
  17. ↑ "Abramovich and Kobo, Shellanoo". Jewish Business News. January 3, 2018.
  18. ↑ "רומן אברמוביץ' ועודד קובו מתעניינים בגולן טלקום - גלובס". Globes.
  19. ↑ "איש העסקים עודד קובו גייס כמיליארד דולר להשקעות בתחום המדיה - גלובס". Globes.
  20. ↑ "Roman Abramovich offers to buy Golan Telecom - report - Globes English". Globes.
  21. ↑ http://exithub.com/od-kobos-high-profile-shellanoo-incubator-abruptly-cancels-tel-aviv-ipo/
  22. ↑ "אתי עובדיה ועודד קובו התחתנו". mako (in Hebrew). 10 November 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  23. ↑ "אנחנו לא מעכלים: מירי בוהדנה הפכה לסבתא". mako (in Hebrew). 26 June 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
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